How Attachment Impacts the Grieving Process

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Our attachment style is highly influenced by our early childhood and romantic experiences. There are many resources out there that explain attachment, the four core styles of attachment, and how each is displayed in individuals and in romantic partnerships. Interestingly, there is less research and discussion around how attachment influences our relationships with the deceased,…

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How Being an Overachiever Can Impact your Happiness

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It is not uncommon in today’s world to work extremely hard as still feel unhappy and unsatisfied. It has become the “norm” to work well over 40 hours a week, be consistently accessible via phone or email outside of work hours, and even put in time on the weekends. It’s vital to ask ourselves what…

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The Dehumanization Epidemic

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Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW There is an issue that we all experience and many of us unfortunately perpetuate. We do this sometimes to cope, sometimes we do it out of necessity and sometimes its done with intent to harm, whatever the case it often starts unintentionally. I am talking about how we can sometimes dehumanize others,…

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What’s Your Narrative?

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Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW Often times we experience something, think something, or identify with something and then take it and incorporate it into our story. The most obvious examples of this are when we were young and we heard a certain kind of music and suddenly decided that was a defining aspect of our character, we…

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Is Your Goal Too Big?

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Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW When working in the field of mental health, we often utilize SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. The reason we do this (as in many fields) is because we often have a great idea and a great goal and can’t wait to get there. However,…

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How to Stop Buying So Much Stuff

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If pressed, many of us would admit that we buy too much stuff and end up with a house full of things we don’t really need.  The phrase “retail therapy” points to why this can happen – shopping for things gives us a temporary ping of satisfaction and makes us feel good, like we imagine…

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Things That Don’t Make You Happy

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Coursera is a great online tool for learning; it offers up a world of learning to people who cannot afford a college education, and it provides ongoing learning opportunities for people who do have college degrees but want to expand their range of personal and professional interests.  The information found below is compiled from Yale…

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A New Time Management System

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Cal Newport is a professor at Georgetown University and author who writes about academic and professional success, technology, minimalism, culture, and the intersection of these topics.  In his 2007 book How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less, Newport outlines a useful time management…

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A List of Things Guaranteed to Help You Feel Better

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When life feels overwhelming, you often feel the urge to do something to help yourself feel better but lack the energy or the mental clarity to evaluate your options.  It can be helpful to know that there are things you can do that are almost always guaranteed to positively benefit you and not harm you.…

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Boundaries, Boundaries, Boundaries

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What do you think of when you think of boundaries? What do they mean to you, and how do you implement them in your life? As a therapist, boundaries are one of the core tools I discuss with my clients. Setting boundaries in your life can have a positive effect on your mental health, stability,…

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