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Transforming the Effects of Trauma

April 7, 2017

By: Andrea Gargano, LCPC, Symmetry Counseling Chicago

Trauma is an event that causes psychological injury or pain. What is traumatic for one person may not be traumatic for another. Trauma is not always necessarily the effects of being in a combat zone, surviving a car accident, or suffering from physical abuse. While it can be those things, trauma shows up in a variety of ways. So it is best not to assume that something is traumatic but instead to look at the effects that the trauma has on the person; namely on their brain and nervous system.

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Choosing Holistic Self-Care to Cope with Difficult Emotions

April 5, 2017

What have you been doing to take care of yourself? This is the most important question I ask my clients. However, I am not only asking about what is done to take care of the physical body. When we minimize or avoid coping with our emotions there are often consequences to our minds, bodies, and relationships. Self-care consists of learned behaviors and skills that grow and change with knowledge of healthy coping tools, understanding of oneself, awareness…

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Engaged to Shared Finances: Designing an Appropriate Wedding Budget

April 4, 2017

Written by: Meghan Emerson, LMFT

Being engaged to be married is an exciting time in an intimate relationship. Ready to move forward and actively commit to a life together, partners are soon swept into the wide world of wedding planning. One of the first and highly important decisions a recently engaged couple needs to make is setting a financial budget.

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5 Common Misconceptions About Therapy

April 4, 2017

By Andrew McNaughton, LCSW, CADC
Symmetry Counseling Chicago

The stigma of mental health treatment continues to dwindle, but there are still commonly held misunderstandings. To wit, therapy is not:

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Is Social Media Impacting our Self Esteem?

April 3, 2017

Many people use multiple social media platforms on a daily basis, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. People turn to social media to learn about world and national news, learn about big life transitions for their social networks (such as engagements and having children), as well as to share information about what is going on their own lives. Got a promotion at work or a new job? Make a Facebook status. Your partner proposed to you?Take a…

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Do You Have a Job or Career?

March 30, 2017

Written by: Colleen Lennon, LCSW

Would you call what you do a job or a career? Do you wake up dreading going into work or do you look forward to each day? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a job is defined as “a piece of work; something that has to be done,” while a career is defined as “a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling; a field for pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional, or business life.”

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How to Use Basic Listening Skills to Improve Your Relationships

March 30, 2017

Written by: Rachel Koutnik, LCSW

Are you a good listener? Some people think they are good listeners, but the reality more than often is that poor listening skills are the culprit behind feeling misunderstood, disconnected and the precursor to all those unnecessary arguments.

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The Rational Wisdom of the Serenity Prayer

March 28, 2017

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

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How Often Should You and Your Partner Be Having Sex?

March 27, 2017

Written by: Rebecca Hirsch, AMFT
Symmetry Counseling Chicago

I often get the question how often couples should be having sex. As a therapist, I dislike the word “should”, especially when it comes to sex. This is an impossible question to answer for a number of reasons. Sex is not a one-size-fits-all, and every individual and couple has a different idea of how often they want to be having sex and what that looks like.

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Do I Have a Drug or Alcohol Problem and What Can I Do About It?

March 22, 2017

by Andrew McNaughton, LCSW, CADC There are about a dozen criteria in the DSM-5 for diagnosing Substance Use Disorders, but I look for four “red flags” when assessing a patient: Does substance use negatively impact the patient’s money? Relationships? Mental or physical health? Freedom? If the patient answers “yes” to at least one of those questions, substance use is likely creating or contributing to trouble at work, school, home, with personal finances, family, friends, mind and body,…

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