The Truth About Anger
Anger often gets a bad reputation. From a young age, people are told to calm down, stop yelling, or avoid conflict at all costs. Over time, this messaging creates the belief that anger is always destructive. Yet, the truth about anger is far more complex. Anger is a natural emotion with the potential to create…
Read MoreTypes of Courage and Ways it Shows Up in Our Lives
Courage may seem like a strange area to discuss in relation to mental health. However, courage presents itself every day and various capacities and can help us conquer life’s challenges. In today’s world, simply getting out of bed, calling up a friend, or making it through the day can be an act of courage. As…
Read MoreToxic Positivity: It’s Okay to Not be Okay
Toxic positivity is not a phrase many of us are used to hearing. Isn’t positivity, well, positive? Some of the time yes, and some of the time no. To better understand, it’s important to know the definition of toxic positivity. “Toxic positivity is the idea that we should focus only on positive emotions and the…
Read MoreAre You Paying Attention to Your Inner Child?
By: Emily Brennan, MA, LAC, NCC As adults with busy schedules and a full slate of responsibilities, it is easy to forget about our inner child. The inner child is beneath our consciousness and holds unmet needs, suppressed emotions, traumas, and pain from our past. Our inner child also holds joy, creativity, curiosity, and the…
Read MoreFamily Enmeshment: Part 2
By: Danielle Bertini, LPC In Part one of this blog, I discussed the topic of enmeshment within family systems, including what it is and signs for noticing it is occurring. As discussed, growing up in an enmeshed family might mean that you now have replicated enmeshment and codependency in other relationships in your life. In…
Read MoreAre you a People Pleaser?
Kaitlin Broderick LCPC Constantly saying “yes” can leave you drained and stretched thin. Plans stack up, obligations grow, and personal time slowly disappears. Learning how to stop being a people pleaser begins with noticing these patterns and understanding why they happen. Guilt often shows up when thinking about disappointing someone. Anxiety may surface when turning…
Read MoreShifting from Self-Esteem to Self-Compassion
Hannah Hopper Over the past several decades, psychological research has focused on the benefits of having high self-esteem. There are countless books, podcasts, and articles that promise to give tips for increasing your self-esteem, so much so that high self-esteem seems like the most important thing when it comes to good mental health. But psychology…
Read MoreHow We Talk to Ourselves Matters
By: Emily Brennan, MA, LAC, NCC You have probably heard the phrase, “It’s nice to be nice.” An accurate statement, indeed. What about being nice to ourselves? It may sound cheesy, but how “nice” we are to ourselves and our ‘self-talk’ in general is more important than we think. Self-talk is our inner dialogue and…
Read MoreFamily Enmeshment: Part 2
By: Danielle Bertini, LPC In Part one of this blog, I discussed the topic of enmeshment within family systems, including what it is and signs for noticing it is occurring. As discussed, growing up in an enmeshed family might mean that you now have replicated enmeshment and codependency in other relationships in your life. In…
Read More5 Ways to Help Your Child Cope with Depression
By Hannah Hopper The National Alliance on Mental Health highlights that many children struggle with depression in their teenage years, but it’s often undetected by parents. Teenage depression can look different than adults struggling with depression, and this blog gives several ways that you can help your child cope. 1) Pay attention to the warning…
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