Blog Archives
Believe it or not, the holiday season is just around the corner. While most of us look forward to this time of year, it can also be a difficult season for many of us. For couples, in particular, it can be a time of contradictions. On the one hand, it is a time to connect, celebrate, and share our gratitude and love toward one another. On the other hand, however, the holiday season can generate a great…
Couples seek out therapy for many reasons, but one of the most common is to help their relationship recover from an infidelity. In fact, some research suggests that 30% of couples seek out therapy due to the damage of an affair, and couples who have experienced an affair are more likely to break up or divorce than those couples where there was no infidelity. These couples often feel as though the very foundation of their relationship has…
Think back to a time when you had a really terrible day. Now, imagine yourself in that day. What was that day like for you? How did you feel? Most likely, you were feeling down, unmotivated, frustrated, and perhaps even sad. Little things overwhelmed you and, really, you just wanted to go back to bed and sleep it off. You just were not feeling like yourself. Typically, these days come and go – and you feel like…
We all have bad days with our partner. We fight, act badly, and say things we don’t mean. At times we lose our ability to self-soothe, think logically, and treat our loved one well. For healthy couples, however, these missteps are addressed and resolved respectfully. In a healthy relationship, partners genuinely apologize, learn from their mistakes, and integrate this new knowledge into their relationship in a meaningful way. It can be easy to see where you and…
Is your partner struggling with an anxiety disorder? In a given year, anxiety disorders affect about 40 million Americans, or about 18% of the adult population, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. When you suffer from an anxiety disorder, your life is filled with a sense of fearfulness and uncertainty. Worries plague your life, making it difficult to engage in daily tasks and enjoy yourself. The more we know about anxiety, however, the more we…
We all build our lives around a variety of expectations. Societal pressures, cultural norms, and even family values shape who we think we ought to be and the life we ought to have. We say to ourselves (consciously or unconsciously), “I should be in a relationship by now,” or “I should be able to do this (work, parenting, etc.) better,” and even, “My husband should know what I want even when I do not say something about…
Do you have worry thoughts that create anxiety? Do your emotions get in the way of communicating or effective decision making? Do you live in the past or the future? Do you act impulsively? Is it difficult for you to focus on tasks because your mind wanders? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, mindfulness can help. What is mindfulness? It is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment,…
Many of us take time off of work during the summer to get away, disconnect from work, and spend time with the ones we love. We often feel more in touch with ourselves and our relationships when we take this time to be together. Once the long summer days fade away, however, it can feel like we enter a slump where the work days take over again, and the time when spend with our partners and loved…
In a society that promotes individuality, it is sometimes forgotten we are part of something larger than ourselves. We are part of a family. Each family is unique with it’s own structure and interactions. Families are powerful. They influence our beliefs, behaviors and even our personality. Family therapy looks at the whole, not just the individual, to improve better family and individual functioning. Problems are addressed at the source, the family, by bringing parents and children together,…
How often are you checking your email, text messages, Twitter or Facebook account on your phone throughout the day? Do you feel disconnected if your phone is not by your side, chirping with every new update? While there is the increased convenience and connectivity our cell phones and computers can bring us, it can also distract us from the personal, face-to-face time with the people we love the most. Nothing can replace the kind of communication you…