Chicago Therapist
Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, NCC, LPC The act of delaying and putting off tasks without any apparent reason is known as procrastination. Tasks may be delayed until the last minute or even when their deadline has already passed. People may feel as though they are delaying doing their work unnecessarily. For example, an individual may have an assignment pending, but instead of doing the actual work, they decide to waste your time on the internet. While they often fully acknowledge the…
Read MoreMary-Lauren O’Crowley, NCC, LPC It does not matter how old we are, we all carry with us an inner child. Now that may sound a bit funny, but simply put, the inner child is the embodiment of the core beliefs we internalized about ourselves in childhood, many of which are negative or untrue. In childhood, we begin to form ideas and perceptions of the world around us based on our interactions with our primary caregivers. For a…
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Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, NCC, LPC Career counseling is a subset of professional mental health counseling that aims to help you navigate career choices. Whether you are attempting to enter the job market, changing careers, or at any stage in your career, a professional career counselor can offer valuable advice and various options. Job stress is associated with anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and other mental health issues. Career counseling can help you in coping with such stress. Career Counseling: What Is It…
Read MoreShannon M. Duffy, MFT, LCPC Licensed Psychotherapist Many can relate to the following scenario. Things are going well, almost too well. You have been doing all the work addressed in psychotherapy and focusing on self-care and utilizing your coping skills in all the right places and right time. Then, out of nowhere you are either triggered by a stressor or multiple stressors build up where you feel out of control and all the steps you took towards…
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Steven Losardo, MFT Depression of an intimate partner can seem to be a heavy burden to bear, particularly while watching them experience the symptoms. However, it can be equally difficult for the spouse to help but not know where to begin. The good news is that there can be several ways to be supportive when the depression shows up. This blog will review four ways to support a partner in a committed relationship who has depression or…
Read MoreSteven Losardo, LMFT There is no set guidebook that we can buy once we choose to commit and step inside the realm of marriage. Marriage requires consistent work, mindfulness, and attentiveness so that each feels supported as possible and secure (Gottman,2017; Abrahams, 1993; Bream, 2017). Clear and constant couple communication sets the foundation for thriving marriages, but sometimes it can feel challenging to convey our minds successfully. Several factors go into effective communication within marriages, and we…
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Matthew Cuddeback LCSW *Please be sure to read Let’s Talk About Dissociating Part 1 to get a good start to understanding this difficult experience. What causes dissociation and what should we do about it? Well, dissociation is almost always a result of trauma. So, when we think about disconnecting mentally like this, we should be thinking about how something very painful happened and our brain is unsure how to address it and, further, if it should be…
Read MoreBy: Zana Van Der Smissen You just graduated from your program in the spring and now you are a full-time employee with bills to pay, meetings to attend and a lot of “adulting” responsibilities. Where do you go from here? How to Navigate the Big Jump From College Life to Being a Full-Time Employee Firstly, acknowledging that this is a real feeling is important. Whether you are feeling overwhelmed at your job or feeling lost as to…
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Hannah Hopper, LPC, NCC Emotions can be hard to talk about, no matter what age you’re at. And particularly when kids are growing up, they can feel such a range of emotions, all while lacking the vocabulary to explain what they’re feeling. If kids struggle to verbally communicate with their parents about what’s going on inside, they can be left feeling confused and defeated. Kids experience the same complex emotions that adults do; one way to build…
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By: Danielle Bertini, LPC Leaving an abusive relationship usually isn’t as easy as simply walking out the door. Aside from the logistics of having to find a new place to live, supporting yourself, and sometimes children being involved, you might also feel tied to your partner and feel unable to break away. This emotional attachment, which is known as a trauma bond, develops out of a repeated cycle of abuse, devaluation, and positive reinforcement (Raypole, 2020). This…
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