Anxiety
By: Danielle Bertini, LPC It can be hard to come back after a failure. Failure has a way of sticking right to your self-esteem. Psychologist Nicole Martinez discusses, “Often we view failure as caused by internal sources, rather than external ones. This means we blame ourselves for things that are actually external, and out of our control. Taking on that kind of responsibility and view of ourselves can have a very negative impact on our self-esteem, our…
Shame feels like a word we want to hide. We back away from the topic and push it down, even though it shapes some of our hardest moments. As this conversation grows on the page, the need for understanding shame becomes clear because silence never lightens it. Brené Brown writes that shame loses strength when we speak about it. Language brings it into the light and helps us move through it without fear. Understanding Shame in Daily Life Understanding…
Hannah Hopper, LPC What is attachment style? It’s the emotional bond you have with others in your life, like family members, friends, or a partner. It also impacts how you behave in close relationships, and depending on your attachment style it can make it more difficult to form healthy, long term relationships. There are four attachment styles, and these styles were first researched by Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby. Attachment styles can vary depending on your relationship…
By: Danielle Bertini, LPC Rejection—it’s painful. Whether it’s not being offered a position at a company, not being invited to a friend’s party, or even just having one of your ideas shot down, every “no” feels like a door closed to us. Most people struggle with finding the best way to regroup and recover after any kind of rejection. A 2003 study done by researchers from Purdue University and the University of California, Los Angeles, found that…
Matthew Cuddeback LCSW There are certain aspects of ourselves that are at the center of many of our beliefs about who we are, in the mental health field we call these Core Beliefs. These beliefs can be healthy or unhealthy, and we can have quite a few. They are also sometimes rather obvious, and others are harder to recognize. There are certain avenues that we use in order to understand them, deconstruct them, and then build them…
By Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC We all have problems — that is life. Problem-solving is not always easy, especially when we are faced with something new. Many of us are quick to identify our problems and then immediately start thinking about solutions. Before we start generating solutions, let us think about how we state or define the problem. How we define the problem will have an impact on how we go about solving…
By Hannah Hopper, LPC When you’re cooped up indoors, isolated, and unable to keep up with your typical routine, it’s a prime environment for negative thoughts to start spiraling. There are lots of different approaches to curbing negative thoughts, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all quick fix. It takes effort and lots of time to retrain your brain, because chances are good that it took your brain a while to learn these negative thought patterns too. But below…
Kaitlin Broderick, LCPC We grow as people by getting outside of ourselves and being able to think of and help others. Some people even say this is a necessary component of finding happiness. However, how do you know when you are giving too much of yourself and neglecting the one person you need to take care of the most (yourself?) The following guidelines can help you in becoming a “successful giver”, someone who thinks of others while…
Megan Mulroy, LPC We make a lot of decisions every day. We make simple decisions like what shirt to wear, and we also make more complex decisions like to stay or leave a relationship. You may have a job where you make a lot of decisions, and people may even depend on you to make important decisions. Sometimes there are so many options that make deciding something so hard! Think about the number of times you may…
Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC Stress is universal: everyone at some point in their lives will experience it. Stress can stem from work, relationships, anxiety or pretty much anything. In fact, stress can happen without a direct cause, or stimulus. Stress, understandably, has a negative connotation. However, it is not always a bad thing to be stressed in certain situations. A moderate amount of stress is beneficial to athletic and academic performance, for example.…