counselor
Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW For many of us a time will come in our lives in which we realize that someone is taking up too much of our emotional real estate. Whether it is a family member, friend, co-worker, or someone else you interact with often, it is important to remember that you get to choose how you interact with them. You have the power to implement more boundaries to better maintain your mental health if you choose.…
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Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW One of the most powerful aspects of the decisions we make is when we experience the consequences of our actions. When we make a decision and feel that weight whether the result is good or bad, it helps us better understand the world around us and helps us assess whether we are acting in a way that is healthy for us or not. Consequences are incredibly important to understand, but sometimes we need help…
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Danielle Bertini, LPC Just as in romantic relationships, breakups can happen within friendships as well. Why? Similar to romantic relationships, friendships are often an influential part of our lives. Friends are there to listen to us, encourage us, and help us. They can improve happiness, confidence, worth and coping. It is also important to note that many friendships often outlast romantic relationships. All of these factors combined can make it especially difficult to cope with the ending…
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Amanda Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Do you feel comfortable feeling and expressing your anger? You might not be, as anger has a bad reputation. We tend to label anger as a negative emotion and at times we even judge those who express anger. Have you heard or used these phrases when someone is expressing anger? They have an anger management problem. They are crazy. What’s wrong with them? This bias and judgment against anger can make it difficult…
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Amanda Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified In my previous blog, Manage Your Anxiety by Grounding to Your Environment, I explained how to manage anxiety by grounding to your current environment. However, this method may not work for you. You might struggle to focus on your environment, you may be in an environment that lacks sufficient stimuli, or your environment itself may be anxiety provoking. Another option is to achieve grounding by using a physical object. This object can…
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Amanda Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified Imagine that you are walking to a location that you’ve been to many times. When you arrive at your destination you don’t remember the process of walking there. You were on autopilot, a common occurrence of mindlessness. However, these states of mindlessness make it easy for anxiety to seep in and overwhelm you. The same goes for states in which you are hyper-focused on anxiety provoking thoughts or actions. Your brain cannot…
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I work with many clients who struggle with approaching their partners with difficult, yet very important requests. As their clinical therapist, I help the client better understand why they are struggling to ask their partner for their needs and possible coping skills to express their feelings, emotions, thoughts, and needs. I recently read an article from the Mindfulness Muse that touched on this very topic utilizing a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) technique known as the ‘DEAR MAN’…
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Unfortunately, in today’s world it seems we’ve come to accept feeling constantly stressed while moving at an extremely fast pace. It comes as no surprise that people are feeling overwhelmed and unhappy as our brains try to make sense of an ever-changing world. If we continue to increase our workloads the common response is to wake up earlier and stay later in order to complete the necessary tasks. However, wouldn’t it be more effective to re-evaluate and…
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Hannah Hopper It’s that time of year again in Chicago when the days are shorter, the sky is grayer, and it feels a lot harder to get out of bed and face the piercing wind. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a mood disorder that typically begins and ends around the same time each year, and often takes place in the winter months. For most people the symptoms begin in the Fall as the colder weather sets…
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Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC Mental health is an integral part of an individual leading a happy and fulfilling life. With World Mental Health Day being in October, this is the perfect time to raise awareness and think about mental and physical wellness. In this day and age, we are always paying attention to and worried about losing weight, being fit, getting toned…but what about mental and emotional fitness? When you work out, your body reaps positive…
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