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The Anatomy of Gratitude

October 14, 2020

By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC “Today is a wonderful day…I haven’t seen this one before” – Maya Angelou  Recently, I listened to an insightful podcast titled “The Anatomy of Gratitude” with David Steindl-Rast, a ninety-three-year-old Benedictine monk and teacher on the subject of gratitude. He makes useful distinctions about experiences that are “life-giving” and “resilience-making.” He shares interesting perspectives on the ideas of gratefulness, joy and anxiety. If you haven’t listened to it yet, I highly…

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Recognizing Your Triggers Part III

October 13, 2020

By Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC This is the third and final installment of this blog series on recognizing your triggers for substance use and/or emotions such as anger. In this post, I will present some more common internal triggers and ways to cope with them. This post’s acronym is FINE. FINE stands for: Fearful: Fear is a powerful and universal human emotion, which is often driven by uncertainty, lack of control, and lack…

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The SWOT Analysis

October 12, 2020

By Eric Dean JD MBA MA MA LPC CADC To create plans for how we are going to achieve our goals, we need to know our starting point. SWOT Analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, is a tool used by organizations and people to evaluate their current positions. SWOT analysis can help elucidate information that would otherwise be hard to uncover and provide a baseline assessment for evaluating progress. Here are a small sample…

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Mental and Physical Health Benefits of Dogs (And Other Pets)

October 11, 2020

As of about three weeks ago I officially joined the group of individuals who adopted a puppy during quarantine. For some time, I’ve been playing with the idea of whether getting a puppy was a good or bad idea based on my lifestyle. Switching to working from home gave me the final push to take the plunge and get a dog. This is easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Dog’s truly are human’s best…

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Simple Stress Guide, Part 2

October 10, 2020

If you read my last blog post titled, Simple Stress Guide Part 1, referencing The New York Times article, “How to Be Better at Stress” by author Tara Parker-Pope, you may be wondering about the additional tips about how to better manage stress.  Below are the remaining key points from Tara’s article touching about tips and tricks on how to manage stress better.  Body Movement. As mentioned in the first part of this blog post, moving your…

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Simple Stress Guide, Part 1

October 9, 2020

I work with many clients who are under a great deal amount of stress which leads them to either feel anxious and/or depressed. My job as their clinical therapist is to better understand why the client is stressed and then to provide coping strategies to better manage their stress. I recently read an article from The New York Times, that touched on this very topic, “How to Be Better at Stress” by author Tara Parker-Pope. Below are…

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How to Find Joy When Life Gets Tough

October 8, 2020

It is no secret that life is a little strange right now. The world as we know it has been turned upside down and people are running into hardships they may not have encountered otherwise. In an uncertain environment, how do we find joy in our daily lives? It’s helpful to understand what the definition of joy actually is. Joy is a strong, long-term state “… that results in feelings of inner peace and contentment.” Those who…

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Identifying Your Communication Style

October 7, 2020

Hannah Hopper, LPC   One topic that continues to come up in many of my sessions is communication styles. We are constantly communicating with those around us, and our communication style can either serve as a bridge or be a barrier to creating connections. Going to therapy is an incredibly effective tool for working on communication, and this blog will give a brief introduction on three styles of communication.  Passive Communication Passive communication is characterized by expressing…

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Getting Over a Breakup

October 6, 2020

Kaitlin Broderick LCPC Relationship breakups are something that almost everyone experiences at one point or other during their life. They can leave us feeling devastated and confused. More often than not, our romantic relationships are the area in our lives where we have devoted the most time and energy into, and when this is suddenly taken away it can leave us feeling lost and uncertain. These are some common similarities that many people experience after a breakup…

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Family Enmeshment: Part 1

October 5, 2020

By: Danielle Bertini Being close with your family is not an inherently negative thing. For me, coming from a large Italian family meant that I was constantly around family, sharing stories, food, and details about my life. So, what does it mean to be too close? Enmeshment within family systems describes a lack of boundaries in which roles and expectations are confused, parents are overly reliant on their children for support, and children are not allowed to…

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