Live Better. Love Better. Work Better.

marriage counseling

Categories

It’s Past Your Bedtime! Why You Need Your Sleep

March 6, 2019
Its Past Your Bedtime Why You Need Your Sleep 5c8aae307361d

Amanda Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Do you get less than seven hours of sleep a night? If so, you could experience symptoms such as lack of focus, decreased productivity, fatigue, and a variety of physical symptoms. Getting enough sleep is very important. Sleep Cleans Your Brain Simply put, you need sleep because your brain needs to be cleaned. Jeff Stibel reported that the brain needs to cleanse itself of toxins that build up when were awake. This cleaning…

Read More

Relationship Tips for New Parents

February 28, 2019
Relationship Tips for New Parents 5c76af714f334

Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW So, you and your partner have a new baby. It’s likely you have heard all the words of solicited and unsolicited wisdom and cautionary tales. People are always excited to tell you how you are going to fall in love with your child the second you see them, or to tell you that you can forget all the things you used to enjoy, there’s no time to read anymore, or go out, or travel.…

Read More

Coping Mechanisms for a Bad Day

February 25, 2019
Coping Mechanisms for a Bad Day 5c799a1c14e47

Laura Cox In the famous words of Dr. Seuss, “when you’re in a slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.” Bad days can happen to all of us. Whether your bad day is brought on by an interpersonal conflict, a disappointing circumstance, or you are just feeling “off,” there are ways to cope with your bad day and improve your mood. I love Dr. Seuss’s quote because it validates that bad…

Read More

Battling with Body Image

February 22, 2019
Battling with Body Image 5c7999d9855d5

It can be difficult to feel content in your body, particularly when living in our thin-obsessed culture which insists bodies need constant monitoring and modification. Between social media scrolling, comments from others about their bodies, and potentially your own negative self-talk, it seems as if this unhelpful feedback is coming from all angles. Body image dissatisfaction can feel so pervasive that it can be overwhelming to know where to start with changing body image thoughts. If you…

Read More

The Interrelated Relationship Between Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors

February 19, 2019
The Interrelated Relationship Between Thoughts Feelings and Behaviors 5c799b4a9d249

The interrelated relationship between one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors creates a loop. Sometimes the thoughts, feelings, behaviors (TFB) loop can be informative and helpful. For example, the thought: I’m a good person who cares about others invokes the feeling: pride (because I’m a good person for caring about others) which informs an aligning behavior: donate to crisis relief. And the cycle continues. I think I’m a good person, which makes me feel good about myself, so I…

Read More

What Does “LGBTQ” Mean?

February 18, 2019

LGBTQ is a commonly used term identifying individuals who are gay, lesbian, transgender, queer, bisexual (and there many other terms out there can be added on). LGBTQ has become more recognizable in our society, and you might also hear the words “queer community” to identify these individuals. In this post, I want to explain to you what each letter means. Lesbian Lesbian is a female identifying homosexual who has an attraction for other female identified in a…

Read More

Common Questions About LGBTQIA

February 16, 2019

This post will answer some LGBTQIA questions and the concept behind this. This is not a comprehensive list and there are many questions/answers still out there. Everyone also has their own interpretation of certain questions, so please be mindful and not judgmental to others. What does “gay” mean? Gay means loving/having an interest in someone that is the same gender as you. Examples would include a gay man wanting to have a special connection with another man,…

Read More

Meet Our Therapists — Paula Gonzalez

February 11, 2019
BlogBeauty MeetPaula 5c6b0f7f21bb9

At Symmetry Counseling, we are proud of our staff of highly trained and experienced licensed mental health professionals. In the above video, meet Paula Gonzalez, a Licensed Professional Counselor here at Symmetry Counseling. What made you decide to be a therapist? I knew I wanted to become a therapist at a very young age after witnessing a homeless man who appeared to be experiencing some kind of psychosis or schizophrenia. So at that point, I was pretty…

Read More

Spring Cleaning: 3 Simple Steps to Decluttering

February 6, 2019

Andrew McNaughton, LCSW, CADC Most of use have too much stuff, and probably do not use even a fraction of it. Our material possessions may bring us comfort and joy, and may even serve practical purposes that can help us be more productive with our time and effort. That said, most of it is probably just clutter. We generally do not truly need any of these things, and in many cases, may not even really want them…

Read More

How to Find Meaning Out of Shame

February 1, 2019
How to Find Meaning Out of Shame 5c5b282ac946b

I work with many clients who struggle with their self-esteem related to shame they feel either related to their professional or personal life, or perhaps even both. My job as their clinical therapist is to help clients understand the reasons where their low self-esteem is stemming from. After doing that, I help provide the clients tools on how to cope with this shame they are experiencing. Through experiencing the feeling of shame, it is heavily connected with…

Read More