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Make New Friends By Trying New Things!

September 29, 2018

Andrew McNaughton, LCSW, CADC As we age, it can become increasingly difficult to meet new people and make new friends. If we are lucky, we hold onto some older friendships, but as real-life circumstances change (work, marriage, parenthood, etc.), we can find ourselves less engaged with our social circle. The solution to this problem would seem obvious: meet new people! But this is not as easy as it might seem. In my work as a therapist, one…

5 Ways to Handle Crisis

September 28, 2018

Throughout their lives, many people will go through a crisis or challenging occurrence. While experiencing crises and challenges is a normal part of life, not everyone knows how to handle or respond to a crisis while experiencing it. I find that many clients of mine are attempting to cope with a crisis in their life and are looking for skills to utilize when the crisis is currently occurring, or even to handle a crisis that happened in…

Understanding Perfectionism and How Therapy Can Be of Help

September 26, 2018

Shannon M. Duffy, MFT, LCPC Audio Version Perfectionism is a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable. However, perfectionism can be viewed as a motivator for wanting to achieve one’s best and in turn can cause despair if you are unable to be the best. When perfectionism goes beyond the need to achieve high-standards to become distressing is where therapy can be helpful to understand those thought patterns and behaviors, in addition to identifying positive…

Coping With Anxiety At Work

September 24, 2018

Madissyn Fredericks, Licensed Professional Counselor, Symmetry Counseling Have you ever been sitting at your desk at work and felt overwhelming anxiety? It can often feel like you can’t escape the racing thoughts and excessive worry as you are stuck trying to complete your work. You may feel like you can’t just get up and leave to go for a walk or get some air, so what can you do? Anxiety can be debilitating in all areas of…

Finding Motivation When You Are Feeling Depressed

September 22, 2018

Madissyn Fredericks, Licensed Professional Counselor, Symmetry Counseling If you have ever felt depressed and experienced a lack of motivation, you have probably been told at some point to go take a walk, hang out with friends, or “just go do something.” It also isn’t news to you that just “doing something” is so much easier said than done. When you feel depressed, it isn’t that you don’t want to do things, it is that getting motivated to…

It Isn’t Always Personal

September 20, 2018

Madissyn Fredericks, Licensed Professional Counselor, Symmetry Counseling Have you ever felt like someone was rude, judged, or criticized you and it just ruined your day? You may spend the rest of the day thinking to yourself, “What did I do to deserve that?”, “Did I do something wrong?”, “Why did they treat me like that?”. While the statement “Don’t take it personally” is said often in these situations, it is much more difficult to think about as…

Benefits of Family Therapy for Addiction

September 18, 2018

Seeing your loved one struggling with an addiction is very difficult for not only you but everyone else around you, including the individual who is addicted. Assuring that your loved one who is struggling with an addiction is the first step, but then for everyone who may be involved in their lives to also seek support. Family therapy can be beneficial for everyone so everyone can understand the addiction and identify ways to help and support. This…

How to Choose the Right Counselor

September 17, 2018

Being able to find the right counselor for anyone can be really difficult. It is just like finding a doctor or dentist that you like, but with your therapist, you have to feel comfortable with them due to the amount of information you will be divulging to them. It is difficult to open up to anyone and even more to a stranger. Feeling comfortable in having the right therapist is key. In this blog post, I will…

5 Ways to Practice Resilience in the Face of Adversity

September 16, 2018

We live in a society where many different people are walking their own paths of adversity and also resilience. I come across many clients who have truly struggled in their lives and are searching for the guidance and coping skills to overcome their adversities. Individuals who are searching for these skills truly exhibit something most people strive for: resilience. A recent Medium article titled, “Resilience: How to Rescue Yourself from Adversity,” discussed this very topic that I…

8 Simple Steps for Choosing the Right Therapist in Chicago

September 14, 2018

When feeling depressed, anxious, or struggling with your personal relationships, it can be very tricky to pick yourself up and to start to feel better. One way to move toward that goal of feeling better is initiating therapy. If you’ve made the decision to start feeling better, congratulations! You are one step closer to feeling better! Initiating this big step in your life can be stressful as is, but picking the right counselor can also be overwhelming,…