Live Better. Love Better. Work Better.

therapist

Categories

What is Emotional Intelligence and How Can We Increase It?

November 22, 2020

Emotional intelligence has become a term loosely thrown around in various situations. Whether it’s utilized to praise someone or put someone down it seems evaluating someone’s emotional intelligence has become as commonplace as recognizing an individual’s intellect. Although the terminology has become more commonplace, do we know what we’re actually saying when we refer to emotional intelligence? “Emotional intelligence, also known as EQ, deals with people’s ability to recognize the presence of a negative or ‘hot’ emotional…

Read More

Hustle vs. Align: Why Is Exhaustion Viewed as a Status Symbol?

November 9, 2020

By: Bridgette Williams Gottwald, LPC, NCC Are you ready to leave behind a life marked by comparison, competition and exhaustion and recraft a life marked by meaning, connection and unconditional love?  What if we all traded out the unrealistic idea of perfection for presence? What if instead of hustling so much, we focused more on aligning? We must destroy the idea that we have to be constantly working, or hustling, in order to be successful. We have…

Read More

The Importance of Attractive Alternatives

October 29, 2020

By Eric Dean JD MBA MA MA LPC CADC In the 1960’s, researchers conducted multiple studies with rats on the effects of drugs. The experimenters placed rats in a cage with two levers, one with drug-laced water and the other with plain water. Rats would obsessively press the lever for the drug-laced water until they overdosed and died. The conclusion then was that the chemical hooks in the drug were the most important factor in addiction; that…

Read More

The Power of Pets

October 15, 2020

By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC “In an age of research when it is tempting to reduce emotions to biochemical reactions and to rely heavily on the technology of medicine, it is refreshing to find that a person’s health and well-being may be improved by prescribing contact with other living things.” — Michael J. McCulloch, MD, co-founder of Pet Partners When it comes to mental health, research proves that there are many benefits behind pet ownership and interaction.…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

What Is Impostor Syndrome?

September 20, 2020

Kaitlin Broderick LCPC Do you ever feel like you are an impostor at your job and someone is going to come in and recognize that you are a fraud at any moment? This is actually an extremely common phenomenon that people of all ages experience at some point or other in their life and is called impostor syndrome. It encompasses a pervasive belief that you don’t belong or are unqualified for what you are doing and someone…

Read More

Get Grounded: Easy Techniques to Feel Balanced

September 17, 2020

By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC During 2020, all of us have quickly learned that feeling unbalanced has become the new normal. All of our plans have been disrupted and destroyed, schedules have changed immensely, and things that used to be fairly simple have become more difficult. Particularly after traumas, it’s completely normal to experience flashbacks, anxiety, and symptoms that bring about discomfort. These grounding techniques serve people positively in that they help to control symptoms by…

Read More

Exercise and Mental Health: Getting Started

September 16, 2020

Megan Mulroy, LPC  It’s no secret that exercising can improve your mental health. Moving your body regularly for even just 20-30 minutes a day can decrease symptoms of anxiety, depression, and increase mood and boost energy and productivity levels. Even though we have this information, starting to add exercise to your routine can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t like exercising or if you haven’t done it in a while. There are so many options and if…

Read More