This morning before rolling out of bed, I picked up my phone to scroll Facebook. The first five posts were all sharing about different people who died from COVID. Life right now is hard. As a counselor, I meet with people who are hurting on a regular basis; in addition to my clients, my family and friends are struggling. Helping others is especially challenging as…
I was recently asked to review the book, She Writes for Him: Stories of Living Hope, and I came across a quote that I can’t shake. Carole Leathem writes, “Learn to live with fear, not in fear.” I can’t tell you how many times I have talked with people who believe all fear is bad. While anxiety can be crippling for some, a little anxiety…
I’m often asked, “Why do you think there is such an increase in anxiety and depression among college students?” The answer is not a simple one, but there is one contributing factor that I believe has to do with our parenting. Culture has taught us to continually build up our children’s self-esteem, and tell them how wonderful they are. We are encouraged to protect them…
Have you ever wondered why you tend to have nightmares related to traumatic events in your life? The stronger the emotional response is to an event, the deeper the memory is embedded in your hippocampus. While you are sleeping, your brain reviews information and sorts and organizes the data. When we experience trauma, we often “stuff” the experience. We try not to think about it,…
May is National Mental Health Month and we need to practice skills to improve/maintain our mental health now more than ever. Being in quarantine and social distancing has taken its toll on most of us; there are a few things we can do to help us to reduce negative effects during this stressful season. Create a safe place in your home where you can go…
I’ve thought about writing this post for some time, but just could never “find time” to sit down and do it. Perhaps it wasn’t not having time (for we are trying to shelter in), but more of a dread. If I write about it, it seems to feel more real — its not that I’m in denial. I know we are in a weird season….