Articles
Thoughts on Counseling and Therapy
Understanding and Overcoming Control Issues
The issue of control is a topic that comes up frequently in therapy sessions. It can be a complicated and confusing topic for people while they are struggling. When a person senses they are losing control they often begin to feel anxious. The other side of the coin is...
Black Lives Matter? Matter is a Minimum.
Black Lives Matter? Matter is a minimum. Black lives are NEEDED! Black lives are LOVED! Black lives are WORTHY! Educate yourself by asking and listening to a person of color about their experiences, so you can develop empathy for this long and ongoing movement. Please...
Why Suicide is at its Peak in May (and what you can do about it)
Ask anyone (particularly in Michigan) when they believe the highest suicide rates are during the year, and we’d probably all say January or February. Those dark, dreary days where the sun blends in with the darkness, leaving a pale gray weariness dipped in sludgy ice...
To All the Moms
Sometimes we think that a big part of what happens in therapy involves criticizing the mother of the patient. Actually as a profession, therapists probably have a greater sense of the importance of mothers than almost any other group. D.W. Winnicott helped us...
When Work is Home and Home is Work
We all miss a number of things at the moment, but I’ve been missing my car. That rusted out, dented in, squeaky wipers, 2001 hatchback Ford Focus (aka silver fox named Hank the Tank) has long been a safe space for this counselor to drive home after a long day of work....
Growing Resilience in a World Gone Wrong
What a strange, exhausting, frightening month it has been. Our rhythms of life have been fully interrupted; a day in the life of quarantine can move from panic to boredom, contentment to grief, anxiety to depression, and yes, joy to gratitude… only to rinse and repeat...
Thank You, a COVID-19 Article
It has been just over two weeks since moving all of my clients to telehealth. I received news that we may have been exposed and felt the only thing to do in order to protect clients and colleagues was to move the practice home. My new work-mates have become teens who...
Managing Anxiety During a Pandemic
Like many Americans, late in the night and early in the morning the glow of a smartphone lights up my face. Technology has made a tap on a screen the possibility of a continual visual portal for coronavirus and economic concerns. With the government discussing social...
Staying Grounded in a Pandemic
As we move into the second week of Michigan’s stay-at-home order, many of us are feeling the stress of schools and daycares closing, job loss or job uncertainty, all while continuously checking our news feeds to see the latest updates on the COVID-19 pandemic. During...
Turning the “What ifs” Around
Getting Along with One Another during a Quarantine I must admit, as much as I advise people against dwelling on the “What if…” questions that tend to drag us down, I have fallen prey to such thoughts in the midst of our ever-changing world. Staying in the present,...