Articles
Thoughts on Counseling and Therapy
The Adolescent Struggle
What is adolescence? The period of growth and development between childhood and adulthood that occurs between ages 13 and 19, although both the physical and psychological changes that take place often start even earlier, between ages 9 and 12. Adolescence can be a...
A Core Issue in Adoption: Identity
November is National Adoption Awareness Month (NAAM). But for adoptees, it’s become National Adoptee Awareness Month. The name change by adoptees is part of their efforts to have a voice in discussions about adoption, rather than having parents and adoption agencies...
Anxiety, Another Stage of Grief
I was unprepared for how Kathy’s death would affect my coworkers and me. Kathy, our administrative assistant, was someone everyone knew and interacted with each day. Sadly, she died suddenly while at work. We all felt the loss of Kathy with the added layer of being...
Picky Positives
We have all heard the expressions, “He is picky about what he eats”, or the variation, “Stop nitpicking!” If those are contexts in which you think of the word, “picky”, then maybe you associate a negative connotation with it. In that case, you might have read the...
Vulnerability in Relationships
I was recently given a coloring page from my nephew. This picture did not follow the rules; it was full of coloring outside of the lines and a blue horse. It was wild and he was proud of his work. He worked up the courage to hand his magical creation to me and I...
Hurry Sickness
Life gets busy, and gets busy fast. Between work, carting kids to and from school and their activities, errand running, church, volunteering, the schedule gets packed, and gets packed fast. Even think about when someone you run into or say hello to asks you how you...
The Second Arrow of Suffering
We all have had something upsetting or disappointing happen, and sometimes we get frustrated at ourselves or others. We wish things could be different. Our interpretation of events plays a large role in how we experience them. For example, someone at work or home left...
Toxic Positivity: The Damaging Results of Good Vibes Only
The world is a strange place right now. For many of us, we have experienced some major life changes during this pandemic and the statement, “the struggle is real” just seems to fit. Working from home, remote learning, missing out on your senior year of college, losing...
There’s no Place like “Alone” for the Holidays
Watching the heavy, gentle snow drift down between the trees outside my windows today, I began to consider the value of solitude. When I’m by myself, it can be a wonderful opportunity of uninterrupted contemplation. But here’s the thing: sometimes solitude can seem...
Grief and Gratitude in the Midst of COVID-19
It’s hard to believe it’s been seven months since I moved my entire clinical practice to telehealth and my kids have been home from school for most of that time. Seven. Months. Has it felt like seventeen years to anyone else? COVID-19 has impacted so many aspects of...