This is our second post in the series on how to find a counselor. The first post focused on people or resources that you could contact in order to form a small list of potential counselors. This post will help you evaluate your list and choose who you want to work with. Continue reading How to find a Counselor (Part Two)
In recent posts, I have been trying to demystify counseling in order to make it more approachable for those who have never experienced it before. Once you come to the realization that you may benefit from counseling and want to give it a try, the next step is to find a counselor or therapist that you are comfortable working with. I know that this can feel like an overwhelming task and that is the reason that I have written this series of posts specifically focused on finding a counselor. Continue reading How to find a Counselor (Part 1)
Often times, one of the things that my therapy clients get frustrated by at some point in the process of working together is the fact that change does not happen as quickly as they would like. I am sure that you have experienced this frustration outside of a therapy office, too. Once we set our minds to making a change happen we want it to happen right away. Even instantaneously would be great. I have experienced this desire both personally and professionally, so I get it! Continue reading When Change Does Not Happen As Fast As You’d Like….(Part 1)
If you’ve never been in counseling or therapy before, you may wonder what happens during a session. In a recent post, I addressed what to expect from your initial counseling session, but this post gets at more of what happens in ongoing sessions. Each counselor or therapist may structure their sessions a little differently based on their approach to counseling, the presenting problem you want to address and their personality, but this post will provide a general overview of what to expect. Continue reading What happens in a therapy or counseling session?
Often times, people may be considering counseling/therapy, but hold back because they believe in one of the common myths about counseling. This post explores six common myths about counseling/therapy and the reality behind these myths. Continue reading Myths about Counseling
Those who have never experienced counseling/therapy often wonder what the experience is going to be like. This post includes links to all of the posts that I have already written about this topic as well as quotes from others. It is my hope that the blog posts and quotes help give some insight into what to expect as you start the counseling journey. Continue reading Everything Counseling
You’ve probably heard about depression and anxiety that occur during pregnancy or the postpartum period. You may have even read about them in my previous posts on perinatal mental health. But you may be less familiar with the remaining perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS). If you or a loved one are experiencing mental health symptoms during pregnancy or in the postpartum period, but they don’t seem to fit your understanding of perinatal depression or anxiety you may want to look into some of the other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
What are the other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders?
Continue reading Are there other Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders? (Part One)
There are many reasons why people may be hesitant to begin counseling, but one of the concerns that I hear most often is the difficulty of making time to attend appointments. It would be easy for me to say that if counseling was important to someone they would make time for it, but I know that there can be practical time barriers to attending counseling. Time can be a significant barrier to counseling for those who work outside of the home, attend school or are the primary caregiver for their children during typical office hours. I hope that this post may inspire you to think about ways that you can work around the time barriers that interfere in getting you or a loved one the counseling services you may need.
Continue reading 15 Creative Ways to Make Time for Counseling
The dictionary defines identity as “the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another”
Often times, people describe feeling like they have lost a bit (or a lot) of their identity as they become parents. Some people may feel fine with this shift and others find it distressing.
I’ve heard this loss of identity presented as a concern from many women that I have encountered inside and outside of the therapy office. After their children are born, some women report that they don’t feel like themselves and struggle to find a sense of who they are outside of being a mother. Some mothers also report that they struggle in figuring out how to make time for the things that they love outside of their families because they are focused on their children and feel guilty if they shift their focus elsewhere for even brief periods of time. These types of concerns have been shared from parents across the board including; expectant parents, parents of infants, parents of school age children and parents of teens. Continue reading Where am I? What happened to me? Re-Discovering Your Identity After Becoming a Parent
Continue reading What should I expect during my first counseling session?