If I were to ask you to name all of the things that were wrong with you, I would bet that you would have a fairly easy time rattling off an entire list of all of the negative thoughts you have about yourself.. But what if I asked you to name the things that are right with you? Would this list be just as easy to create? When we shift our focus to understanding and building upon our strengths and natural qualities, it can create a mindset of resiliency, positivity, and confidence that allows individuals to be the makers of their own change. It is for this reason that exploring your personal strengths in therapy may be the key to unlocking your full potential. 

Whether you’re talking to a coach or a counselor, both will agree that your mindset matters.  We may use different language to discuss this topic, but the way you think and talk to yourself will impact your business and your mental health and emotional well-being. If you’re an entrepreneur who knows that you get caught up in unhelpful ways of thinking, you’re in the right spot!

While entrepreneurship can be an empowering and exciting experience, it can also be incredibly stressful.  In order to maintain one’s well-being and manage the ongoing stressors that will inevitably arise, business owners need to have a few handy stress management tools in their back pockets. Here are some of my favorites. 

Busy entrepreneurs who are interested in mindfulness might be concerned about having one more thing to do each day. Mindfulness, however, is a practice that we can integrate into our day. It’s not a task that requires us to set aside additional time. In fact, applying mindfulness concepts and practices can help us to be more calm, present, and focused as we go about our day. Let's take a look at how busy entrepreneurs can utilize these concepts throughout the day.

If you’re familiar with Dr. Gary Chapman’s Book on The 5 Love Languages, then you know just how impactful it can be when you show someone love according to their own love language.  You might also be aware of how impactful it can be when someone shows YOU love according to YOUR love language.  As we enter into this gift-giving holiday season, it’s worth keeping our friends and family members’ love languages in mind, so we can give a gift that TRULY hits the spot! 

When we fail to recognize another person’s love language in our gift-giving, we can miss the mark, despite making a genuine effort to show thoughtfulness and care.  When we fail to give a gift according to someone’s love language, the gift recipient can be left feeling overlooked and unappreciated.  In this blog, I’ll be sharing some gift giving mistakes from my own life (or others I know), so you can avoid making them this holiday season! 

Mindfulness encourages us to pay attention to the present moment; it means being aware of our thoughts, feelings, and our environment. When we practice mindfulness, we are helping ourselves to regulate emotions and reduce stress. However, this can be a difficult skill to master, especially for children! Here are some fun and creative ways to practice mindfulness and help your child stay present throughout the day. 

Have you ever noticed that when your child is upset, stressed, or frustrated, it can seem impossible for them to control their behaviors and reactions? You may also notice that their breathing is fast and short and that their heart rate has sped up too. The calm jar is one tool that we can use to help kids practice mindfulness, the ability to calm down and focus on what is going through their mind, body, and environment. This is an excellent (and fun!) craft for you and your child to make together. 

As a small business owner, the journey to success can be both thrilling and demanding. Research has shown that retreats offer numerous advantages for entrepreneurs, ranging from increased productivity and creativity to improved overall well-being. In this article, we will delve into ten research-backed ways that retreats can benefit small business owners and transform their professional lives.

Worry is a natural human emotion that we all experience from time to time. However, when worry becomes excessive or starts to interfere with our daily lives, it can lead to anxiety and stress. Fortunately, there are many strategies for managing worry that can help us to feel more calm and in control.

Mental health is a crucial aspect of overall well-being, and it is important for companies to prioritize the mental health of their employees. Demonstrating the importance of employees’ mental wellness requires companies to take visible action.  Here are a few ways that companies can do this.

To some degree, each of us are yearning to seize the right moment. We want to feel validated; we want to be happy, and we want our lives to have meaning. However, when studying self-identity, I have come to understand that it is not so much of what I think about myself as much as it is about how I feel about myself.

Everyone makes mistakes, but after the event, some of us continue to think about what we could have done better. We beat ourselves up about small things. If you find that you are your own worst critic — harder on yourself than others — maybe, it’s time to show a little self-compassion.

It’s not uncommon for some companies to have alcohol available at their holiday parties or large annual gatherings.  While the company itself might see this as a nice treat for their employees, the availability of alcohol can present unwanted challenges for people who are working really hard to maintain their sobriety.  Additionally, there are a number of other reasons why employees might not be interested in consuming alcohol at their company gatherings (religious beliefs, health reasons, medications, etc.).  Here are 6 strategies companies can use to be mindful of employees who do not drink alcohol when planning their next corporate gathering. 

“I hate that I want someone. Can’t I just be ok being alone?, ” a client of mine used to complain about her “being so needy”. In therapy, it was not uncommon to hear people feeling ashamed about needing someone. – In that sense, my client was not alone. Even among mental health practitioners, early training on mental wellness heavily emphasized independence – you are responsible for what you feel, no one else.

Have you ever seen groups of seniors practicing Tai chi in the park early in the morning? It has been one of the most nostalgic moments for me ever since I moved to the U.S. three years ago. Tai chi is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits, and meditation. Of course, with its increasing popularity, Tai chi is no longer limited to the Chinese community today.

Someone who watches Tai chi practice for the first time may be shocked by how slow and soft Tai chi looks. That's right. The most powerful principle in Tai chi is called “overcoming hardness with softness.”

For those who are getting ready for mental health therapy, the most important question is: “how can I benefit the most from therapy?” I have five tips for clients who are getting ready for this journey with their therapist.

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is, “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” Based on this definition alone, you can see that mindfulness can be incorporated into our daily lives without consuming additional time.

Women are often raised with messages about being caring, nurturing, thoughtful, and family oriented.  These communicated values, as well as the behaviors that we have observed in the women before us, sometimes result in continued patterns of taking care of others while putting our own wants, needs, and self-care on the back burner.

Mindfulness is about working to be present in your current activities and moments. Additionally, it has been shown to help alleviate the intensity of anxiety symptoms. Sometimes mindfulness activities can seem daunting to fit into your schedule, or complicated to execute. Here are some quick ways that you can incorporate more mindfulness into your day.