Imagine that you are standing at a podium on a stage in an auditorium. The seats are filled. There are bright lights illuminating you. All eyes are on you. There is silence as the audience waits for you to begin. Before you open your mouth, you notice your heart racing and your body sweating…

You’ve taken the first step and signed up for talk therapy, and now you’re finding that you’re having a hard time sharing. If this is your experience, just know that you are not the only one. As therapists, we see this quite frequently and know that this lack of sharing can be present for a number of reasons. In this article, I’ll talk about some of the common reasons people have difficulty talking in therapy and some things that you can do about it.

If you’ve signed up for therapy, there’s likely a reason for it. It’s possible that you haven’t been feeling well, that you need support or coping strategies, or that you’re going through a difficult season in life. Despite having made that initial decision to sign up for therapy, people can still struggle to open up and bring up the most sensitive topics with their therapists.

If you’ve ever been in therapy, then you know just how important it is to have a good working relationship with your therapist. A good working relationship often means that you feel comfortable with the therapist, have a good connection with them, and trust that you can share personal information without being judged. A good working relationship also means that there is good communication on both ends.

If you are suffering from anxiety and/or depression, you may be relieved to know that there are many effective treatments that do not involve pharmaceutical medications. A combination of lifestyle changes and therapies can help alleviate these conditions and improve overall health and well-being.

Stress tends to seep into every aspect of our lives. When it is present, our day-to-day life can begin to feel increasingly overwhelming. It can take a toll on our relationships, mental health, and even our physical well-being.

At times, it may feel like you have no other choice but to endure the stress and brush it off as best as you can. You may want to push it down and ignore the problem, hoping it will just go away on its own. Other times, this stress may consume every waking moment and completely take over your thoughts. Making it hard to do anything else. Either way, addressing the stress and figuring out a healthy way to manage it is key to protecting your mental and physical health.

A client once said to me…
Maybe the purpose of life is finding your purpose
Otherwise you’re not really living, just waking up.
Those lines have always resonated with me
Because maybe life really is that simple
Simply living so that eventually I could find me…

An original poem by Dereka Ross, LCPC

Valentine’s Day can be a mixed bag of emotions. Some people love it, others romanticize it, and others hate it. Loneliness, anxiety, low self-esteem, grief and loss, and trauma are all very real and prevalent feelings individuals have around this time of year.

While Valentine’s Day has come and gone, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone in your feelings, and we’re here to help put things in perspective and find creative ways to enjoy Valentine’s Day in the years to come (and the other days of the year!).

Have you ever been told to “stop being so sensitive” or “you’re overreacting”?! Recognize there is nothing wrong with you. You may just be wired differently than some others.

Being sensitive, you are more likely to be anxious, to be an overthinker, to be aware of subtleties, and to be self-critical. On the other hand, being an HSP, you are also more kind and empathetic, thoughtful and considerate towards others, as well as a deep and mindful thinker, someone who appreciates moments of beauty and contemplative reflection.

Counseling for anxiety, depression and grief sharply increased since the pandemic, and it has been more common for us to acknowledge that we may be in pain, in sorrow, and in grief. Since the outburst of COVID-19, the pandemic has not only created stress, anxiety and uncertainty about the future, but it has also made us feel some type of loss. The healing process takes time and effort for us to heal globally and individually.

2020年初爆发的疫情，到现在已经持续很长一段时间了。什么时候能彻底结束恢复正常谁也不知道，但大家都希望能早点恢复到以前的样子，我们就可以回国看望父母或者朋友了，大家也可以出国旅行了。疫情期间，在美国境内飞行看望朋友或者家人相对容易很多。但对于那些家人和朋友都在美国境外的人来讲，见面就很难了。国际航班全面取消，各种限制，导致节假日跟家人见面就更加困难了。

It has been a long journey since the pandemic has spread globally beginning January 2020. How long will it take to be back to normal? No one knows the answer, but we all hope that it will end soon, so that we can travel internationally. It’s relatively easier to fly domestically in the US to see friends, relatives and family if they are in another state. But, it’s not quite the case for those who have families who live outside of the United States. Traveling internationally has prevented many of us from reuniting with families to celebrate any holidays.

In a world where technology has taken over and everything is so readily accessible in the palm of our hand, it comes as no surprise that there are endless tasks we can manage by simply unlocking our smartphones. Banking, messaging, tweeting, and emailing. The list goes on!  But did you know that you can work on your mental health by downloading a simple app?

In this post, I’ll be going over some of my favorite, free mental health apps I like to use on a daily basis! Feel free to give them a try and see whether they’re the right ones for you!

If I had to pick one helpful piece of advice to print on a t-shirt, it would be “don’t believe everything your brain tells you!” The brain is a vital and fascinating organ that keeps us surviving, but it’s not perfect. In addition to all of the wonderful things the brain does, one of the brain’s jobs is to put out thoughts all day long, but not all of them are helpful, accurate, or true. These unhelpful thoughts and beliefs are called cognitive distortions.

Have you ever noticed that your anxiety spikes when you lay down to sleep at night? Have you ever wondered why this happens, or what you can do to stop that? Well, you are not alone! It is actually fairly common for anxiety to feel worse at night, and there are a few reasons for why that is. There are also a few ways that you can relieve anxiety at night so that you get a more restful night.

Teaching students under normal circumstances is challenging. Teachers juggle many roles as they motivate, engage and develop personal connections with their students to keep their students’ minds open to learning and developing. But what happens when the students and teachers alike are going through an overwhelming stressor as with the current pandemic? How does the situation affect student behavior, motivation and academic achievement? Here is a brief explanation of the mechanisms of stressors leading to trauma, as well as strategies to navigate the road ahead.

To my dear teachers and school staff,

There are so many things about this school year that are different. Dealing with rampant behavioral issues among your students. Dealing with administrators who may be short fused as they deal with a plethora of Covid related issues. Dealing with expectations from staff and parents that are not realistically achievable. These are some of the issues that have been arising. In all of this, you have received minimal training and have no previous experience with this. This is not what you signed up for!

Prior to the pandemic, online counseling services were much harder to find than they are now. When the pandemic hit, there was a lot of reluctance to try telehealth. Now that so much time has passed, mental health therapists and clients alike have discovered the many benefits and conveniences of online counseling services. Interestingly enough, we still see some hesitation to give telehealth a try (especially in people who have never experienced it), so we wanted to share about the many telehealth benefits that our clients have shared with us.

Over the past 2 years, the popularity of telehealth has grown tremendously. While telehealth can be really convenient, it’s not necessarily a fit for everyone. If you’ve been thinking about telehealth, we hope you’ll find this information helpful for deciding if it’s right for you.

Strong organization strategies can be extremely helpful for completing everything you need to get done and for maximizing your time. Having strong organizational skills helps maintain and support time management. Organization is very important for many aspects of your life, but particularly college. Keep reading if you are looking for some easy small steps to help with organization!