Educational Blogs from Our Mental Health Therapists

Learn about common challenges, including depression, anxiety, relationships,
trauma, and more, written by Maryland therapists!

Burnout, Anxiety, Resources, Business Owners Melissa Wesner Burnout, Anxiety, Resources, Business Owners Melissa Wesner

How Companies Can Partner with Local Therapy Practices to Improve Their Employees’ Mental Health

Partnering with local counseling practices can be a valuable way to improve the mental health of your employees. These collaborations help your employees on an individual basis while helping the productivity and health of the company as a whole. Here are a few ways that companies can collaborate with counseling practices to support your employees’ mental health.

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Burnout, Anxiety, Mindfulness, Business Owners Melissa Wesner Burnout, Anxiety, Mindfulness, Business Owners Melissa Wesner

Ways Companies Can Prioritize Their Employees’ Mental Health at Work to Improve Company Morale

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.

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Anxiety, Depression, Parenting, Resources Melissa Wesner Anxiety, Depression, Parenting, Resources Melissa Wesner

Post-Weaning Depression and Its Effects on a New Mom's Mental Health

Shortly after I started weaning my toddler, sadness engulfed me. I felt like melted ice cream, honestly. This led me down a rabbit hole of reading. I am sure that you are joining me in my surprise that as a therapist, a former educator, and a mother who reads every parenting article I can get my hands on, I had never heard of post-weaning depression. Well, I think that the answer is two-fold. From what I can gather, there is limited research on post-weaning depression. This blog is centered on raising awareness on post-weaning depression, along with an encouragement for greater societal attention and research.

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Parenting, Children & Teens, Resources, Anxiety Melissa Wesner Parenting, Children & Teens, Resources, Anxiety Melissa Wesner

Supporting Your Child with ADHD Through Promoting Self-Esteem and Capability

Supporting your child in effectively managing their symptoms of ADHD, while celebrating them and accepting them for all that they are, will aid long term success and elevated self-esteem. This will promote self-confidence, self-acceptance, and assurance that can handle all that life throws their way. 

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Faith-Based, Mindfulness Melissa Wesner Faith-Based, Mindfulness Melissa Wesner

Self-Identity Begins With Self-Talk

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.

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Brainspotting, Resources Melissa Wesner Brainspotting, Resources Melissa Wesner

Helpful Answers to Commonly Asked Questions About Brainspotting Services

Brainspotting is a cutting edge brain and body based treatment modality that doesn’t require you to do a lot of talking. Despite the fact that Brainspotting was discovered almost 20 years ago, many people have still not heard about it. In this blog, we’ll be going over common questions that people have when they first learn about Brainspotting. Have questions? Let us answer them!

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Resources, Biases, Oppression, Depression, Recovery Melissa Wesner Resources, Biases, Oppression, Depression, Recovery Melissa Wesner

Important Mental Health Awareness Dates to Add to Your Calendar

Every year, several organizations and programs dedicate time to bring awareness to certain topics, including mental health, substance use, stress management, and more. Over the course of the year, each organization and/or program brings awareness, reduces stigma, offers a variety of shareable resources, and hosts helpful events locally and nationally. If you’re looking to learn more about a particular topic, share helpful resources, and partake in local opportunities, be sure to mark your calendars with these important dates!

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Resources, International Clients, Biases, Oppression Melissa Wesner Resources, International Clients, Biases, Oppression Melissa Wesner

Helpful Strategies to Assist with Tackling Culture-Related Struggles

Multicultural counseling does not provide quick solutions. I understand that in front of me is a unique person with a rich history of cultural interactions. This is their journey toward the fruition of their own identity. This is not just about culture. This is about who they are as a person and whether they are ready, and how to get ready to bring wholeness and self-leadership into their identity. In multicultural counseling, we explore what is a relationship that one wants to develop with their own culture and other cultures? And more importantly, how to get there? I feel honored to be on this journey with many clients. I found the following strategies really helpful to support this personal growth. 

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Anxiety, Resources, International Clients, Biases Melissa Wesner Anxiety, Resources, International Clients, Biases Melissa Wesner

Understanding Emotional Struggles from a Cultural Lens

I have never felt so Chinese before I came to the U.S. As a matter of fact, I rarely mentioned the word “Chinese” in my daily life while I was in China–I never had to, given that everyone around me was Chinese. Cultural diversity in the U.S. has given me a chance to reflect on my relationship with my own culture, and more importantly, what is the relationship that I want to develop with my own culture. As a therapist, my experiences with clients tell me that culture plays a significant role in people’s mental wellbeing, especially in U.S. society. In this article, I will share some examples of when culture is at the center of people’s mental struggles.

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How to Best Support Your Highly Sensitive Child

“I think she/he is just too sensitive,” some parents complain. Indeed, some children are more sensitive than others. But does high sensitivity only bring trouble? Who gets to decide what is the right amount of sensitivity and what is too much? Those difficult questions take us into an important research area–HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). If you get frustrated with yourself or/and your child over their high sensitivity, this article is going to help you learn about highly sensitive people and how to best support your child.

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Recognizing and Treating Compassion Fatigue & Burnout with Helping Professions

Our dedication to others makes us well-suited for positions within helping professions; whether you’re a fellow therapist, a medical provider, a first responder, a humanitarian aid worker, the ability to meet humans with unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding is key. Compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and burnout can affect the best of caregivers.

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The Internal Fight Against Anxiety and Depression: a CBT Based Coping Skill

This is a recommendation I provide all my clients experiencing anxiety and depression, to put up a “fight” with their negative thoughts. I do not want this internal dialogue to be in contempt, but rather provide your mind with the alternative perspective- one that a parent may provide a child. You are the parent. You are in charge. Your anxious thoughts are your inner child. Your job- and it takes practice- is to explain to the “child” why their concerns are not actuality or that should they become actualized that they- you- can handle it. This models the value of thought reframing and prevention of catastrophizing. So here are a few examples.

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Boundary Setting, Recovery, Business Owners Melissa Wesner Boundary Setting, Recovery, Business Owners Melissa Wesner

Things Your Employees In Substance Use Recovery Want You to Know

“Treating” their employees sometimes means providing alcohol at these gatherings. After all, alcohol is a more expensive offering that many people recognize and appreciate.  Having said that, making alcohol available at these gatherings can present unexpected challenges for your employees who are in recovery.  After 7 years of working in drug and alcohol treatment and years of providing therapy to professionals in recovery, here are some things for companies to know as they plan their company’s events. 

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How Companies Can Be Mindful of Employees in Recovery Around the Holidays

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. 

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Anxiety, Highly-Sensitive Person Melissa Wesner Anxiety, Highly-Sensitive Person Melissa Wesner

4 Strategies for Managing Negative or Self-Critical Thoughts

Sometimes the thoughts that pop into our heads are ones that make us worry about the future or feel bad about ourselves. And some of these thoughts can be particularly irritating in that they like to stick around or pop up frequently. When we’ve experienced certain thoughts repeatedly, there can be a point in which we actually start believing that they are true, even when they most definitely are not. If you’ve ever struggled with depression or anxiety, it’s likely that you’ve experienced lots of these annoying thoughts.  If you’re a human, it’s 100% likely that you’ve experienced some unhelpful, self-critical thoughts too. 

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Biases, Online Counseling, Resources Melissa Wesner Biases, Online Counseling, Resources Melissa Wesner

Top Reasons Why People Don’t Sign Up For Mental Health Therapy & Our Responses to Them

Many of us have never been taught that therapy was an option for preventative care or times of emotional distress. In fact, many of us have received harmful messages that dissuade people from seeking services that have the potential to help them. Here are a few of the most common reasons we hear for why people don’t seek mental health therapy. We’ve thrown in our own thoughts on these reasons for good measure!

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