Yoga for Mental Health
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
If you are like me, you like to take advantage of the fun, free offerings around your city. I have always enjoyed how many free outdoor yoga classes take place in the summer around Atlanta, and I try to...
The Second Arrow: Self-Compassion in Grief
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
When you hear the word “grief,” what emotions come to mind? We typically tend to associate grief with the sadness of losing a loved one. What’s often less visible are the many other emotions that accompany grief, some of...
The Best Advice Your Therapist Ever Gave You
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
If you’ve ever been in therapy, you can probably point to some helpful things you learned from your therapist. Maybe it was the sleep routine she recommended that helped you finally rest well. Maybe it was his reminder that...
The Anxious Generation: Book Review
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
If you have ever thought… Kids these days are always on their phones! My middle schooler never spends time with any friends in person. Taking my high schooler’s phone as a consequence causes more problems than it’s worth. Why...
The Importance of “Mattering” to Teens
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
I recently read the book “Never Enough” by Jennifer Breheny Wallace, which dives into achievement culture among adolescents and how it contributes to mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. Through my own school-based counseling work with high school...
Positive Self-Talk for Adolescents
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
We’ve all encountered individuals who seem to constantly criticize or speak negatively about others. Being in the presence of such negativity can significantly affect our mood and self-esteem. However, for many teenagers, that critical voice isn’t external—it’s their own...
Creating a Values-Based Summer Plan
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
One of the tenets of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is identifying your values, or the things that are most important to you, and taking action steps toward living out those values in your everyday life. With the semester...
It’s Time to Rest: 5 Types of Rest to Add Into Your Routine
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
Whenever we are facing a season that can bring with it times of busyness and activity, it can also be a great time to prioritize rest. We all may think of different things when we think about rest. Rest...
How Teenagers Can Find Connection
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
This generation’s teenagers have more ways to be connected than any previous generation. Whether it’s through social media, texting, or Facetime, today’s adolescents have more avenues of connecting than any other generation could have dreamed about. Despite all the...
How to Fight Boredom with a Summer Routine
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
Like many of you, I have been hearing a chorus of “I’m bored” from my school-aged clients recently. Without the structure of a typical school schedule, many teenagers get out of the routine of doing anything at all during...
The Importance of Community for Young Adults
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
As a society, we are lonelier than we’ve ever been. According to a study from the Survey Center on American Life in 2019, almost 50% of all Americans reported having less than 3 close friends, up from 25% reporting...
ACT Series: How Acceptance Helps You Get Un-Stuck
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
If you are a Harry Potter fan (like me), you probably remember the scene in the first movie where Harry, Ron, and Hermione go down the trapdoor to find the Sorcerer’s Stone. You may also remember one of their...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Living a Meaningful Life
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
Living a rich, full, and meaningful life. Discovering and chasing after the things you value. Not allowing your mental health symptoms to get in the way of doing the things that are important to you. All of these are...
Burnout: Maintaining a Healthy Work Life Amidst Pandemic-Level Stress
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
One result of the ongoing pandemic is an increase in the number of workers reporting burnout. It’s not just the frontline doctors and nurses who are reporting increased levels of burnout at work; it’s teachers, school counselors, restaurant workers,...
3 Strategies for Starting an Exercise Routine
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
If you are anything like me, you’d rather stay snuggled up on the couch with your dog than go outside and exercise. Especially when the weather turns cold, it is much more enjoyable to curl up with a book...
And a Mindful New Year
Bailey Smith , M.Ed.
We all have different pictures that come to mind when we hear the word “mindfulness.” Some of us may think of sitting cross-legged deep in meditation, while others of us may think of sitting outside near a flowing stream....