Interpersonal Effectiveness: Receiving & Giving Validation
Brittany Glaser , M.A., M.Div.
When we are running our DBT classes, a lot of clients will ask me what to expect with each specific group. One of the groups that we run is called Interpersonal Effectiveness. In this group, we focus on learning...
Self-Care isn’t Selfish
Kate Smith , M.A.
As we reach the year anniversary of a time filled with confusion, fear, anger, and loss, we are all wondering how much longer we can handle what 2020 brought us. When can we safely gather with friends and family...
Setting a Self-Care Routine Can Help Improve Your Physical, Spiritual and Mental Well-Being
Making a commitment to self is one of the best New Year’s resolutions a person can make! With most of us quarantining during the past year due to Covid-19, it gave us the opportunity to take a step back...
The Importance of Giving
During the year, we have had many ups and downs. Throughout the months, we have been focused on survival and how to take care of our own household. This is understandable, we have to help ourselves before we are...
My Plate is Too Full – How to Manage Stress and Anxiety
Alice D. Hoag , Ed.D.
Right about now, Covid fatigue is setting in. According to Dr. Kotwicki of Skyland Trail in Atlanta, statistics from his psychiatric facility are showing an increase in anxiety-related admissions (2020). Many people are being admitted for physical manifestations of...
Managing Stress & Anxiety
Maddie McGarrah , M.Ed.
As I am sure we have all felt, the past months have brought on multiple stressors. In dealing with the global pandemic, working from home, your child’s school schedule changing, an economic depression, racial injustice, and many more, it...
Corroding Relationships with Contemptment
Another act besides criticizing that negatively impacts relationships is contemptment. This behavior is also known as disrespect or coming from a place of superiority. This is the biggest indicator of divorce according to Gottman’s research. Couples who are contemptuous...
Distracting from Racing Thoughts
We have all experienced racing thoughts that seem uncontrollable or impossible to untangle. Many times it can be helpful to reframe the thought or return to a calming mantra to feel grounded. These skills can work for many situations,...
Criticism vs. Complaint
In the past two months, we have been in close quarters with our partners and noticed some cute and some not so cute habits of theirs… Or maybe things were rocky before sheltering in place, and now those issues...
The Power of Music and Dance
Most of us love music and find ourselves singing or dancing along when our old favorite songs come through our radios. Almost everyone can think of times music and dance has positively impacted their lives. It can send shivers...
Addressing Our Grief Over COVID-19
Needless to say, there has been major changes in our world in the past month. We are all going to adjust and come terms with COVID-19 at different times and different levels. For instance, do you look outside your...
How to Manage Our Household Anxieties
So here we are, still at home with school remaining out, all due COVID-19 and keeping each other healthy and safe. Yet, how do we keep our household happy and calm with everyone home and getting annoyed? We have...
Five Tips To Find Some Normalcy During A Not-So-Normal Time
“This all feels so surreal”, “weird”, or “uncertain of the future” are just a few phrases that I have (virtually) heard over the past week from loved ones. Our beloved pets are so happy that we are constantly home...
Mental and Emotional Flexibility in the Age of COVID-19
Rebecca L. Marshall , Ph.D.
If you scroll through social media feeds, you’ll find a lot of advice about how to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic. You may be told to take the virus and its effect on your physical health very...
Giving the Gift of Validation
Validation is important because it communicates I hear you, I see you, and I care. When experienced from others it can feel like you have received the gift of acceptance and feeling understood. This is what makes learning the...
Taking Care of Your Mind by Taking Care of Your Body
As the weeks are progressing and the months turn into fall, I have been hearing from more and more of my clients about their stress level, study schedule, and difficulty managing everything they have to accomplish. It can be...
Transitions
There are times in our lives when we feel as though we are in a period of transition, shifting from one place to another. Waiting for the movement of transitioning to cease and to be at a point where...
A Simple Fix to a Bad Day
Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong? Or maybe you feel irritable for unknown reasons and you can’t shake the feeling. Marsha Linehan, the founder of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and her team created a...
Make It Positive
Often times when I’m meeting with parents for the first time to discuss therapy for their child, parents feel desperate for help and change as soon as possible, yet they understand that even with therapy it will take time...