Relieving Stress by Missing Class
As a clinician, one of the first things I hear from adults when speaking to them about school-based therapy is “but the student is missing class time” with an even bigger emphasis on missing academics. The rationale behind this...
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...
The Poverty of Pity
As someone who holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, I’m very aware of how tricky words can be. For instance, pity is often used synonymously with the term compassion, but the two couldn’t be any more different. Compassion...
Self-Care: Taking Care of Your Body
Self-care is doing activities to take care of your mental, emotional, and physical health. Practicing self-care helps us reduce stress and manage our emotions better. Lack of self-care can lead to increased stress and illness overtime. While taking care...
People-Pleasing
As human beings, we value relationships and belonging. We want to be accepted and to be a part of communities that provide us with peace, security, and love. These desires are natural and the feeling of being connected to...
More than a “Bad Mood”: Identifying Teenage Depression
Adolescence is riddled with changes, being a teen means wrestling with identity, self-image, belonging, and much more. There are constant transitions which can be confusing and difficult for parents and teens to navigate. We know another contributing factor is...
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...
Video Games – How Much is Too Much?
We have all seen the rise and fall of trends in play in our children: slime, fidget spinners, and more, but what seems to stick around are video games. These games stick around because there is always something new...