Request An Appointment

Effective Listening

Health Concerns
Conquering Depression: A Comprehensive Guide to Relieving Symptoms
June 12, 2024

Depression is a complex and challenging condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Research shows that the best way to treat depression is through medication and talk therapy. On top of that there are several self- care strategies that...

Learn More

Parents & Parenting
5 Effective Ways to Encourage Your Child to Open Up and Communicate
August 7, 2023

Communication is a vital skill that empowers children to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs effectively. As parents, we play a crucial role in nurturing this skill and creating a safe environment for our children to open up and...

Learn More

Parents & Parenting
How to Talk to Get Your Teen to Listen
February 6, 2023

Ever had a difficult time getting your teen to open up to you? Are they moody, and if you dare to ask what is wrong, all they say is “I don’t know”? The teen years are a time of...

Learn More

Parents & Parenting
How to Have Productive Discussions (Not Arguments!) with Your Child
July 25, 2022

Every parent has been there: You start with what seems like a simple request or question, and then, suddenly, you are in a screaming match with your child. How did it escalate to this? First and foremost, remember who...

Learn More

Mental Health
A Tenuous Marriage
July 12, 2022

Faith and mental health have more than once been at odds with each other. It is commonly said that we are mind, body, and soul. I’ve also heard it said that we are one complete being, so inextricably put...

Learn More

Parents & Parenting
Preparing Your Child for Their First Therapy Session
June 30, 2022

You have decided to take your child to therapy. Awesome! However, there is a problem: Your child does not want to go. Some children may not want to go because they believe they do not need therapy. Some may...

Learn More

Parents & Parenting
Helping Your Child Managing Losing
June 30, 2022

Imagine this- you’ve planned a family game night and the kids have been looking forward to this all week. Pizza, M&M’s, soda! But only a few minutes in, you already have a kid who has stormed out after their...

Learn More

Families
How to Support Your LGBTQ+ Child
April 12, 2022

Having family support for your child identifying in the LGBTQ community can be beneficial to their overall mental health and physical health. Being accepted by your family can decrease mental health symptoms such as isolation, depression, anxiety, substance abuse,...

Learn More

Couples & Relationships
20 Creative Date Night Ideas
January 28, 2022

While I was growing up, I discovered that the parents of a close friend of mine went on a weekly date-night. At the time I simply thought that this was a wonderful practice and felt confused by the fact...

Learn More

Couples & Relationships
4 Tips for Nurturing a Friendship With Your Spouse
January 28, 2022

How good of friends are you with your spouse? Good friends? Best friends? For some of you this question may even seem a bit unusual, because you think of your spouse simply as, well, your spouse. For others, your...

Learn More

Social Skills
D.E.A.R.M.A.N.
January 24, 2022

Hello all, As I mentioned previously, my next few blogs will cover a little bit from each DBT module that Summit offers. I shared an exercise from the Mindfulness module last time and will be sharing a skill from...

Learn More

Social Skills
Effective Communication Style: Listening Skills
January 6, 2022

In the previous blog, points were shared about ways we can practice responding in conversation versus reacting to others based on heightened emotions. A precursor to responding in healthy ways to de-escalate emotional settings is cultivating effective listening skills....

Learn More

Mental Health
Is This Normal?
November 4, 2021

One of my favorite quotes on relationships is: “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one” by C.S. Lewis. Friendships, and relationships in general, can...

Learn More

Social Skills
Effective Communication Style: Learning to Respond versus React
October 1, 2021

One of the best effective communication skills that I have learned in relationship with others is how to practice responding versus reacting. When we begin to understand the difference between responding and reacting, our self-awareness and ability to self-regulate...

Learn More

Families
Improving Communication with Your Teen
September 24, 2021

The parent/teenager relationship is one of the most important relationships a teenager will have in the emotionally charged teenage time of their lives; however, oftentimes the opposite occurs, with the teenager pushing the parent away. This can, in turn,...

Learn More

Couples & Relationships
3 Tips to Listen to Your Spouse Better
January 20, 2021

You never listen to me! Have you ever heard that statement from your spouse in the middle of a heated argument? Are the two of you constantly arguing about the same things all the time? Want to know how...

Learn More

Couples & Relationships
Giving the Gift of Validation
November 18, 2019

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...

Learn More

Couples & Relationships
“I’m Not Yelling, You’re Yelling”: Top 5 Tips to Managing Conflict with Your Partner
August 12, 2019

Contrary to popular belief, conflict within a relationship is healthy. Conflict allows us to express our inner concerns and/or feelings and often leads to positive resolution. How you handle that conflict, however, typically results in one of two ways:...

Learn More

Mariah Dantzler
Listening to Understand, Not to Reply
July 1, 2019

How often are we listening to understand instead of listening to change? Research shows that most conversations we have are one way; meaning that we are only listening to gain information for ourselves to then reply. When people don’t...

Learn More

Social Skills
2 Tools for Effective Communication
June 24, 2019

Every single individual on earth is constantly communicating, but they may not be communicating effectively. Often, we grow frustrated with our efforts to get our point across to others or when we try to fully comprehend others, but we...

Learn More