Insights

Finding Balance: How DBT Can Help

Men Have Emotion Regulation Needs, Too

The 5 Senses Technique for Self-Regulation

When feeling overwhelmed and upset, it can be hard to calm down and think through your situation. I often recommend a mindfulness technique that uses the five senses to help you calm yourself when you’re feeling dysregulated. It’s simple:...

The Intersection of Faith Communities and Mental Health

By Cathy Murphy, Director of Community Outreach Many people with mental health conditions, including suicide risk, often turn first to their faith community for help. On Thursday, March 30th the North Fulton Mental Health Collaborate will lead a panel...

Easy Tips to Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination often gets a bad rap. It is viewed as lazy, having a lack of organization, poor prioritization, or bad time management. But sometimes the pressure is what motivates someone to get the work done. Others have their thoughts...

Resiliency for Adults

Resiliency can be a buzzword for many. What does it mean? Well, Webster defines resiliency as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change.” In counseling, we look at things like resiliency factors for our...

Boundaries for Working at Home

Before COVID changed everything in 2020, some people worked from home. Before COVID affected our work environment, many never wanted to work from home. Now, working from home is more common and accepted. According to the US census data,...

The Tyranny of “Shoulds”

Shoulds abound in our lives. We hear them everywhere: from both outside of ourselves (family, friends, culture) and inside our own heads. “I really should do…” Or “I should have done…” or “you shouldn’t.…” “Should” is a tyrant, a...

Healing from Disordered Eating

How many people will struggle with an eating disorder during their lifetime? It’s a more complicated question than you might think. Since the vast majority of people with eating disorders either never seek formal treatment for their disorder or...

Preparing Mentally for the Winter Season

The air is cooling, and the leaves are changing. It is a beautiful time of year. It can also be indicative of a difficult time to come for many, as winter is coming. As we pull out our coats...

ACT Series: How Acceptance Helps You Get Un-Stuck

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...

Rethinking Emotions

“I feel too much. That’s what’s going on.’ ‘Do you think one can feel too much? Or just feel in the wrong ways?’ ‘My insides don’t match up with my outsides.’ ‘Do anyone’s insides and outsides match up?’ ‘I...

De-Catastrophizing Your Thoughts

Sometimes what can cause us to feel anxious is our own thoughts. A common thought process we have when feeling anxious is going to the worst possible outcome in our heads for a situation that is coming up. This...

The New Status Quo: Adjusting for the Mental Health of Our Students

School is one of our biggest socializing agents in American society. Some would say it’s a catalyst for social growth and an exercise in the critical understanding of the world. I think it’s safe to say there are a...

How to Determine the Best Level of Care for Me

There are many different types and levels of mental health care, and it is easy to get frustrated or even know where to start. I enjoy speaking with my clients to determine what care is best for them. Sometimes...

‘Why does it feel like I am always so much unhappier than everyone else?’

‘Why does it feel like I am always so much unhappier than everyone else?’ This is a frustration that therapists hear quite often. But why is it almost a universal experience that we are in a constant state of...

Caring for an Elderly Parent – Caregiver Burnout

For most adult children, being able to care for an elderly parent is a privilege. Knowing that you are giving back to someone who has given so much to you can be rewarding. However, if you have limited time...

Rest Routine

Memorial Day has come and gone, and summer is upon us. This season has a way of disrupting our routines. Summer jobs and internships are in full swing, camps have started, ended, and started again, vacations are booked, and...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Living a Meaningful Life

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...

Improving Self-Esteem by Practicing Positive Affirmations Daily

A helpful, but not always easy, way to improve feelings of self-worth is the daily practice of positive affirmations. I like to use affirmations as a mental exercise, getting the mind into healthy shape. Positive Affirmations are helpful in...