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Couples & Relationships
Toxic Relationships Part 4: How to Combat Emotional Abuse
May 9, 2022

For the final part of this series, we will discuss responses and ways to combat emotional abuse and gaslighting. As stated previously, the best-case scenario would be to remove yourself from any situation or relationship where this is occurring....

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Couples & Relationships
Toxic Relationships Part 3: Examples of Gaslighting in Emotional Abuse
May 9, 2022

Emotional abuse comes in many forms. Often, it can be hard to recognize. It is worth noting that emotional abuse can occur at any time, around friends, family, or in private. It is important to be able to recognize...

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Couples & Relationships
5 Meaningful Moments to Show Up For Our Spouses
April 12, 2022

In most weddings that we attend there is a portion of the ceremony when those getting married exchange their vows. And for many of these exchanges, each person declares their commitment to the other across a variety of fortunes...

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Teen Issues
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month: A Q&A with Summit Therapists
February 18, 2022

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. According to the National Institute of Justice, teen dating violence includes physical, psychological or sexual abuse; harassment; or stalking of any person ages 12 to 18 in the context of a past...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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Couples & Relationships
Toxic Relationships Part 2: Understanding Gaslighting
December 13, 2021

Relationships that have grown toxic can sometimes be hard to spot, especially if you are experiencing gaslighting. In the previous blog, I’ve defined gaslighting as “manipulating someone with psychological means into questioning their own sanity.” Gaslighting forces you to...

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Families
The Best Tip for Holiday Family Bonding 
December 13, 2021

Christmas: it’s the most wonderful time of the year! But for so many of us, especially those of us with children, it can seem more stressful than wonderful. Just think, there’s buying, wrapping, cooking, getting dressed, traveling, socializing, and making sure everyone is on the same page and...

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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...

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Families
Tips for Parenting in Stepfamilies
September 30, 2021

Newly married couples with children from a previous marriage are often surprised at the challenges they face as a stepfamily. For many children, adjusting to divorce is easier than becoming a stepfamily. Depending on the age of the children,...

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Families
Building Boundaries
September 2, 2021

Learning and understanding how to build boundaries with your family, peers and coworkers is essential to forming healthy relationships. Having healthy boundaries with others can look different for each relationship you have in your life. Having more rigid boundaries with...

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Couples & Relationships
Toxic Relationships Part 1: How to Identify
August 23, 2021

It is no secret that interpersonal relationships require compassion, time, and effort. Whether it is a romantic relationship, friendship, or a family member, it is crucial that each person is utilizing effective communication skills and doing their best to...

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Couples & Relationships
Who’s Ready for Marriage?
July 20, 2021

Marriage. The earliest evidence of which dates back as far as 2350 BC in Mesopotamia. The tradition and practice seem almost as timeless as human relationships themselves. And yet in recent decades the notion of marriage being a good...

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Grief, Trauma, & Loss
How to Show Up for Your Suicidal Loved One
July 20, 2021

When someone you love expresses to you their deep emotional pain or shares their thoughts of suicide, it can be extremely difficult. People experiencing such emotions are vulnerable and need their support network to show up for them in...

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Couples & Relationships
Myths of Marriage
July 20, 2021

The music swells as the couple finds each other on the street. The credits roll with the lovers in one another’s arms, vowing to never be apart again. The camera zooms out and the audience is left to imagine...

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Couples & Relationships
What is Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy?
June 29, 2021

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) focuses on the connection between partners in a relationship. It was developed by Sue Johnson and based on attachment research done by John Bowlby 50 years ago. The premise of what is known as...

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Jordan R. Yates
COVID-19 Reentering Reminders Regarding Relationships
June 23, 2021

As COVID cases go down and vaccination shots go up, so many of us have already experienced the joys of re-experiencing social interactions. But, in the same vein, others have been reminded of the not-so-good side of social engagement...

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Mental Health
Interpersonal Effectiveness: Receiving & Giving Validation
April 13, 2021

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...

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Parents & Parenting
Respectful Parenting – Part 1
March 19, 2021

I am privileged to be the mother of 3 young men ages 24, 22, and 19. The blessing came only after a 4-year struggle with infertility wherein I went through almost every fertility procedure known at the time to...

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