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A Therapist’s Note on Self Care
So much of what I do as a Therapist requires me to be available (and effective) in providing encouragement and motivation for change – Change that makes my clients feel healthy, productive, proud, and connected to the things and people that are important to them. Being intentional about my practice of self-care is essential to…
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Communication Styles – Four Patterns of Communication and their Impact
We all engage in patterns of communication that are influenced by how we think and feel, and that influence our behavior in the interaction we share with others. There are four often talked about styles of communication that are important to have an understanding of. Passive Communication Passive communication is a style in which individuals…
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Time Outs: They’re Not Just for Kids, Adults Can Benefit from them Too
I’ve often had clients identify the absence of arguments as evidence that their relationships are healthy. Clients often develop goals for their relationships based in the belief that happy couples do not argue; and in my work with clients this belief has presented challenges to their ability to develop (and strengthen) skills for open and…
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What are Healthy Boundaries and How to Practice Them
Personal boundaries are the limits and rules that we set for ourselves within our relationships. These rules and limits support our ability to function effectively within these relationships and in our everyday lives. We often talk about unhealthy boundaries and set goals for developing healthy ones. Knowing what the characteristics of unhealthy boundaries are can…
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The 5 Love Languages Revisited
Valentines Day is coming up and that day has always been a favorite of mine, because I’ve always found joy in having a day where we are all (well, a lot of us) are extra intentional about communicating the love that we share to others. With that in mind, I thought that it would be…
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A Therapist’s Experiences with Finding a Therapist (+6 Tips)
At the start of a new year, it is a common practice for us to set goals and intentions and create visions for the year, with hopes that the next 12 months will be better than the last. For a lot of people, the desire to experience “different” leads them to exploring therapy. The idea…
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The 5 Stages of Grief
Working through grief is not a linear process, and everyone’s grief journey may be different. With that understood, there are 5 stages that commonly mark our progression through the grief process. Having knowledge of the characteristics of each stage can be helpful to understanding the whats and whys of your or another’s feelings, and this…
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10 Effective Refusal Skills
Refusal Skills are the tools and techniques we use to reinforce our “No.” I enjoy teaching refusal skills and encouraging my clients to look beyond the word no, when establishing and reinforcing their boundaries. Here are some things to consider when exploring and evaluating the sources of peer pressure you have experienced/are experiencing, and how…
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The 5 Stages of Change
Educating my clients on the Stages of Change is an important building block of my working relationships with them, especially because my clients’ success in completing the program is heavily dependent on their willingness and ability to change. Below are examples of how I describe each stage to my clients and examples of how they…
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Responding with I-Statements for Effective Conflict Resolution
In a previous post I discussed the ways in which using I-Statements to express yourself may be helpful in preventing the escalation of conflict with others. Here are some examples of how to use the I-Statement template as shared in that post: The template statement is as follows: I feel (emotion) when/because (trigger). Here are some examples: I feel sad when I can’t…
Cultivative Counseling 