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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 […]
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Using I-Statements for Effective Conflict Resolution
One of the primary goals of effective conflict resolution is to de-escalate a situation that has potential to become tense and at an extreme, explosive. There are many ways to de-escalate conflict; however I-Statements are effective because they assist with expressing your feelings without placing blame and triggering defenses. One thing I love about teaching […]
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The 5 Apology Languages
In a previous post, I shared that an important influence of our ability to build and maintain healthy relationships is our ability to give and receive love – specifically in ways that reflect our primary love language as identified by Dr. Gary Chapman. If there’s one thing about loving relationships that I think we all would […]
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Using the ICED Method for Problem Solving & Decision Making
I find acronyms very helpful with remembering ordered steps and information. That said, I enjoy using the ICED model to educate my clients on effective problem solving and decision making skills. Identify the problem.Spell out what the problem is and why it is a problem. Create Alternatives.List the possible ways that a person could handle […]
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The 5 Love Languages
A: “I don’t feel like you love me.” B: “What do you mean? I cook for you, I clean for you. You don’t have to lift a finger around here. How can you say that I don’t I love you.” Does this sound familiar? An important influence on our ability to build healthy relationships is […]
Cultivative Counseling 