Sometimes something is so broken, so off track, that fixing it is just not realistic. Through my years as a practicum student, intern, life coach, and now also a professional counselor, I can think of a handful of these cases that have come across my desk during those years. There are times when life is so chaotic that refreshing or restarting is the only option. I am not talking about instances of DV, that is a different subject. What [...]
Americans face many challenges on any given day. One of the challenges that many Americans and their families face is chemical dependency and addiction. The 2023 United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) indicated that around 48.5 million Americans aged twelve and older battled a substance use disorder in the past year. That same survey also indicated that about 10% of Americans twelve and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year, and 20.4 [...]
“It was supposed to be one of the best days of my life,” she said, pausing to stare off into the distance. Her mind was clearly replaying the day and she sat in silence as tears filled her eyes as she spoke. She stared down at the infant in her arms and said, “when I look at him all I think about is the trauma. This isn’t what welcoming a child into the world is supposed to be like. I [...]
A lot of people are more familiar with physical abuse because it is tangible, and it is often perpetrated against the body. It is easier to prove physical abuse because such abuse often leaves physical evidence as proof. Emotional abuse, on the other hand, can be quite complex in that it cannot be seen. The person against whom the emotional abuse is being perpetrated might not realize early on that they are being emotionally abused because it mostly involves [...]
Perhaps one of the hardest things we have to cope with while we are dealing with grief is the fact that life just carries on. It’s jarring to feel depressed, emotionally fragile, and even unstable while still having to perform ordinary, everyday tasks. Grief is often a lonely process; you feel as if no one sees you, understands you, or cares to know what you are feeling. Sometimes, it just helps to know that your experience is ‘normal’ and [...]
Life is best lived with others, and our successes are seldom ours alone. There will often be others who have cheered us along, given us pointers and ideas, or those who inspired us to keep going and never give up until we accomplish our dreams. Whether or not you have people in your corner rooting for you, one tool you can make use of to achieve your goals is effective coaching. The Nature of Effective Coaching The word ‘coach’ likely [...]
Are you in a relationship that has you questioning your memory or second-guessing your thought processes and judgment? If your sense of reality doesn’t match what your partner keeps saying, you may be experiencing gaslighting in a relationship. This little space on the internet is for you, my friend. Repeated gaslighting is abusive behavior. It is important that if you can relate to this article, you get help right away. What Gaslighting in a Relationship Feels Like You may [...]
Depression is a mental health condition that takes many different shapes. It looks different for each person. High-functioning depression is used to describe depression that has hidden symptoms. On the outside a person with high-functioning depression appears to be okay, but inside they are struggling with overwhelming hopelessness. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy [...]
Exercise is an activity that some love and others loathe. It is rare to find someone who expresses a mediocre sentiment about something that demands time, intense energy, and sustained effort. This is true of exercise and other types of growth, including spiitual growth. Part of what makes any exercise program more effective is visualizing the benefits of what we gain versus the temporary nature of what we lose. Not only does this occur when we do physical exercise, [...]
There is likely no relationship that affects you as deeply as the relationship between you and your spouse. A spouse is the person that you chose to commit yourself to for the remainder of your life. When you go through hardship, celebrate your joys, in feast or famine, they are the person you’re most intimately connected with. They know your body, they ache when you ache, and exult when you do; they see you at your lowest and in [...]
It’s been said that expectation is the thief of joy. Certainly, if your expectations are well-worn and rigid, when reality comes along, it just might not fit the bill. Many times in life, people become disappointed and frustrated because what they expected out of situations or other people didn’t pan out. Placing heavy expectations on yourself can also stifle creativity or increase your stress levels too. All this isn’t to say that expectations are altogether bad or unhealthy. However, [...]
Recovering from codependency is possible, but it’s not always easy. We remain locked into codependent relationships for many reasons, even when we know how they are damaging us. Being so closely tangled up with another person who relies on us, and on whom we can rely, is like having dopamine on tap. We have quick access to a feel-good emotional drug, and that can be addictive. The term “codependency” was first used in the context of Alcoholics Anonymous to [...]
