According to a 2023 report by the Surgeon General Advisory, teens who spend over three hours a day on social media “double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.” Not all teens, however, are affected the same way. Studies have linked social media to both healthy and unhealthy effects on mental health. How much time a teen spends on social media is not the only determining factor, but also how they use [...]
Relationships don’t always work out the way you would like. Instead of finding the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with, you can end up feeling dejected and heartbroken because expectation and reality collide with horrible results. Heartbreak is common for both men and women, but how we handle those challenges and disappointments will vary from person to person. A breakup can happen for several reasons at any stage of a relationship. Maybe you just weren’t compatible, [...]
Anxiety can interfere with your work, relationships, and goals. For many, the symptoms of anxiety, such as rapid heart rate, palpitations, panic attacks, trembling, dizziness, shortness of breath, and physical ailments, cause them to avoid situations that can make them anxious. Learning how to beat anxiety includes skills you can use for years to come. Practical Tips to Beat Anxiety Depending on your anxiety level, you may want to take your time adopting the following tips for how to [...]
What does this even mean? Counselors often hear “I just want some peace!” from clients. While this sometimes happens with our male clients, most often it happens with our female clients, especially those over forty. But why? Usually, it’s because they have reached an age where the children are grown or are grown and out of the house, the husband has been working for many years by now, leaving her alone during the day and things just have not [...]
There comes a moment in many of our lives when it slowly dawns on us that our best friend might not be such a good person. Sometimes it takes ages to see this, because a best friend is usually the person that we spend the most time with, and the person we trust the most. In some cases, we have grown up with them, and have known them our whole lives, so realizing that they exhibit toxic behavior can [...]
Are you looking to learn how to combat the post-holiday blues? You are about to read through a step-by-step guide through which you get rid of this degrading situation entirely. The aim of this article is to help one understand such feelings and give a number of simple and practical tips for feeling better and getting through the new year with a fresh and positive outlook. So, let’s get started. Understanding the Science Behind Post-Holiday Blues Why do we [...]
Gaslighting is a term that is becoming more commonly used to define abusive relationships. It happens when you aren’t even aware. It may seem subtle at first but then it implodes into a whirlwind of emotions. Trying to describe how gaslighting happens can be difficult at times because of the persona of the abuser. Understanding the gaslighting signs can help you recognize whether you are in an abusive relationship. What is gaslighting? The term gaslighting is used to describe [...]
Spending the holidays when you are single doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are some practical tips and uplifting advice that will help you embrace the season, find some joy, and make it meaningful. Holidays have long been considered a time for love, family, and connection, which may make being single rather challenging. Sometimes, you can’t help comparing when the world outside seems to be focused on couples and families. However, there are times when being single during the [...]
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 [...]
