One of the things I love the most about being a therapist is that every client I meet, and every story I hear, is so unique and different. There may be similar themes of pain, resilience, trauma, and hope, but the twists and turns of how these themes have played out are all so different.
I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon recently in my work with clients. Not long after settling into our session they’ll share how frustrated they feel about a variety of behaviors and symptoms they’re experiencing. They feel stuck and hopeless because of this never ending cycle they find themselves in. It seems that no matter how hard
I’m one of those girls who would rather watch a superhero movie than a rom-com, the kind who had no idea there were different kinds of engagement rings, and the sort who planned on traveling the world being a free spirit (well, while Instagramming). The irony of sharing my thoughts on marriage is certainly not
Over the past few years, I’ve worked as a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner. Much of my job entails teaching members of our program about mental illness and “coping skills”: skills you develop to relax, wind-down, cope with difficult life circumstances, de-escalate from especially tough situations, or to simply feel more joy throughout the week. The truth
Have you ever noticed how inconvenient pain is? Whether it’s physical or emotional, there is never a good time for pain to come. Have you ever heard anyone say, “you know, I’m feeling pretty good today and I think if I got hit with some sort of physical or emotional pain I would be ok
Have you ever considered that what you do when you’re under stress actually reveals a lot about what’s going on under the surface? I just spent the last five days with my dear friends who were visiting from out of town, which is the best and I loved having them here, but whenever you host
I was a part of one church for twenty eight years. Yes, you heard me right…twenty. eight. years. To me that was my normal, I couldn’t have imagined growing up any different. My parents joined our home church soon after they found God in the 70’s, and immediately fell in love with the grace message
If you have ever been talking to someone who is more interested in checking their phone than hearing you talk, I’m willing to bet you felt pretty different than when you were speaking to someone who was fully engaged in what you were saying. Some of the characteristics of the “not-so-great” listener might be…easily distracted,
So much of waiting includes hiddenness. You feel hidden. Your way feels hidden. God feels hidden. We live in a world that’s wired to investigate and uncover what’s hiding in order to expose a wrong or put a noteworthy thing on display. We only like mystery if we can solve it and figure it out,
When I first greet clients in the waiting area and take them back to my office whether it’s for our first or fortieth session they are usually feeling a combination of nervous, afraid, agitated, stressed, and any other possible emotion. If I were to try and plow full speed ahead into a deep conversation with