It is common for our society to emphasize the importance of staying positive, more recently, there’s a growing awareness of the potential pitfalls of toxic positivity. While maintaining a positive outlook can be beneficial for mental well-being, it’s crucial to strike a balance and acknowledge the spectrum of emotions that make us human and serve a function to us. Think of our emotions as our internal GPS system, telling us what is going on with us. Let’s talk about what toxic positivity is, how it may show up in our daily lives, and ways to navigate it using Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DB ..read more

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a disorder that affects how people communicate, process information, interact with others, etc. People can be diagnosed with autism as early as 2 years old and up to adulthood. Historically, it was thought that only boys and men could have autism, but that is very much false. Autism is more prevalent in boys than it is in girls currently, about 4.3% of boys vs 1.1% of girls in the US, as of 2020. As we are understanding more about what autism is and what it can look like, we are learning that more people have it than previously thought. Many people go undiagno ..read more

When navigating conflict in interpersonal relationships, many individuals struggle with determining how to effectively collaborate with the other person to reach shared goals. Sometimes a monumental amount of time and energy can fuel a collaborative process that unfortunately does not result in the goal being met but does succeed in exhausting both individuals. Imagine that you and your partner are trying to collaborate to fix the door. You have a more hands-on learning style, and you try to fix the door by prodding and pushing it into place to determine the source of the problem. Meanwhile, y ..read more

When you have a sore throat or a 102-degree fever, you know that you are sick and need to stay home from work or school. Physical symptoms are our brain and body’s way of telling us that we need to rest and take a break. Illnesses and broken bones we can see, it is obvious to us and others that we may need to take some time off. What do you do when you do not have physical symptoms, others cannot see what is causing you to be unwell, or there are physical symptoms, but the cause is mental health disorder (e.g., anxiety or depression)? Right now, society tends to tell us to grin and bear it. We ..read more

Burnout is defined as a state of chronic emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged stress and overwork. It can significantly impact one’s overall well-being and quality of life. Burnout can have serious consequences such as increased risk for heart disease, depression, and anxiety to name a few. Common symptoms of burnout include feeling detached, cynical, exhausted, hopeless, and of course, reduced efficacy at work. It looks a little bit different for everyone, especially if you already have mental health concerns.  Burnout is different from being a workaholic, it might ..read more

March is Women’s History Month! This month is about taking time to reflect on the impact women have had and continue to have on the world. It’s also important to shine a light on the mental health struggles women have faced throughout history and into today. Women make up the majority of people suffering from mental health conditions. As of 2021, 57.8 million adults in the US suffer from a mental mental condition, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Women have a higher prevalence than men, 27.2% compared to 18.1% of men. Even when we compare the prevalence of serious mental i ..read more

You and your child decided that the best option for them is to come to therapy. It is a huge step in the right direction for your child’s mental health. Now how do you decide if you should receive some type of therapy as well? This can be a hard decision to make and can depend on a variety of factors. I will give you my opinion on the matter and then break it down into situations or behaviors you can look for that will help to make the decision. Now for my opinion! Everyone can benefit from going to individual psychotherapy! The stigma that therapy is only for those with mental health issues n ..read more

Anxiety is one of the most common feelings that we can have. That feeling of fear or uncertainty when there is going to be a substantial change. That feeling you get right before you go over the big hill on a roller coaster. So why do we have this feeling? What is its purpose? How can DBT help to reduce anxiety when we cannot manage it? Anxiety comes from the fight, flight, or freeze mechanism in our bodies. Think back to when instead of going to the grocery store for meat people had to go out and hunt for it. Imagine not having that gut feeling when a twig breaks that tells you to run, hide ..read more

This year the week of February 11th through the 17th is random acts of kindness week. Each year the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation encourages others to use this week of the year to focus on kindness and complete one act of kindness each day. On their website, they have multiple examples and walkthroughs of random acts of kindness that you can do at school, home, or work.  How do random acts of kindness fit in and influence mental health? In 2018 Curry et al. did a review of current studies about random acts of kindness and their influence on the general wellbeing of the person doing ..read more

Many individuals struggle with some symptoms of insomnia, a condition that impairs functioning and exacerbates mental health difficulties. Although insomnia can be caused by a variety of medical conditions, including sleep apnea, chronic pain, and neurological disorders, primary insomnia is more common than these other conditions, whereby the sleep difficulties do not have a specific medical cause (Krystal et al., 2019). For individuals struggling with primary insomnia or other sleep difficulties, most individuals have heard of basic sleep hygiene techniques, such as sleeping in a dark environ ..read more