There are no rules about how to live or what should be important to you. Sometimes when we step back from our lives we realize that we have been living as if there are certain rules. Where is this sense of “the rules” coming from? Usually it’s coming from the outside…from other people like parents, … There Are No Rules Read More » The post There Are No Rules appeared first on Gina Campbell, LCSW, MDiv ..read more

It’s estimated that humans have 70,000 thoughts a day. Watching these thoughts is kind of like watching cars on a freeway go whizzing by. Some thoughts pass by unnoticed but others tend to camp out and get stuck. Sometimes they get stuck because when we’re stressed, anxious or depressed our minds tend to churn out … Getting Unstuck from Thoughts Read More » The post Getting Unstuck from Thoughts appeared first on Gina Campbell, LCSW, MDiv ..read more

This is a discussion I have all the time with clients in the office. Like a lot of people, you may be hesitant about taking medication. Perhaps you’re worried about side effects or that it won’t work or that you’ll be dependent on it for the rest of your life. You may be concerned others will judge you for taking medication or that taking medication means you’re somehow deficient in being able to manage anxiety on your own.    Taking medication is a very personal decision. If you’re struggling with this decision, I encourage you to reflect first on a few questions:   What perce ..read more

Have you ever wondered what mindfulness-based therapy is? This term refers to a group of therapies that all use mindfulness as a key intervention and tool for growth and healing. These include approaches such as Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).  In order to understand where mindfulness-based therapy comes from, it’s helpful to know that the basic concepts of mindfulness come from Buddhist psychology. While you in no way h ..read more

Questions to ask when looking for a therapist, counselor or psychologist in Des Moines So you’ve finally identified a therapist in Des Moines that you think might be a good fit for you but you can’t know for sure until you talk to them. Sure, you can read their website or Psychology Today profile but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the kind of person you’ll connect with. How do you figure out whether a therapist is right for you? Here are some questions to ask a therapist in Des Moines: What do you specialize in? You want to know whether the therapist has specialized in something that ..read more

Common Myths About Counseling and Therapy Once you’ve identified a therapist in Des Moines that you want to have an initial session with or interview, you may find yourself wondering what is going to happen from there? I mean, what IS therapy? In many ways, because therapy takes place in private and because there are confusing messages about what it actually is in movies and other media, many people are just plain confused about what to expect. Let’s see if we can demystify therapy for you some so that you can be more at ease going into the experience, especially if you’re a first timer.  ..read more

How to Find a Therapist in Des Moines, Iowa The famous Raygun t-shirt for Des Moines says “Des Moines, Hell Yes!” But my clients tell me that when it comes to finding a therapist here it’s more like “Des Moines, HELP Yes!” The difficulty of finding a therapist in Des Moines is similar to the difficulty of finding someone in any small to midsize city. We have so many people seeking services and not enough therapists to go around. On top of that, we REALLY don’t have enough specialists to go around and it’s hard for clients to find someone who has specific expertise in what they’re struggling w ..read more

These are anxious times. We are feeling a new kind of collective anxiety and within that resides all our individual anxieties. It has often been said that the root of anxiety is fear and that’s easy to see right now. The sense of danger feels existential, cutting right to the heart of life itself. I offer this post to you right now having few answers. But I can offer you some mindfulness strategies and one thing I do know is that this is a time that mindfulness was built for.  In the past week, as I’ve watched my own thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, I’ve experienced a renewed cl ..read more

We’re well into fall now…the trees are losing their leaves, the wind is blowing and it’s time to cozy up. Fall is a beautiful time and a season of letting go but it can also be a time of restlessness. School and work are in full swing and everyone senses the holidays coming. It’s a busy time and with this busy time usually comes a busy mind. It’s no surprise then that many of my clients lately are struggling with getting good sleep. And sleep is super important since lack of it affects our ability to manage our emotions during the day (so if we’re already struggling with our emotions it’s lik ..read more

Are you wondering if mindfulness and meditation really help with anxiety? The short answer is, yes. There’s now a solid body of research demonstrating the effectiveness of mindfulness and meditation techniques for anxiety.    There are many very specific techniques from mindfulness and meditation that can help calm anxiety and can help you cope even when anxiety is high. Some are referred to as “informal” while others are “formal.” Meditation is a formal technique for practicing mindfulness while focusing on feeling the water on your hands as you wash the dishes is an informal techn ..read more