Eating disorders and body dysmorphia vary in factors, type, and severity, yet all include a lack of control over eating habits. Dangerous behaviors can arise out of a preoccupation with your weight, shape, appearance, or flaws, whether real or imagined. If the flaws are actual, the importance of the[...]
Deliberately harming yourself or having an impulse to is a sign of emotional distress. It is not uncommon, especially in adolescents, to self-harm. On the surface, it may appear to occur only when you have difficulty managing emotions and don’t have proper coping skills. This is too commonly [...]
Grief is one of those universal life experiences from which a person never really recovers but learns to cope with and grow through. When we lose people we love, the world is permanently changed. This is the price we pay as humans for the richness that our loved ones bring to our lives. Although[...]
Gender identity is a spectrum that describes to which degree a person perceives and recognizes their inner knowledge and outer expression of gender. Generally, this is the consistency between anatomical sex and the person’s internal maleness or femaleness or combination or neutrality. There are [...]
“Don’t go where you are tolerated, go where you are celebrated!” There is a rich history and culture in the LGBTQIA+ community. It is unique, quirky, and fantastically diverse, and I am proud to work within it. As a clinician, I moved into private practice in [...]
Life is a process of constant change. Sometimes, major life transitions can throw us out of balance to the point where we lose access to some important aspects of our experience, we lose our sense of grounding and routines, or we disrupt our connections to others. Very brief, highly targeted [...]
Humans experience stress as a natural reaction to meet a demand or challenge. This “fight or flight” survival mechanism slows normal bodily functions like immunity and digestion to focus on breath, alertness, blood circulation, and muscle movement. The degree to which we react can be [...]
Trauma can stem from various causes and sources. It can be a personal tragedy, a natural disaster, a violent event, or any other type of unusual event. Trauma can take an emotional toll on the individual regardless of age. While it should be emphasized that there is no right or wrong way to feel [...]
What Is Self-Esteem? Self-esteem is your confidence in your worth, abilities, or perceived value. Healthy self-esteem is a precious psychological resource that correlates to good relationships, achievement, and satisfaction. Positive self-esteem can motivate you to navigate your life with an [...]
People would cease to exist without relationships. The sense of self dissolves without relationships with others, and by contrast, people are created and sustained within their social situations. Sometimes relationships are the primary reason a person enters psychotherapy, yet they are always an[...]