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Emotional Health

How Couples Therapy Can Support Emotional Health

Couples Counseling /

Couples therapy supports emotional health by helping both partners understand and manage their emotions, communicate without escalating, calm themselves during conflict and repair after hurts. Because a relationship is one of the strongest influences on how we feel day to day, working on it can ease stress, resentment and loneliness for both people. A therapist also helps each partner notice patterns, like harsh self-talk or reactivity, that strain the relationship. Here’s how couples therapy works […]

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US Capitol Riot

US Capitol Riot – Talking to Our Kids: Fox 5 Interview

Anxiety, Depression, Family Therapy, Grief, News, Parenting, Relationship, Thoughts /

This past Wednesday our country shared in collective shock and sadness following the events that occurred in the US Capitol. Never before as a country have we had to experience so many losses and mind-bending concepts about who we are as Americans. How do we explain these types of events to our kids when we don’t really understand them ourselves?

I had the privilege of speaking with Kelsey Christensen of Fox 5 News about how to best help our children understand why this happened and what it means to them. One of the take-aways from our chat was how important it is that we not minimize our children’s fears and that we give them the space to talk about their fears as often as they need to.

We should normalize for them that these big feelings are real and that it is important for them to talk to their parents to help them better understand what they are experiencing. This means that parents need to be willing to have these conversations even though they may not know what to do or say. The important thing is that parents should be a safe space for their children and let them know they will never judge them for having their feelings – even if their children’s thoughts and feelings differ from their own.

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Social Anxiety

Social Anxiety and the Coronavirus Shutdown

Anxiety /

Even before 2020, the year we began to shelter-in-place and socially isolate, social anxiety was one of the most common mental disorders that people experienced. Today, after almost a year of staying home and with far fewer social interactions than ever before, many more people than ever are nervous about interacting with others. What is social anxiety? Many people experience social anxiety disorder to varying degrees. It is a psychological condition that affects someone’s thoughts,

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enjoy the holidays

Ways to Enjoy the Holidays – Main Street Living

General, News, Relationship, Thoughts /

This has been a crazy year for everyone, and navigating life and the holidays is a bit more challenging. People are looking for ways to enjoy the holidays this year given our limited physical connection with friends and family.

I had the privilege of sharing my thoughts for enjoying the holidays with Cheryl Nelson and Danielle Alvari on a recent episode of Main Street Living. You can watch the clip here.

It’s ok to feel your feelings, but you should also look for the silver lining in your current circumstances. Things won’t always be this way.

Here are some of my tips for staying connected during what could otherwise be an isolating holiday season…

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New Years Resolution

Why You Should Not Create New Year’s Resolutions

Self-Esteem /

Every year, after the holidays are over and January first is right around the corner, people across the world set out to change their lives overnight with a new year’s resolution. Why then, after just a couple of weeks, have most of us have completely given up on what we resolved to do? The answer is that most new year’s resolutions are neither healthy nor sustainable. It turns out, if you want to make healthy,

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successful couples practices

Successful Couples Practices – Podcast Interview

Couples Counseling, News, Relationship, Thoughts /

Successful couples practices require leaders who are dedicated, driven, and confident! That’s what Confident Couples Therapist is all about. My friend and colleague Nancy Ryan and I developed Confident Couples Therapist to help clinicians on their journey to developing a thriving couples practice. We help them navigate the guesswork and trial and error and avoid needless frustration.

We were recently invited to speak with Gordon Brewer on his podcast, The Practice of Therapy. In this podcast we discussed some tips for developing successful couples practices. The need for confident couples therapists has been on the rise in recent months, which makes this topic so timely. During these uncertain times, couples are specifically seeking therapists specializing in couples therapy.

Every therapist has their own personality and style. However, the tips we discussed in this podcast can be helpful to every couples therapist.

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long-distance infidelity

Infidelity in Long-Distance Relationships

Couples Counseling, Relationship /

Unfortunately, infidelity is a problem for both in-town and out-of-town partners. However, the idea of “out of site out of mind” is often a reality for many long-distance relationships. One of the main the reasons is that maintaining a connected far-away relationship is difficult at best even for the most loyal partners.

The reason most of us get into a relationship is so that we can have a person by our side who is there both emotionally and physically to weather the storms of life with. The temptation to physically connect with another person who can give you a hug when you have a bad day, put their arm around you and snuggle on the couch, and have sex with you has a strong influence on why infidelity occurs.

Even couples who have strong friendship and communication skills are vulnerable to having a really bad day and find themselves needing support that is in person. The opportunity for a physically present potential partner to come along and fill up the void created by long-distance love is real.

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Confident Couples Theerapist

Confident Couples Therapist – Podcast

Couples Counseling, Relationship, Thoughts /

My friend and colleague Nancy Ryan and I were recently featured on a podcast with Alison Pidgeon from Practice of the Practice to promote our new joint venture, Confident Couples Therapist.

The theme of this podcast was our purpose at Confident Couples Therapist, which is to help clinicians become better couples therapists and build cash practices confidently. Ultimately, therapists who are knowledgeable, prepared, and CONFIDENT will better serve the needs of their clients and provide the quality care they desire. In turn, this will result in a clientele that will return, as well as refer their friends and colleagues to that practice.

In this podcast Nancy and I discuss the benefits of having a cash-pay practice, both for the clients and for the practice, as well as provide some useful marketing tips and ideas for setting up office space and hiring quality clinicians.

Some of our tips include creating a safe an comfortable space for clients, paying attention to details (furniture, wall colors, background music, etc.), and providing a relaxed, warm, welcoming, and friendly environment.

You can listen to the entire podcast here.

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Cuddle Positions

Cuddle Positions – Benefits and Meaning

As Seen In, Couples Counseling, Issues for Women, News, Relationship, Sexual Health, Thoughts /

Who doesn’t love to cuddle?

If you are one of the people lucky enough to have someone to cuddle right now, you know how meaningful it can be to experience comfort through human touch. Elizabeth Kirkhorn interviewed me recently for an article in O.school in which we discussed the benefits of cuddling, as well as different cuddling positions.

Specifically, the article discussed six different cuddling positions, what they are, and what they mean.

For example, most of us have heard of “spooning”. But have you heard about “being small”, “the stronghold”, or “the honeymoon hug”? Did you know that each cuddle position means something different? Did you know that although cuddling is intimate, your preferred position in the cuddle says something about your needs or preferences in the relationship?

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self quarantine

Quarantined from your Partner?

Anxiety, Couples Counseling, Family Therapy, Relationship, Thoughts /

People in essential services have continued working throughout the quarantine, and those who have had the option to work from home have been able to remain on the job as well. Many others have only recently begun returning to work.

Every day we hear reports about new cases of Covid-19, increased rates of positive tests, and speculation about another shut-down. For those venturing out into the world and workplace, they are increasing their exposure to other people and the risk of being infected themselves.

Concerns about exposure is leading many to quarantine themselves from their partners and/or families in order to protect them. As an example, I have a relative who routinely flies for work, stays in hotels, and eats take-out (when sit-down dining is not available). When he returns home, he quarantines himself from his wife for two weeks to ensure he does not have any symptoms.

Quarantining yourself this way may be prudent and responsible, but it can also cause anxiety, stress, and feelings of disconnection from your partner.

Here are some ideas to help you stay connected and reduce anxiety and stress during your time of quarantine:

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