Work is crazy, the kids have so much to do, and you and your partner just had a big argument about the finances. Maybe you’re unemployed, the creditors are calling, and the bills are piling up. Perhaps you are the caretaker of a family member who is ill or disabled, and you never get a minute for yourself. More often than not, you dread the day ahead, and you feel like you’re heading for a nervous breakdown. You just don’t know how to get your life back on track, and you don’t know how much more you can take.
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December 10, 2014
by David Porter, MA
Working out is a superb way to manage anxiety, depression, and anger. It is also a useful adjunct to manage addiction, PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder), and insomnia. It has been noted that mental health providers are slowly recognizing this, and are advised to include it as part of a treatment plan (Weir, 2011). The exact mechanism by which exercise improves mood is unclear- it may be partly due to increased catecholamines- the brain chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and norephinephrine- which can all elevate mood (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Release of beta-endorphins, the natural opiates produced by the brain are also a likely cause (Mental Health Foundation, 2013).
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Understanding and working with our emotions is the root of change and essential to everything we do. Working with our emotions goes beyond just asking, “what do you feel?” It’s about listening to our emotions, understanding what they are communicating to us and using that information to help us solve problems. The ability to tolerate and express emotion is not only connected to greater mental health, but to greater physical health as well.
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June 22, 2014
by Everett Libby
Your divorce is imminent. There is no turning back now. There is a new meaning to ‘normal’ for life as things are about to change for you and your kid(s). Through all the change, parenting must remain a priority.
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Emotionally focused therapy proposes that emotions themselves have an innately adaptive potential that, if activated, can help clients change problematic emotional states or unwanted self-experiences. Emotions themselves do not inhibit the therapeutic process, but people’s perception is seen as the challenge that creates stuck-ness.
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Over the years I have had many patients who knowingly or unknowingly come to my office with the issue of child sexual abuse. One out of every three women and one out of every six men have been abused as a child in our society.
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October 12, 2013
by Ashley Marie
Breast cancer can touch anyone. Here is a story of love and courage in the face of this struggle.
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Elizabeth’s Story
I have known Elizabeth for a number of years. Outwardly she gives the impression of being a very quiet, gentle and passive woman. I had never heard her disagree with anyone. She is generous, fair minded and loving towards everyone.
She approached me a while back as she was receiving disturbing dreams and felt that her whole life was being shaken. She was experiencing a hi...
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In a matter of minutes, an entire community can be devastated by forces they cannot control. Whether it is natural or manmade, disasters are traumatic, and nearly everyone who experiences this kind of stress will need help coping with what they have experienced.
Traumatic Stress
Different types of natural disasters present different stress varying by how close the person is to the event. In ...
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The origins of Thanksgiving have nothing to do with a bunch of Indians and pilgrims sitting down for a bountiful feast of turkey. In reality although the settlers with pale faces had been bothering the Indians in addition to giving them many new diseases they had never had were starving by this time. The Indians took pity on them and brought them some corn and fish. Thanksgiving has a lot of emoti...
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