Category: Practice

Situations arise that we feel we don’t have control over.  Sometimes it is positive, but most of the time it is the negative experiences that gets us flustered and responding poorly.   It is these experiences that are the building blocks of our lives that we filter today’s issues through.  Our interactions with others, our body images, our thoughts, our feelings our ______________, you fill in the blank.  Everything goes through our past whether we like it or not.   The question is how do we change these perceptions and judgments for a more positive understanding? 

            This question creates the answer we all look for from a counseling perspective, why do I do what I do and what can I do to change?  The process while it sounds relatively simple borders on the complex.   What do we need to change within our selves to ...

Almost everyone has heard of self-esteem. It’s fortunately being talked about more frequently within society. However, another concept about the self that needs to be addressed along with self-esteem, is self-compassion. Dr. Kristin Neff describes self-compassion as “being warm and understanding towards ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate rather than ignoring our pain”(http://self-compassion.org). Self-compassion is the idea that just as we offer kindness and compassion to others when they fall short, we offer the same to ourselves. Why does it tend to be so much easier to offer compassion to others and not ourselves?

We are not perfect. No matter how hard we try, we will never be perfect. Self-compassion meets us in our imperfection. It allows us to say, “I messed up but I still have value and am still important”. When we s ...

The Stages of Change

Do you remember what it was like when you were learning to ride a bike?  How to play an instrument, or drive a car?  The first few weeks and months may have been a struggle, but the results were so sweet!  Mastering a new skill brings a sense of freedom and accomplishment like none other — but there is a process involved.

Many people enter counseling because they are ready for change.  They want to get from Point A to Point B, learn new skills, and write the next chapter of their story.  What some clients don’t realize is that making changes in mental and emotional health and lifestyle is almost never a “quick fix.”  Learning and developing new patterns of thinking, feeling, and behavior takes time.  If you are willing to engage in that process, you can enjoy lasting, meaningful changes in your life.  Here is a brief rundown of The Stages of Change — they ar ...