Boundaries are such a buzzword these days, and for good reason! They can do so much in protecting your mental health and giving you a safe space for growth. Boundaries can help you maintain relationships with people that you care about, who may engage in behaviors that aren’t supportive. They help in situations where you don’t want to lose your people; you just can’t continue with this level of exposure to their unsupportive behaviors. How do you limit exposure, maintain re

Trauma-informed therapy has gotten a lot of attention over the past 20 years. Research shows that 10-70% of adults in America (depending on population) have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives. Studies also indicate that “ depres sion, functional impairment, and PTSD improve significantly” with trauma-focused psychotherapy (Melegkovits et al., 2022). Which is good news, until the obvious question arises: How can I feel safe in therapy, if a lack of safet

Many people spend their days with a constant inner critic. When something goes wrong, we often speak to ourselves in ways we would never speak to someone we care about. This might happen after a mistake at work, a missed deadline, or a difficult conversation. Practicing self-compassion means learning to treat ourselves with the same patience, kindness, respect, and understanding that we extend to others around us. Self-compassion does not mean you ignore challenges or pret

Loneliness is something so many people go through, even if it doesn’t always look that way from the outside. You might be surrounded by coworkers during the day or even family members at home and still feel alone. Maybe friends are busy, your relationships have shifted, or you’re simply craving deeper connections that feel hard to find. The truth is, loneliness doesn’t always look like isolation. Sometimes it shows up in the middle of a crowded room. In a full house or durin

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Is therapy actually going to help me…or is this just how motherhood feels?” I hear this from new moms all the time. The postpartum period can feel hard for so many reasons. Your sense of who you are shifts. You’re constantly worrying whether you’re doing things “right”. You’re exhausted and overwhelmed in ways you didn’t know were possible. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, you’re asking yourself, “Is this normal?” Even when post

If you’re a people-pleaser or a perfectionist, the word “ boundaries ” might make you feel a little uneasy. I get it. As a recovering perfectionist, I absolutely struggled with boundaries. I felt selfish or like I was letting someone down. I told myself I’d set boundaries once I had everything under control. Then life kept on life-ing and the cycle of ignoring this need for myself continued. The reality? Boundaries aren’t a reward for having it all figured out. They’re kindne

For many folks with marginalized identities, their trauma isn’t isolated to a single event, but is often the result of complex, ongoing, compounding factors. Existing in a body that the world tells you is unsafe, bad, or wrong causes not only mental and emotional distress but it impacts your physical wellbeing as well. You might notice constantly feeling on edge, scanning for threats, ongoing muscle tension or pain, exhaustion, shame or hostility towards your body, or even nu

Most of us with ADHD can struggle with our thoughts moving at the speed of light. A lot of us are excellent at coming up with new ideas or seeing situations from a different perspective due to our skills at pattern recognition. However, this can come as a detriment at times because we can exhaust ourselves even before getting started. In this blog, I will be talking about ways to slow down and listen to yourself instead of continuing to “Grin and Bear It”. The Importance o

Have you ever felt the immediate sense of relief coming home after a long day at work? Maybe you felt the same feeling after being around friends or family. Have you ever wondered what that's about and why it can feel so incredible to get home to your safe space? What is that relief really about? Sometimes it’s just getting into relaxation-mode, but sometimes it can be relief from dropping your mask. Masking keeps you “on” at work or around our social circle. Sometimes maski

By now we all know, life includes loss. The death of a loved one. The loss of a job. The grief of losing a home or homeland. The loss of beliefs, or body function, or the hope for a better future. These losses force us to ask: Who am I now? What is still important to me? How do I move forward with so much uncertainty? When Loss Disrupts Identity While we tend to think of loss in terms of what or who we no longer have, the most unsettling part of loss is how it can dismant

Starting therapy can feel intimidating. Even those who firmly believe in the importance of mental health care may still feel anxious, unsure, or hesitant when they think about taking the first steps to seeking help. These fears are common and it’s important to recognize that they are normal. Therapy asks us to look inward, be vulnerable, and trust another person with parts of ourselves and our life story that we may not fully understand yet. If you’ve ever hesitated to start

Having a positive sense of community is known to have a positive impact on mental health. In several studies, the impact of having a negative connection to community or a lack of community is tied to higher incidences of depression , anxiety , and overall stress. Additionally, in populations with already higher relative stress such as minority populations, lower socioeconomic classes, and gender nonconforming or queer groups, having a strong community is objectively more impo

For many women, ADHD goes unnoticed for years. Symptoms are often misinterpreted as quirks, personality traits, or even character flaws. Because of this, women are frequently diagnosed with ADHD later in life . Sometimes the late diagnosis occurs after a child or family member is diagnosed, and they begin recognizing the same patterns in themselves. Understanding how ADHD presents in adult women is important not only for accurate diagnosis, but also for self-compassion and

Many adults struggle with emotions that feel overwhelming. You may find yourself caught in cycles of frustration, sadness, or anxiety , unsure how to calm down once emotions take over. At the same time, relationships can feel complicated and difficult to navigate. Communication breaks down. Conflicts escalate quickly. Misunderstandings leave you feeling isolated. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, offers tools that can help. In DBT group therapy, adults learn practical sk

Life can feel overwhelming at times. Stress, conflict, and intense emotions can leave you feeling drained and unsure how to cope. You may want to feel more calm and balanced, but it’s hard to find the right tools to get there. This is where Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) group therapy can help. In our DBT Group for Calm and Balance, adults learn skills that bring relief, stability, and hope. Let’s explore the benefits of DBT group therapy and why it may be the right choi

After some time in courtship with your partner, you’re finding yourself increasingly caught in patterns of misunderstandings, frustrations and feelings of disconnection. One of you seems distracted, forgetful, impulsive, and inattentive. While the other ends up constantly covering for the other, getting frustrated, feeling overwhelmed or neglected and even resentful. You may start asking yourself, “How did we get this way?” Perhaps one of you has ADHD. ADHD (Attention Defici

The holiday season is often described as magical, meaningful, and full of joy. But as any parent knows, it can just as easily feel overstimulating, overwhelming, and downright exhausting. With school events, winter break, travel plans, holiday preparations, and family gatherings all crammed into a few short weeks it’s easy to move through December on autopilot. Many parents head into the season hoping for more meaningful moments of connection with their kids only to realiz

The holidays show up every year wrapped in sparkly lights, warm commercials, and an unspoken message that everyone should be feeling cheerful. But the truth? Many people feel lonelier during this season than any other time of year. If this feels like you, you’re definitely not alone. Let’s talk honestly about why holiday loneliness happens and what you can do to make this season feel a little lighter, calmer, and more connected. Why the Holidays Can Feel So Hard Even if you

My best idea is for the holidays to be biennial. More anticipation means more excitement for all, right? Unfortunately, since I’ve been unable to convince others in my life that gift giving and receiving is a burden, that holiday music is a travesty, and that nothing can justify the waste that results from all the hype… I’ve had to learn to say, “No.” Since no one will ever play the Grinch like Jim Carey, I leverage every relationship skill I have to avoid being cast into

The holidays can be an overwhelming time regardless of what you celebrate. Amplify that with struggles of executive dysfunction related to ADHD and it can feel near impossible to get to January unscathed. In this post, I will share some helpful tips and guidance to help with staying grounded during what is almost always a deregulating time, the holidays. The Pressure of Holiday Expectations We all know the feeling of wanting to embrace what the holidays usually represent