Defense Mechanisms & Coping Skills – Denial – Part 2

denial

One of our most primitive defense mechanisms is denial. Mark Twain perfectly captured the essence of denial when he quipped, Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. In effect, denial is an effort to avoid the pain or discomfort of reality by pretending it doesn’t exist. It is the emotional … Read More

Codependency and How to Care for Yourself

Codependency

Codependency can simply be described as helping others while harming yourself. Have you ever found yourself in a relationship where you felt as if you were going “crazy?” Have you ever found yourself excessively worried, preoccupied or even obsessed with your partner’s problems? Codependency involves reactions which are unhealthy forms of … Read More

Defense Mechanisms and Coping Skills – Part 1

coping

Coping skills can take many forms and help us make sense of our experiences, mitigate stress, and sustain our sense of self-worth. Sometimes life can feel pretty overwhelming. Without these strategies for managing life’s stressors and sustaining a sense of emotional well-being, it would be difficult to navigate even the … Read More

Party Survival Skills for the Socially Anxious

anxious

For many people, parties are a highlight of the holiday season. But for those who are socially anxious, holiday parties can be nothing short of torturous. Resolving social anxiety exceeds the scope of a blog post, but in the meantime, here are some quick tips for surviving all the festivities. … Read More

Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction

Patrick Carnes is the author of Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction. As a therapist, we often utilize his materials to enhance the content of sessions with our clients. Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction is an easy read and a great resource to help explain the addiction cycle for … Read More

Goal-Setting for the Real World

We’ve all got goals and may have an idea in mind of how goal-setting might look in our lives. Our goals may be big and life-changing, or they may be as small as wanting to be more consistent in cleaning your baseboards, but no matter the size, we’ve all got them. I hear … Read More

Thoughts: Friend or Foe – Part 4

In this series, we are taking a look at some of the most common ways our thoughts can become distorted, causing us to feel depressed, bad about ourselves, negative or hopeless.  In this final installment, we will take a look at Filtering. Filtering occurs when you “filter” out the positives … Read More