Helping Your Child Through Your Divorce

divorce

No one wants to go through a divorce, especially when there are children involved. Unfortunately, divorce is a reality for many couples. If you are going through a divorce and you have children, you have a responsibility as a parent to do what you can to protect your child. It’s … Read More

Defense Mechanisms & Coping Skills – Regression – Part 3

regression

As I mentioned in previous blogs, defense mechanisms like denial, are unconscious responses to overwhelming stress in our lives. Although they serve an important purpose, if left unchecked, protective instincts from defense mechanisms can inhibit the development of healthier coping skills. Today, we are going to dive into the topic … Read More

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

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

What Does Emotional Intelligence Mean? Part 1

emotional

Children experience the same emotions as adults. They can feel everything from happiness to sadness to anger to nervousness to even stress. However unlike adults, many children do not understand how to effectively deal with the range of emotions they experience. Just like other life skills parents pass onto their … Read More

Self-care is Not Selfish!

self-care

Self-care is not selfish or self-indulgent. We cannot nurture others from a dry well. We need to take care of our own needs first, then we can give from our surplus, our abundance. ~ Jennifer Louden I’ve found myself having the conversation about self-care with several clients lately. Many of … Read More

Conflict Tools You Can Use

While perusing Pinterest and looking for posts regarding conflict, I came across the following quote: 10% of conflict is due to difference of opinion and 90% is due to tone of voice and delivery. I was curious about the origin. While I was not able to find consensus as to … Read More

An Unfiltered Look at Depression

The Internet can be a strange, scary place. It can be a source of information, a place to laugh at ridiculous videos, a way to connect with others, or a way to spiral into a dark hole. It can be a massive time suck, and it is easy to continue … Read More

Compassion – Part 2

Compassion is about being able to get outside of oneself and feel for someone else. There are also some great benefits that are side effects from being able to have compassion for another person. Research has indicated that an individual who is able to practice a more compassionate lifestyle is … Read More