In my practice, I use my two therapy dogs as emotional support animals with clients. I have two working dogs, Oscar and Olive, that are both lab mixes. Olive is a healthy 80 lbs and Oscar is a tiny dachshund-lab mix. They love coming with...
The inner dialogue going on inside a persons mind, can be both positive and negative. The negative internal dialogue we coin, “the inner critic." We all have one and it ranges from mildly annoying to very destructive. A person can become suicidal if their inner...
Happy new year! It's time to set some personal goals that involve self-care and personal growth. Many of us go to coffee shops every day or get expensive haircuts, and these costs can add up quickly in the long run. With the start of the...
How do you define trauma? In this blog, we talk about what trauma is and how to know if you've experienced it. Trauma is defined as "a deeply distressing or disturbing experience." The Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood disorders defines trauma as "a psychological, emotional...
Equal Opportunity Affairs: Infidelity and the Web of Shame. Infidelity & affairs contribute to shame, and the inner critic.The Inner Critic For most of my clients, affairs start innocently enough. They are equal opportunity affairs --These situations happen to both men and women in equal proportions. Many...
THE INNER CRITIC, SHAME and PERFECTIONISM Perfectionism and shame sometimes take the shape of an Inner Critic. You know that voice? The one inside your head that tells you that "You're not good enough." The one that tries to make you do everything perfectly and...
COUNSELING & SUPPORT VS. "THE LONE RANGER" Our stubbornly independent "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" culture in the US, can help us grow to be self-sufficient, successful human beings. However, it can also lead to our downfall. "We stumble over our strengths, not our weaknesses."...
Are you an empath? Do you find yourself in the same types of unhealthy relationships? Let's take a look at what's really going on...
It seems to me that the New Year's Resolutions so eagerly made on January 1st, and quickly forgotten and broken, leaving their owners feeling guilty…..like a failure….something we use to "beat ourself up" instead of the intended, constructive purpose. If we must make a...
Loving others, loving myself, loving God. We can't offer others what we first haven't offered to ourself. It is critical to demonstrate self-love & compassion. As Kahlil Gibran eloquently state, "And God said, Love your Enemy. And I obeyed and loved myself." Often, we don't learn...
