You’ve sort of finished raising your kids. They are adults who still need you, yes, but since they’re on their own, they need you in a different way.
Read MoreWhat are Your Signs of Spring?
It’s been a long winter, literally and figuratively. With COVID and staying home, isolation and depression have been an awful stormy “season”.
Read MoreFeeling exhausted?
This time, right now, is one of the hardest in generations. It’s normal, you are normal, for feeling incredibly tired. As women during Covid, we are tasked with more and more of the heavy lifting.
Read MoreYour perfect anger
It’s alright to have anger. You don’t need to be happy all the time. You’re perfect, even when you’re angry.
Read MoreFind your inner Sassy Girl
Before life changed you, you had a sassy strength.
Read MoreStomach in Knots?
If you get a tight stomach even thinking about attending seasonal family reunions, here are some tips to loosen the knots.
Arrive well rested and well fed
It’s harder to manage your emotions when you’re tired and hungry. Even though the gathering might center around food, don’t starve yourself thinking you can eat with everyone else. Eat something hearty and nutritious, like a cheese sandwich, a bean soup, or even veggie sticks dipped in hummus, before you leave your house.
Have a support person
Read MoreAlone for the holidays? Then this is for you
Whether this is your first holiday alone, or your twentieth, you will likely experience some uncomfortable feelings. Try one - or more - of these ideas to pass the time, survive and thrive, heal, or absorb some holiday joy.
Read More1,000,000: The number of suicide attempts in a year
In honor of Suicide Prevention Week 2017: Remember the old Reading Rainbow children’s book How Much is a Million? “If one million children climbed onto one another’s shoulders, they would be higher than airplanes fly.” That’s how many people attempt suicide in the United States each year.
Read MoreMad as Hell: 4 Ways to Sit With Anger
You know the feeling: a dull pressure in your head, pit in your stomach, narrowed vision, feeling white hot or icy cold. You might feel like you can’t sit still - your heart racing, and your jaw clenched. You want to yell, cry, or kick something.
Read MoreDoes my kid have anxiety? (And if so, what can I do?)
If you have a child who cries often, is easily frustrated or sullen or angry, has trouble falling asleep or getting up, refuses to engage, or is obstinate, they may have anxiety.
Read MoreHow to manage change (with less anxiety)
We are creatures of habit. We have our comfort zone established and even extroverts want that space to return to. So change is understandably hard for most of us, often causing stress or anxiety. I recently moved to a new city, both my family and my counseling practice. Along the way, I learned some things I want to remember, to help me with the next change. Maybe they’ll help you too.
Read MoreIs it Stress or Anxiety? And what can you do?
Stress and anxiety have lots of similarities. Both can keep you up at night. Both can cause headaches, stomach aches, and other body sensations. Both can make you quick to anger, yell at your kids, or long to veg out in front of the TV or your Facebook news feed.
Read MoreHow to get the most out of counseling - 5 ways
Let’s start by telling the truth: counseling is a large investment of your time and money. Living in the Issaquah area is expensive enough and commuting to work is long enough – no need to throw away time and money. And by the time you start counseling, you’ve probably been suffering long enough that you’re really ready for things to be better. Since your time and money are being spent, here are some ways to make sure to get the most out of it.
Read MoreConflict free in your relationship
We all hear how important it is to argue, disagree, and be authentic. But did you know you can actually do conflict better, communicate better, and improve your relationship if you have areas and times that are free of conflict?
This is part 3 of my four-part VLOG series on relationship conflict and communication. Scroll down to read more, or just watch the video here.
Read MoreHow to use conflict to improve your relationship: Cop an attitude & Lead up to it
If you hate fighting you're not alone. Most of us hate fighting and avoid conflict like the plague. But you can learn to communicate and resolve conflict in ways that improve your relationship and mover you closer together.
Read MoreYour ideal holiday – You CAN have it and here's how!
Most of us are prone to high expectations, and stress around the holiday season. If you are someone who fits into this group, as I am, you may also worry your holiday might be disappointing or painful. Do you know what you are hoping for? Specifically?
It’s likely some aspects of your dream holiday are quite possible.
Define your day. Make it so. Let it go.
Read MoreWhere do you hold stress?
Where do you hold your stress? Your belly? Your head? Your neck and shoulders?
When you’re stressed you might notice you hunch your shoulders up toward your ears, giving you pain in your neck or upper back. You might tighten your jaw, grind your teeth, or feel weepy.
The most important thing is that you notice. Then you can release it.
Read MoreChildhood sexual trauma: What happens when the predator is your brother?
If you are alive and awake, you’ve likely read or heard about Josh Duggar, of the television show 19 Kids and Counting, molesting his sisters and a babysitter. What can you and I, as parents, do differently? Value our children, believe them, report their molester.
Read More5 Short Steps to Help Yourself Feel Better
Think back to the past week. Think about the positive, negative, and neutral events that happened. Did you have a bad day? Did you feel abandoned or panicked when the person you turned to wasn’t available? Do you want to feel better when it happens again? Because you will feel let down, disappointed, or abandoned again someday. We can control of our feelings of sadness, abandonment, grief, rage, and anxiety by changing our thoughts with a simple activity called cognitive restructuring.
Read MoreMotherhood and the Luxury of My Broken Sleep
C’mon, admit it. When you were a child of napping age, you knew as well as I did how to muss up your hair, the sheets, and your clothing just so. I hated sleep. I could quietly pull out Nancy Drew, or my Spirograph, something quiet to pass the time until I could try leaving my bedroom again.
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