Articles
Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month
The month of June holds many significant meanings: the beginning of summer, Father’s Day, and men’s mental health awareness. As a male mental health counselor and as a man who has received counseling more than once, I’ll be the first to say, men, take that first step, trust in yourself, and invest in your healing. This article will focus on the important role men play in our society and how so many men are often impacted in ways that often lead to men feeling alone. What does it mean to be a man? Are there stronger or weaker examples of men? [...]
How to Identify and Heal from a Codependent Relationship
Our relationships are an important part of what makes us who we are. Not only do our relationships contribute to our flourishing, but the patterns we form and the people we surround ourselves with reflect our values and how we navigate the world. It’s also true to say that we aren’t always conscious of what we’re doing in our relationships, nor do we find it easy to pinpoint issues that may exist in those relationships, especially in a codependent relationship. This article aims to help you identify any codependent patterns in your relationships. Codependency can exist in the parent-child relationship, between siblings, [...]
Therapy for Anger Management: Does It Really Work?
Anger is a normal emotional reaction to situations that cause you to feel threatened or harmed, and that trigger your brain’s fight-or-flight response. Stress hormones flood your body, sending more blood to your muscles and sharpening your focus to prepare you to defend yourself or move away from the source of danger. This type of anger is a useful, instinctive, survival response that enables you to protect yourself. Anger, however, is not always in response to a physical threat. It can also be a response to emotional pain, frustration, or a perceived injustice. You can, for instance, get angry when your [...]
Christian Mindfulness Exercises: Examples and Benefits
It is common knowledge that our minds tend to be in many places at once or somewhere other than where we are. Our minds wander from thoughts of the past to concerns about the future, creating a disconnect from the reality of what is happening right now and keeping us from noticing chunks of information about our present experience, such as the little gifts God has for us in each moment. Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment and being aware of your thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and surroundings, without judging, resisting, or trying to interpret them. It is a [...]
Negative Body Image: What It Is and Steps Toward Healing
The term body image has a simple meaning. It means the way that we view our bodies. The meaning is simple, but for many people, the term itself can elicit difficult thoughts and emotions. The image we have of ourselves is not simple. It is not simple because the image that we have of our bodies begins with the relationship that we have with our bodies, and the relationship we have with our bodies is complex. You have most likely heard people use the term body image and most of the time it is used negatively. People often talk about struggling [...]
Recognizing and Dealing with Grief Fatigue
No one can prepare you to deal with grief. It will affect you at every level of your being and in every facet of your life. It lasts far longer than you would have expected, and at some point, you will begin to experience grief fatigue. Most people know how it feels to be physically exhausted, but in grief, you can feel fatigued in a few different ways. Recognizing when you are feeling fatigued helps you deal with it. Stretched Capacity Grief is a complex process that affects everyone uniquely. However, there are a few universal experiences that people face while [...]
What Is Friendship Abandonment?
Have you ever had a situation with a friend where you felt that something was different, but you could not put your finger on it? They just don’t act the same. After each interaction or declined invite, you are left asking yourself if you did something wrong. Then, out of the blue, the communication ends or starts to trickle in, confirming your fear that something is indeed wrong. The friendship ends abruptly and, most times, without explanation. This is called friendship abandonment. Abandonment can occur in all types of relationships. We have mostly been accustomed to the abandonment that happens to a [...]
Loneliness and Depression: Making the Connections and How to Address Them Both
You would think that with our ability to reach out across vast distances and communicate instantly with others, loneliness would be a distant memory. Billions are spent each year to enhance our ability to connect meaningfully with other people, but loneliness is still an issue we struggle to overcome. In some ways, the means we use to try and connect with others can further isolate us. Being lonely can have many consequences, and one of these relates to depression. Depression is a common mood disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. It negatively affects them, diminishing their capacity [...]
How the World Sees Your ADHD (and What God Says)
If you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), you’ve probably been labeled a time or two. Maybe you were the “hyper kid” in school or perhaps your parents threw around the label “lazy” about the lawn you were supposed to mow. Maybe your childhood report card mentions how easily distracted you were. The behaviors that you exhibit as a result of your ADHD are often misinterpreted by people in your life. It’s unfortunate that sometimes these misinterpretations turn into negative labels that not only follow you around throughout your life but can affect your self-perception. What the Others Say No one [...]