Articles
What to Do If Your Partner Has a Sexual Addiction: Part I
Sexual addiction is a heavy topic. Unfortunately, it is a prevalent and painful reality for many people, and it is a struggle with sin that keeps on giving (not in a good way). For this article, I am specifically speaking to the partner of the addicted person. This is such a vast topic, that I need to break it into several parts, so please forgive me for not giving you all of the information at once, but it requires a lot of time and information. Let’s begin here: If you suspect that your partner is struggling with sexual addiction, I have [...]
Grief Counseling Exercises: A Journey From Grief to Healing
If you find yourself saddened by the recent loss of a loved one and not about to heal, then it might be helpful to give yourself some time to work through the natural grieving process. In addition to grief counesling, there is a wonderful Christian-based workbook that helps with this journey. The New Day Journal: A Journey from Grief to Healing by Mauryeen O’Brien is a great curriculum for people dealing with grief and loss that is made to be worked through with a support group. The book is based on the premise that writing your thoughts, feelings, and experiences is [...]
Five Active Listening Skills to Improve Your Relationships
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcpYt7g-WxI Being considerate of the needs and desires of others is a core trait many are taught from childhood. Often, the need to be valued, heard, and feel respected is at the core of effective relationships with our loved ones. Usually, those individuals whom others label as being “good listeners” have learned the importance of active listening skills. It may seem quite odd to think about what it means to use active listening skills to improve your relationships. Some of the steps that can be used to improve relationships with loved ones begin by recognizing there are a few key [...]
Overcoming Mental Health Problems with God’s Help
As a counselor, I have noticed that my clients with a belief in God tend to see results more quickly in treatment for mental health problems than those who do not have faith in God. This is not an anomaly; there are research articles out there concerning patients with faith having better survival outcomes in terminal diagnoses than their unbelieving counterparts. Why is this? What is it about trusting in God that tends to help us heal faster than those who do not believe in someone or something higher than themselves? I would encourage you to do the research for yourself, [...]
Trauma in Teenagers: What Does It Look Like and How Do You Treat It?
Trauma can come in all different shapes and sizes. Something that is traumatic to one person, might not be traumatic for the next. Trauma is defined, by the psychology dictionary, as an occurrence wherein an individual sees, or experiences a risk to their own life or physical safety, or that of other people and feels terror, fear, or helplessness. This is an experience that is forced upon an individual that was not wanted. In one's childhood, the likelihood that you will experience a traumatic event is anywhere from 15-43 percent. Trauma can be a single event or it can be the [...]
Things to Know for Effective Communication
As humans, we communicate with others all of the time. We communicate verbally and non-verbally. Some people are effective communicators and seem to get what they want out of conversations with others, and some are not so effective and are often met with rejection and anger. If you are looking for some ways to improve your effectiveness in communication there are some things that you should know and practice. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy has an entire section on how to communicate with others, called interpersonal effectiveness skills. We will walk through the skills to learn for both verbal and nonverbal communication. Aspects [...]
A Review on Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) Curriculum
In the following article, I'll give an honest review of the Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) curriculum. What the curriculum is The Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) curriculum was created in 1976 by Don Dinkmeyer Sr. and Gary D. McKay. STEP is recognized by the legal system as an effect teaching curriculum for parenting children of all ages. Since being developed, it has been translated into multiple languages and is used in multiple countries. Since its creation, there have been multiple studies done on the curriculum to research its effectiveness. These studies showed, not only was the curriculum effective for [...]
21 Positive Group Activities for Teens this Summer Season
It’s that time of year again – school is out for summer, and you’re wondering how to keep your teenager busy so that they do not spend all of their free time glued to their devices. Thankfully, there is an abundance of group activities for teens that they can participate in! 21 Positive Group Activities for Teens Volunteering Learning to invest in the lives and welfare of others, is one of the best uses of time for anyone but especially for a teenager. Teens can get so caught up in the drama of social circles, striving for perfection in grades, zoning [...]
Disenfranchised Grief: How This May Apply to the Loss Journey
Loss is a common experience to everyone. Loss of relationships, loved ones, dreams, hopes, and more. Grief is a sense of deep sadness and often emptiness which comes after sudden loss or unexpected life changes. These feelings are common and are a normal part of the loss journey. However, sometimes when faced with traumatic loss, such as losing a loved one to terminal illness, combat violence, car accidents, or homicide, one may feel a sense of injustice has been committed against them and seek to resolve this loss. The feelings that come after experiences like these are known as disenfranchised grief. [...]