Articles
Parenting Depressed Teens
If you’re looking for tips and advice on parenting depressed teens, this article is for you. It’s been said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus in their psychological differences and styles of communication. Sometimes it can be as accurate to say the same of teens and parents; the gap between a teen and their parents can feel like the width of a galaxy. The sweet, communicative child can turn into a brooding, distant stranger in a few short years. It often feels impossible to know what they’re going through. For the parent or caregiver, this decade can [...]
How Your Attachment Style Influences Your Relationships
Attachment theory is one of the most acknowledged psychological theories in the last fifty years (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2009). Bowlby, one of the theorists who developed this theory, believed that every person is born with an attachment behavioral system that is wired for survival. The goal of the attachment system is to attain protection and support from those around us in dangerous situations, and it is vital early in life because babies and young children are unable to defend themselves from danger (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2009). Yet, researchers believe that we do not grow out of our attachment style as we [...]
Coping with Grief: Grieving Together with Your Spouse
One of the things implied by being a couple is that you are present with and for each other in better or worse times. Life comes with many joys, but also many sorrows. Couples walk with each other in these seasons, ideally providing support and comfort. When grief visits a family, a couple stands together as they process their loss. Though two people may be in similar circumstances, they don’t necessarily experience them in the same ways. Each spouse may have different ways of grieving, the grief will hit them in different ways, and they will need to find ways to [...]
5 Ways Love Can Help Every Aspect of Your Health
On February 14 of each year, we celebrate love on Valentine’s Day. Although some people reject the idea of celebrating love on just one day a year, love can surprisingly have a profound effect on every aspect of our health. Studies have shown that happily married couples get more restful sleep and that love releases hormones that help people relax, increase their immune function, and help them ward off disease. Love is an essential part of a productive and well-lived life. Here are five ways to affect every aspect of your health. Physical As stated above, love profoundly affects a person’s [...]
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 [...]