Work and Career Issues

Most of us spend more time at work than at home; therefore, the workplace should be an environment where we feel safe and comfortable. However, because the work environment is a melting pot of different personalities, communication styles, and worldviews, things don’t always go smoothly. In fact, workplace bullying is on the rise, and though statistics vary, some studies reveal that nearly half of all American workers have been affected by this problem, either as a target or as a witness to abusive behavior against a co-worker.

Examples of common workplace issues include:

• Poor job fit
• Mental anguish
• Sexual or verbal harassment
• Discrimination
• Low motivation

With the right support, healing is possible.

Trauma is the experience of severe psychological distress following any terrible or life-threatening event or series of events. Small ‘t’ traumas tend to be overlooked by the individual who has experienced the difficulty. This is sometimes due to the tendency to rationalize the experience or incident as ‘normal’ and therefore shame oneself for any reaction that could be construed as an over-reaction or being “dramatic.” Individuals who have experienced small ‘t’ trauma may develop emotional disturbances such as extreme anxiety, anger, sadness, guilt, shame, or

Stress Management

Everyone encounters stress during their lives at one point—never-ending bills, demanding schedules, work, and family responsibilities—and that can make stress seem inescapable and uncontrollable. Stress management skills are designed to help a person take control of their lifestyle, thoughts, and emotions and teach them healthy ways to cope with their problems.

Find the Cause

The first step in stress management is identifying your stressors. While this sounds fairly easy—it’s not hard to point to major changes or a lot of work piling up—chronic stress can be complicated, and most people don’t realize how their habits contribute to their stress. Maybe work piling up isn’t from the actual demands of

Over half of the population will experience some form of severe trauma at some point in their lives. This can include sexual or physical assault, combative, vehicular, or other accidents, and witnessing death or injury. While not everyone will experience post-traumatic stress disorder from these traumatic events, PTSD is more common than you would expect.

• About 7 to 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
• About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
• About 10 of every 100 (or 10%) of women develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 (or 4%) of men.
• Rape is the most likely trigger of PT

Parenting Blended Families

Forming a blended family, also known as a stepfamily, is not always Brady Bunch easy. And yet, this is an important family unit: according to the US Census Bureau, about 15 percent of children live in blended families. For starters, stepchildren are often confused and have conflicting emotions, according to Anne Brennan Malec, a clinical psychologist, a stepmother of six, and author of Marriage in Modern Life: Why It Works, When It Works. A stepchild may want their parent to be happy in a new relationship, yet they feel disloyal to the parent left behind. Without a doubt, children will find this transition to be more difficult than their newlywed parent will. Here are strategies that all family members can take to help a new unit flou

Grief is a transformative journey that can lead to healing, growth, and rediscovery of joy.

Throughout the course of our years, we all experience a loss at some point in our lives. In fact, statistics show that 1 in 5 children will experience the death of someone close to them before 18 years age of. Feelings of grief and loss are not always associated with death, however, but commonly surface after a loss of some kind – whether it is the loss of a loved one, a severed relationship, a pregnancy, a pet, or a job.

When a person loses something or someone valuable to them, feelings of grief can be overbearing. Grief can leave a person feeling sad, hopeless, isolated, irritable, and numb by affecting them mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s impor

build healthy habits with food

Body image is the mental representation that one creates in their mind, but it may or may not relate to how others see an individual. The skewed view that someone has of their body is a culprit affecting people across the globe, where ethnicity, culture, gender, and age may all fall prey to it. According to ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders), about 30 million Americans suffer from some sort of eating disorder. Eating disorders hold a record for having the highest mortality rate when compared to other mental illnesses; someone dies of an eating disorder every 62 minutes.

Types of Eating Disorders

There are copious numbers of eating disorders, and, unfortunately,

Understanding Depression and the Paths to Recovery

Sadness is a perfectly normal reaction to life’s struggles, setbacks, and disappointments. Many people use the word “depression” to explain these kinds of feelings, but the symptoms of depression are much more than just sadness. Depression is the overwhelming feeling of sadness when everything in your life seems to be going right. However, some depressed people don’t feel sad at all, they may feel lifeless, empty, and apathetic, or some may even feel angry, aggressive, and restless. Whatever the symptoms, depression is different from normal or ecological sadness in that it takes over your daily life, interfering with your ability to work, study, eat, sleep, and have fun. The feelings of helplessness, ho

We all have moments of frustration, whether they be associated with a friend, a family member, or a disagreement in our everyday life, but there are several positive strategies to utilize when it comes to dealing with conflict.

According to the Office of Human Resource Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conflict is understood by analyzing various behaviors and the consequences each behavior produces on individuals living the dilemma.

• Avoidance: This is the person who wishes to ignore the problem and will allow it to dissipate or squander. Unfortunately, quite the contrary is happening in this situation. The problem then swells under the surface until it’s no longer avoidable and will need to be addressed.
<

Complex Childhood Trauma

Complex trauma describes both children’s exposure to multiple traumatic events—often of an invasive, interpersonal nature—and the wide-ranging, long-term effects of this exposure. These events are severe and pervasive, such as abuse or profound neglect.

If you are interested in learning more about Complex Childhood Trauma, Schedule An Appointment Today!

Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life. You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision. But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. The symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships.

There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorder in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year. Anxiety disorders are highl

Addiction and Recovery

An addiction is a chronic mental disorder in which an individual is dependent on a substance or engages in an activity, that gives them an immense amount of pleasure but has become detrimental to the functionality of everyday life. Compulsive behaviors and addictions can temporarily provide confidence, control, validation or other emotions lacking in one’s life, but the behavior may not stop until the root of the problem is addressed.

Addiction changes the brain through the limbic system, also known as the “brain reward system.” This part of the brain is responsible for producing feelings of pleasure and will manifest thoughts such as, “I deserve this,” or “Let’s do that again.” The abuse of addictive substances and