The holidays are commonly viewed as a joyful time for family values and spiritual traditions. It is wonderful when we have people to share our joy and time with but it is also common to have difficult, often conflicting, emotions this time of year. Let’s talk about what is expected during the holidays. External pressuresContinueContinue reading “Mental Wellness and Struggles during the Holiday Season”
Category Archives: self-awareness
Costumes and Self-Expression
It’s Halloween! It’s okay to use today as an excuse to express yourself. Halloween has a lot of meaning and history. As many people know, Halloween started as the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. It was believed that this was the day that the veil between the living and the dead was thinnest so theContinueContinue reading “Costumes and Self-Expression”
Identity Issues
I talk a lot about identity on this site but what does it mean? Identity encompasses a lot of factors including personality traits, appearance, beliefs, values, and much more. How a person defines themselves is dependent on how they were raised, their social experiences, adversities, education, etc. There is so much involved in identity developmentContinueContinue reading “Identity Issues”
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Halloween and Fear
Know your spooky limits Halloween themed image with pumpkins, flying witch, and spooky house It’s Spooky Season! That means fun costumes, pumpkins, horror movies, thrilling shows, and so much more. It can be a great time to embrace your quirky side and just have fun. It can also be a time of high anxiety andContinueContinue reading “Halloween and Fear”
That Thief Named Fear
Is your fear keeping you locked up and preventing you from living a fulfilling life? Fear and anxiety can prevent us from living lives that are meaningful and fulfilling. Someone who is socially anxious may feel isolated and wish for ways to spend more time with others. Dealing with trauma can lead to a significantContinueContinue reading “That Thief Named Fear”
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3 Simple Ways to Journal
Journaling is one of the best healthy habits you can start today! The truth about therapy is that most of the work will be done outside of session on your personal time. We can only accomplish so much in a hour a week (or less for some people) which is why most of us askContinueContinue reading “3 Simple Ways to Journal”
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Fear
Do you feel shackled by fear? We’ve all been there. Everything is going fine and suddenly it’s not so we snap into our fear response, but there is no “normal” way to respond to fear. It is a powerful emotion that we naturally just react to in our own way and based on our ownContinueContinue reading “Fear”
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But I just don’t want to…
Let’s talk about motivation. Motivation is like a muscle. It can be made stronger and it can disappear depending on how you work at it. The image of my daughter’s doll face down just screams “I don’t feel like it, I give up” This is one of my daughter’s toys and it just spoke toContinueContinue reading “But I just don’t want to…”
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Self-acceptance lessons from Disney’s Encanto
Warning: spoilers ahead! Encanto teaches us that it’s important to challenge tradition and others’ expectations. Sometimes it’s necessary to shake up the status quo to find yourself so you can be yourself. This is especially seen in Isabella’s song “What else can I do” as she realizes her efforts to maintain the perfect image expectedContinueContinue reading “Self-acceptance lessons from Disney’s Encanto”
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Empowered and Struggling Blog
Hands carved from downed trees, reaching for each other (Heidelberg, Germany) They are beautiful but the image made me sad thinking how they are just out of each other’s reach, always longing but never able to actually hold each other. Sadness is normal! Welcome to the hot mess that is life. I hope to helpContinueContinue reading “Empowered and Struggling Blog”
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Empowered Counseling 