How to Get Over a Breakup? Tips from Relationship Therapists
If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve experienced a breakup. Breakups can be difficult depending on how long they’ve lasted and/or how much we’ve emotionally invested in the person. We can expect a period of grieving the loss, even if we know it should have ended. We need to take some time to process what happened that caused the relationship to end and...
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Therapist Recommendations for How to Deal with Loneliness
Loneliness, typically defined as the discrepancy between a person’s desired and actual social relationships, affects more than half of U.S. adults (58%). Additionally, Americans with mental health issues are more than twice as likely to be lonely than those with strong mental health.
Lonely individuals approach social encounters with a hypervigilance for social threats; they...
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Is Social Media Bad for Mental Health? You Might Be Surprised
With as much critical and cautionary information that says social media is bad for mental heath, social media and online content has become an integral part of many social, commercial and human interactions. In behavioral psychology, we know that the more we pathologize and make taboo any given behavior or construct by prohibiting it, the less we are able to provide harm reduction...
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What to Say to Someone With Depression
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 21 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in 2020 so it’s likely someone you know or love has been affected. Knowing what to say to someone with depression isn’t always easy. However, social support can remind your loved one that they are not alone.
Research has shown that...
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10 Things Your Therapist Wants You to Know
Our therapists are here to offer mental wellness support with specific interventions to treat all major mental health disorders including anxiety, depression, grief and trauma as well as relationship issues or any life stressors that you are dealing with. We teach you new coping skills for a variety of relational, emotional, and psychological issues so that you can enjoy your...
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5 Cooling Herbs to Beat the Summer Heat
There are many herbs that can help us cool off on hot and humid days – whether by cooling and relaxing our tissues, helping open our pores to release heat, or by bringing extra moisture into our bodies. Here’s a list of 5 Cooling Herbs to beat the heat this summer and how to prepare them at home.
Hibiscus has bright and luscious flowers that are enjoyed as...
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Therapist Recommendations For Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder
There has been a lot of recent media attention surrounding Borderline Personality Disorder—Pete Davidson has been open about his diagnosis and more recently Amber Heard was evaluated to have Borderline Personality Disorder by a forensic psychologist who was hired by Johnny Depp’s legal team. I am hoping that I can show you the positive side of Borderline Personality Disorder and offer...
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Everything You Wanted to Know About Boundaries in Relationships
You may have heard that boundaries in relationships are good and worthwhile. Understandably you might have some questions about boundaries such as what are they? How do I set a boundary? How do I communicate a boundary? How do I enforce a boundary? Is there any flexibility to boundaries? I will answer all of these questions for you because as a licensed marriage and family therapist I...
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Our Therapists’ Personal Tips for How They Avoid Burnout
American Counseling Association has dedicated April as Counseling Awareness Month, a time of advocacy for the profession and celebration of the outstanding efforts of counselors in myriad settings as they seek to facilitate the growth and development of all people. This year’s theme—The Future is… Self-Care, Advocacy and Inclusion #BurnBrightNotOut—is focused on some of the avenues...
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A Therapist’s Thoughts on Bipolar Disorder Inside and Outside the Therapy Room
As a therapist I have had many clients who were diagnosed with or in the process of being identified as having Bipolar I Disorder. Similarly, I recognize experiences with acquaintances whose personalities seemed to dramatically change over time. Before learning more about bipolar disorder, I wondered what had caused these changes, was it me, them, or had our relationships simply changed....
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Healthy Alternatives to Self-Harm
Trigger Warning: Self-Harm
Coping skills are a way to deal with difficult situations, people and emotions. Many people enjoy listening to music, writing, exercising, and painting on days they do not feel the greatest. However, for some people the emotions can feel so overwhelming they turn to self-harm looking to release the emotional pain.
March 1 is Self-Injury Awareness Day— a...
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A Play Therapist’s Must-Have Toys to Use in Play Therapy
Every single person in this world wants to feel heard and to be validated. However, children do not always have the words they need to express themselves due to their developmental level. Children will then find other means to express themselves, which often becomes frustrating for the adults in their lives because this behavior may be viewed as aggression, shutting down, or other...
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Single for Valentine’s Day? 12 Tips for How to Spend the Day
Valentine’s Day can be a tricky holiday for us singles to navigate. It may bring up feelings of loneliness and comparison. Feeling jealous that we don’t have what others do. Or coming to the realization that life hasn’t gone according to plan. No matter how you slice it, February 14 will show up just as the sun rises and sets so be prepared and follow these 12 tips for how to...
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5 Ways to Move Beyond the Notion of Soul Mate and Develop Healthy Relationships
“Love isn’t something natural. Rather it requires discipline, concentration, patience, faith, and the overcoming of narcissism. It isn’t a feeling, it is a practice.”
― Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving Soul mates, the stuff of fantasies, dreams come true, love at first sight and also quite likely among the reasons you may find yourself hurling towards disappointment when...
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How To Resolve Conflict in the Workplace
We invest a significant amount of time and energy at work, whether in the office or working virtually (a much more common occurrence in the current pandemic climate and, in some cases, here to stay). We all desire to be in a role where we can express our gifts and talents to their fullest and reap the reward of our investment. If this were the only component to being successful and enjoying...
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If Children are Talking About Death, How Can Parents Best Support Them?
In the last two years there has been a noticeable increase of school age children spending a lot of their time discussing and playing out themes of death. This can be very concerning to parents as they want to shield their children from anything that is scary and death is a heavy concept, even for adults.
With the pandemic, death has been a constant topic on the news, media, and at the dinner...
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How to Beat the Winter Blues
The Pittsburgh region can be dark and gloomy during the winter months. Fear not! There are myriad ways to bolster your defenses to fight the winter blues. Stay active. When the sun is shining it is easy to remain active and enjoy the outdoors. But it might take a little more discipline to maintain an active state when it’s cold. Just remember the less active you are, the more...
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5 Healthy New Year Goals
The New Year is here! While we have all been on a whirlwind trip these past 2 years with a global pandemic, it is time to focus on the new normal, including setting sustainable New Year Goals. In doing so, we need to make sure the goals we set for ourselves in this new year can be sustainable for years to come. Here are some resolutions to help you not only improve your health, but...
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