Blog
When Your Child Feels Left Out: Books to Help Parents and Kids Navigate Social Exclusion Together
Friendship is one of the most meaningful parts of childhood — and also one of the most challenging. If your child has ever come home saying things like “I just don’t fit in,” or “They’re not mean to me, but they don’t include me,” you’re not alone. Many parents...
Premarital Counseling: How to Prepare for a Marriage
Premarital counseling is a great start on preparing for a successful marriage. In today’s culture an engaged couple usually spends 8 months or more planning a wedding. I’ve often wondered that if an engaged couple could spend 8 months preparing for a marriage, what...
Nature’s Gifts: 3 Therapeutic Reasons to Get Outside
Nature is an often overlooked, yet abundant resource for healing. As a therapist, it is my job to sit with clients when they are feeing distress, overwhelm, and anxiety. In order to redress these challenges, I often provide strategies and coping skills that...
How to Find a Good Fit with a Counselor
The journey to finding a counselor can feel very overwhelming. There are internet search, phone calls, and insurance questions...it's already hard enough, but then when you add in the personal connection counseling requires, it makes it feel like an even harder to-do....
Beating the Back-to-School Blues
Sometimes it feels like sweet summertime will never end. Then, all of a sudden, it’s August and you’re scrambling to get school supplies, sign up for extracurricular activities, and getting used to the idea of waking up at 6AM. Meanwhile, your child is feeling anxious...
8 Ways to Practice Mindfulness with Children
Often, when we think about mindfulness, we think about meditation or a formal, structured exercise that helps us tune into our thoughts or somehow clear our minds entirely. Perhaps you have heard that mindfulness is good for children, that you can even practice it...
5 Categories of Self-Care
Self-care is a buzz word in today’s culture. Sometimes we don’t know where to being when trying to take care of ourselves in our busy world. Below are 5 categories of self-care to help you start out. The great thing is that the act of trying with self-care is a form...
Summertime: 7 Ways to Maximize Free Time with your Kiddos
With summer’s arrival, as a parent or caregiver you may find yourself with anxious feelings about the long warm days and idle time coming – you may be thinking, how in the world am I going to keep these kiddos entertained all summer? How can we keep TV and video games...
Animal-Assisted Interventions with Rio
For many of us, being greeted by your pet after a long day at work is a highlight of our day. Our stresses and worries can float away a little easier when there is an easily excitable animal waiting for us behind the front door. Our pets have the magical capability of...
4 Tips for First-Time Parents
I love my children. I really love them. I love them more than almost everything*…including but not limited to: binge watching television, dark chocolate, and uninterrupted sleep. However, I would not be a First-Time-Parent again for anything. The first few days...
4 Steps to Simplify Intimacy
My To Do List for the week: -Go to the grocery store -Buy a Mother’s Day gift for my wife -Go to work -Write this blog -Find time to go to the doctor -Attend book club -Take my son to swimming lessons ...and 100+ other items on the list that I will be unable to get...