Mental health

Most of us are more than a little concerned about the mental health of the kiddos that we care about during this pandemic. The natural …

When we endure traumatic events, the experience may stay with us in various ways – even in ways we may not recognize. Good trauma treatment …

Bullet Journal blogs and hashtags are filled with mental health and self-care focused templates, but are these layouts actually effective for maximizing the mental health benefits of a bullet journal? In this article, I explore existing research on how journaling and expressive writing can benefit mental health and, from that research, outline three ways to maximize the mental health benefits of your bullet journaling practice. Along the way, I’ll show you a few of my worksheets and resources that are perfect for adding to a bullet journal.

When you’re new to therapy and aren’t really sure what therapy is supposed to feel like, it can be really confusing to try and figure …

All of us have some resiliency to cope with challenges. When we encounter difficult experiences that take us past the range of our ability to tolerate, the ways we tend to respond fall into one of two categories: those of us who get agitated, and those of us who shut down.

Emotional regulation refers to our ability to stay present, engaged, and able to listen and learn despite challenges. My rainbow of emotional regulation is a social-emotional learning resource that can help teach this concept in the classroom, in counseling sessions, or at home.

Pop-culture “wellness” often pathologizes desire. We are promised that if we can ignore physical hunger, meet our own needs emotionally, and keep our sexual desire …

Feeling upset, anxious, or extremely uncomfortable when we encounter difficult content is normal. Having a strong reaction to information that is generally considered troubling or …

Asking if someone is suicidal won’t give them ideas, but it may help them feel less alone. A 2014 meta-analysis (that’s a study that gathers …

The best time to do good crisis work is when you (or your client, child, partner, friend, etc.) aren’t currently in crisis. Take some time …

Traditional DBT helps develop emotion regulation and impulse control for people who struggle in these areas. Radically Open (RO) DBT is an adaptation of DBT …

Trauma and trauma recovery look different for everyone. Generally, there’s a deep, hardened core and a bunch of squishy stuff, all held together by a …

Our lives changed significantly as COVID-19 spread around the globe and into our communities. In the space of a month we shifted from life-as-usual to- …

A flowchart for getting to sleep. We all know how elusive sleep can be, but quality sleep is essential for physical and mental health. When …

In a culture where life is often lived digitally, mindfulness matters. While our brains are increasingly adept at sensing fake news or deciphering complex texts …

Dismantling mental health triggers often involves a little detective work. Although awareness of “being triggered” can be very obvious, for many people, figuring out specific …

The nature of crisis is that it is (1) overwhelming, and (2) inevitable. Whether you are a clinician in the helping professions or a person …

To follow my post earlier this week on developing (new) coping skills rather than attempting to just desert our old ones, here are a few …