Sometimes when I look into my dog’s dark brown eyes and I see his total adoration and calm sense of serenity gazing back at me, I wonder: Why can’t my mental health be more like a dog’s? Randolph doesn’t have petty interpersonal troubles. He doesn’t sink into maddening, unpredictable depressions, nor does he fly into erratic manic highs. He certainly isn’t losing any sleep over worrying what others might think about him. Randolph has…
I first became strongly attracted to practicing Self-Care and exploring the concept with clients when working with survivors of Domestic Violence (DV) during my internship. I define Self-Care as a form of putting oneself first. I don’t believe this is a bad thing. Selfishness, when tempered with a self-awareness of keeping it in balance with one’s other responsibilities, is not a bad thing. The (mostly female) survivors of DV I met had been through such…
It’s been a little while since I’ve written in this blog. Dear Readers, I haven’t forgotten you nor have I forgotten how much I enjoy this new hobby! I’ve been busy. When I say busy, I mean bought my first house, got my private practice up and running and have continued my work at the Outpatient Clinic. I thought that it would be easiest to get back into the writing groove again by writing about…
This is a difficult world and problems with anxiety are not uncommon. An incredibly helpful exercise to use with clients when they’re feeling anxious, or when I’ve had a challenging session with someone and need to calm myself down, is called “Grounding.” Although being a therapist can be a joyful experience where one gets to see other people grow and share their successes, it can also be emotionally disturbing. “Grounding” helps to bring us into…
My first talk therapist wasn’t highly skilled. It wasn’t her fault. She was a student intern at the SUNY Geneseo health center. She probably had been trying her best to gain experience in order to become a licensed mental health counselor. It was 2002 and I was entering into my Junior year of college. I had just survived my first psychotic bipolar one episode. Think resources today aren’t very good for people with mental health…
Embracing gratitude and actively practicing it can help you regulate your parasympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the brain that can stop you from going into a panicky fight or flight mode if it senses danger. Sometimes just our thoughts alone about a situation are enough to trigger this system. The way we conceive of our state of affairs can tell our nervous system to go into over-drive. We end up with a…
I have bipolar one disorder. This is a fact that informs much of my day-to-day living. I need to take my medication, stay on top of my therapy appointments, go for bloodwork, strive for a balanced lifestyle and, above all else, maintain a solid, restful, regular sleep routine. When I don’t sleep, whether due to anxious thoughts, or having had too much alcohol earlier in the evening, or from just being keyed up due to…
Love shouldn’t hurt. It shouldn’t try to control your actions and behaviors by exerting power over you. The same is true for our partners. Unfortunately, Domestic Violence (DV) is prevalent in the United States. 1 in 4 American women and 1 in 5 American men will be in a Domestic Violence relationship, or have experienced DV in some form, in their lives. But people aren’t walking statistics. They come to therapy to try to process…
I’m not sure if it’s the policy of the hospital I work for, a New York State campaign, or if it’s because I’m overseen by OMH (the Office of Mental Health) but as a LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) at a community clinic, I am required to ask about my clients’ cigarette smoking status the first time we meet. If they do identify as smokers, my job entails assessing how much they smoke and…
The holiday season is here, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s specifically. This is a time of year that can be very difficult on one’s mental health. Every November into December, I notice that I have an uptick in clients coming to see me for depression, grief that loved ones have passed away, feelings of being overwhelmed and complaints that they themselves are not “good enough.” They’re in pain because they believe what they do…
