People come to therapy with this particular look sometimes. It isn’t always dramatic, and it isn’t always tears. More often, it’s this tired, braced expression that says, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but something is definitely wrong.” They’ll describe how their mind won’t shut off at night, how their body is tense all day for no clear reason, how they can’t stop replaying conversations, scanning for mistakes, or building worst-case scenarios like they’re writing a dis

It’s January 3—prime time for “New Year, New Me” fatigue. The gym is packed, your feed is shouting hacks, and your brain is already negotiating with the couch. Let’s skip the yearly ritual where you try to reinvent yourself by sheer force and then feel lousy by week two. Instead, try a 30-day Values Reset : small, repeatable moves aligned with what matters to you, not with what’s trending. No grand declarations, no personality makeover. Just consistent steps that actually fit

The holidays have a way of turning the volume up on everything—joy, stress, nostalgia, and the particular ache that shows up when someone you love isn’t here. You can have laughter and longing in the same breath. That doesn’t make you broken; it makes you human. If there’s an empty chair at your table this year (literally or metaphorically), this is your permission slip to handle the season on your terms. From an ACT/CBT angle, grief isn’t a problem to solve. It’s a love stor

Look at your calendar. If it resembles a game of festive Tetris—work parties wedged against Friendsgiving wedged against the neighborhood thing—take a breath. You don’t need to go full hermit to survive December. You just need to make your yes mean something again. In therapy I call this the Heck-Yes Threshold . If a request isn’t a clear yes on values and capacity, it’s a no or a “not this time.” That sounds simple until the group chat starts buzzing, the invites feel flatt

Winter doesn’t just arrive—it seeps in. The alarm rings and your first thought is darker than it should be , the house is cold, and your brain whispers the greatest hits: Skip the gym. Open email first. Coffee will fix everything. By noon you’re chasing energy instead of steering it. If that sounds familiar, here’s a simple counter-move: a 20-minute morning stack that nudges your mind and body in the right direction before the day gets a vote. This isn’t about becoming a “5

December isn’t hard because of shopping; it’s hard because of people—their expectations, the traditions you didn’t vote on, and the invisible contracts you apparently signed in 1998. If your chest tightens when the group text lights up or Aunt Linda starts auditing your life choices over ham, you’re in familiar terrain. From an ACT/CBT angle, this season jacks up three things that make boundaries slippery: fusion with old “shoulds,” quick-hit people-pleasing that boomerangs i

You know that feeling when someone asks, “Can you…?” and your mouth says “Sure!” while your ribcage whispers, “Please don’t”? That inner...

We tend to think change has to be big, dramatic, life-altering. We imagine quitting our job, moving to a new city, going on a silent...

We all carry things we were never meant to carry. Somewhere along the line—maybe in childhood, maybe in a toxic relationship, maybe even...

There’s a moment in therapy—sometimes in the very first session, sometimes years in—when a client looks up, eyes tired, voice soft, and...

It usually starts subtly. A tightening in the chest. A racing heart. The sense that something’s off—even if, on the surface, everything...

]It’s a strange feeling, and unless you’ve lived it, it’s hard to explain. You’re sitting in a conversation, nodding along, laughing in...

There’s this idea out there—quiet, but persistent—that therapy is for people who are falling apart. It shows up in the way people...

You told yourself today would be different. You’d set clear boundaries. You’d stay calm. You wouldn’t get pulled into the vortex of...

There’s a quiet, ever-present lie most of us have internalized, often without realizing it: the idea that happiness is the ideal state of...

A New Age Look at Mental Health There are moments in life when everything seems to fall apart—sleepless nights, racing thoughts, sudden...

Trauma doesn’t always show up the way we think it will. It doesn’t always scream or bleed or make headlines. Sometimes, it creeps in...

Most people have heard of the “inner child.” It’s become a buzzword—an image of a wide-eyed, wounded younger self still waiting for the...

There’s a strange panic that sets in the moment life gets quiet. You finish a task, sit down, and suddenly you’re restless. You reach for...

There’s a particular kind of anxiety that doesn’t show up in chaos—it shows up in the quiet. In the waiting. In the space between one...