How to Get Comfortable with Talking About Mental Health
The treatment of mental health and its disorders has been a relatively recent thing. Because of this, mental illness is often stigmatized as a problem that doesn’t exist, can be fixed yourself if you “just try hard enough,” or it’s simply your fault for having this illness in the first place. How can we destigmatize discussion of mental health and educate people that it’s not the fault of the...Learn More
How Do I Know if Someone Has Narcissistic Personality Disorder?
Do you or someone you know have narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)? The good news is that it isn’t nearly as common as the media makes it out to be. The bad news is that people don’t have to have a diagnosis in order to be bad people. There has recently been a huge increase in the term “narcissist” floating around the internet, particularly on social media platforms. Let’s talk about what...Learn More
5 Common Misconceptions about Mental Health Therapy
1. You must have a mental disorder to see a therapist. Everyone could benefit from seeing a therapist! You don’t have to have a diagnosed problem; you don’t even have to have a specific concern! Similarly to your annual checkups at the doctor, you can see a therapist for maintenance and prevention. It’s important to take care of your mental health the same way you care for your physical...Learn More
What is a Therapeutic Approach Anyway? Understanding Experiential Therapy.
Welcome back! This week we will be discussing experiential therapy. This will be the last post of the series for now, but please leave a comment if there is another approach you would like to learn more about in the future! When you hear the word “experiential” what comes to mind? If your first thought was “it kind of sounds like the word experience” then good job, because that is what this...Learn More
What is a Therapeutic Approach Anyway? Understanding ACT
Let’s talk about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)! Similarly to DBT, ACT (pronounced “act”) takes aspects of CBT and adds its own unique, therapeutic twist. ACT focuses on a client’s individual beliefs and values, and whether or not they are living their life in a way that is consistent with those values. ACT works by building client awareness of their presenting concern (what they came...Learn More
What is a Therapeutic Approach Anyway? Understanding DBT, part 2
There are three main components that make up Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). These components are mindfulness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance. Mindfulness describes intentionally living with awareness in the present moment. This involves focusing on the here-and-now and paying attention to what you are experiencing without judgement. For example, a common mindfulness activity...Learn More
What is a Therapeutic Approach Anyway? Understanding DBT
Last week, we talked about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and how this approach to therapy focuses on changing your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This week we will be discussing Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT. Similarly to CBT, DBT also focuses on cognitive behavioral approaches. Dialectical means that two opposing views can be true at the same time. For example, it can be raining...Learn More
What is a Therapeutic Approach Anyway? Understanding CBT
You may have noticed that some therapists, counselors, and social workers use a lot of different acronyms. For example, maybe you have seen CBT, DBT, ERP, etc. and you have no idea what that means because they don’t elaborate. So, what do these acronyms mean and what do they say about the therapeutic approach used by therapists? This post will be the first of a series to describe and explain...Learn More
Group Counseling: What to Expect
Group counseling consists of one or more counselors facilitating a group of 6-8 clients. There are many different types of group therapy, each one with its own unique approach. For example, you have probably heard of “support groups”. Support groups are a type of group counseling that focuses on one specific topic, from addiction to grief. In this blog, we will be focusing on something called...Learn More