Have you ever noticed that most commercials around the holidays depict charming scenes of happy, well-dressed families and immaculate homes decorated to perfection, but most holiday movies center on something (or everything) going wrong?  The reality we strive for takes...

“Making the decision to have a child – it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” – Elizabeth Stone Although parenting is one of the most common human experiences, for...

Adolescence, those unmistakable years between childhood and adulthood, is famous for being one of the most challenging times of life – for the teens themselves, for their parents, and for all the other adults they interact with. This is the...

The need to be right is a common human trait. We all want to look our best in front of others, but when does that need cross over to being more destructive than constructive? And is it useful in the...

The purpose of this blog is to explore through the recent holidays where spirituality and therapy connect and share some information about how that may not be widely known among majority culture. Through this blog, the aim is to examine...

Our therapists often hear from clients that, in relationships of many kinds (with bosses, coworkers, significant others, partners, friends, family) they lack the confidence to ask for what they need. In an effort to avoid being seen as pushy, demanding...

Many people go around feeling that something is not quite right.  They aren’t as happy as they once were or don’t feel at ease the way they used to.  What they typically do to snap out of a slump no...

September is National Suicide Prevention Month.  This week we take a look at another aspect of this serious mental health issue. Suicide.  The word evokes emotions ranging from sadness to guilt to anger.  Most of us can’t imagine what might...

Labor Day has become known as summer’s last hurrah, but do you know why we started celebrating this day?  Despite evidence to the contrary, Labor Day was not created to mark the unofficial end of summer or to clearly establish...

Tips for Navigating the Back-To-School Transition Heading back to school brings a range of emotions for both kids and parents.  On one hand, we hate to say goodbye to summer and the increased family time.  On the other hand, we’re...

The term “sandwich generation” was coined by social worker Dorothy Miller in 1981 to describe a new generation of women who were taking care of both their own children and one or both aging parents.  Since then, the definition has...

The oldest baby boomers (the generation born between 1946 and 1964) are turning 70 this year. With an estimated 76 million total boomers, the issues around aging are about to take center stage like no other time in history.  In...

Purposeful Parenting: Summer Playtime Carving out meaningful time with each of your children every day can simultaneously sound like a no-brainer and — in the midst of all the scheduled activities and day-to-day responsibilities — a daunting task.  As parents,...

Please enjoy this blog written by Karin Bustamante, MA, LPC, one of our therapists here at Maria Droste Counseling Center. Karin works with clients on a number of issues and areas, including life transitions, grief, anxiety, depression, emotional and/or physical...

“Stop creating a life you need a vacation from. Instead, move to where you want to live, do what you want to do, start what you want to start, and create the life you want to live today. This isn’t...

Keep the Fireworks in Your Marriage – And Be a Good Parent New parents, as well as those who have been at it for a while, can find themselves  drifting apart as they put more and more effort into caring...

This story went around the Internet a while ago:  A Harvard psychology professor gave a lecture.  She started by holding up a glass of water.  The students assumed she would ask the obvious question, is the glass half full or...

Kirk always knew that he wanted to be a father.  As a single gay man in his late 20s, however, he wasn’t sure how fatherhood would become a reality. “I started putting feelers out about how to do it.  I...

A Commitment to Healing in a Time of Sorrow and Despair Along with this entire nation, we express our deep sorrow for the recent tragic event in Orlando. We hold in our hearts those whose lives have been lost, along with...

Perfectionism As parents, we want to help our children succeed, yet that can be a difficult challenge.  The stakes seem to get higher and higher and we think about how to set them up for success earlier and earlier. Getting...

September 11, 2001, changed the way we view the world. A rise in enlistment numbers following 9/11 reflect that many men and women felt compelled to answer the call to serve their country. For military couples or families, the aftermath...

Positive Outcomes: Recovery from Drug & Alcohol Addiction IS possible Addiction is a serious problem, but recovery is possible for the millions of Americans dealing with substance abuse.  How big a problem is it? In the United States, 40 million...

Having a baby is one of the most natural and universal experiences human beings have – unless you are struggling with infertility. For millions of people, the inability to have this most common experience can lead to a heightened sense...

In popular culture, mothers are often revered as both the backbone of our families and vilified as the source of all our problems. For better or worse, mothers shape who we are. And this Sunday, we honor them. It’s been said that motherhood...

Self-harm Adolescence, that complex time of sorting out what it means to be an adult when you’re still a kid, can feel like a long string of missteps with, perhaps, a few intermittent successes.  This is often when we first...

Eating disorders are a group of conditions that have been identified as a medical illness with biological, physical, emotional and psychological components that contribute to how they manifest, how they are perceived and how they are treated.  There is no...

Teen Dating Few words spark more concern for a parent. The realities of dating make teenagers uncomfortable as well. Parents worry about an increase in risky behavior and the drama that can come with dating. Teens face all the social...

What is mindfulness? “Mindfulness is a state of relaxed and alert attention of the present moment. It involves focusing just on what’s happening now,” writes clinical psychologist Sophie Henshaw. A lack of mindfulness manifests in several ways: constant racing thoughts,...

It’s a common theme these days: I have everything I need and things are generally okay, but I have an ongoing sense of unease… Something is missing or preventing me from fully experiencing life… I want to feel that there...

Do you believe that depression, anxiety, fear, and emptiness are the new ‘normal’? Have you given up on the idea that you can change your life because “nothing works”? Then please read on… there is an explanation for why you...