by Chris Lewis Ed.S., LPC Years ago I had this friend. We both lived in a relatively small town on the east coast, were the same age, and had mutual friends. It was convenient for us to hang out together...

by Aleisha Maunu, MA, LMFT, CACII Anxiety, the feeling of tension, worry, nervousness (usually about an upcoming event or an unknown outcome), is something that most people will experience at various points throughout their lives. Especially in the society in...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC It’s a word most of us have heard before, often when describing families that are extremely close and tightly wound. But what does it mean? Aren’t families supposed to be close? Aren’t we supposed to...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC It happened again. I say again because it seems like I can’t make a trip to the grocery store or walk in a park or sit in a restaurant without it happening. This time my...

by Chris Lewis Ed.S., LPC Airplanes. Flight. Flying. Those are just a few of the words that for a good chunk of my life would have sent my heart rate soaring just upon hearing or seeing them. In fact, the...

by Chris Lewis Ed.S., LPC As a couple and family therapist, I have lost count of the times I have heard three little words spoken in my office that have a hugely negative effect on relationships. It’s something we have...

by Chris Lewis Ed.S., LPC Anxiety is by far the most common mental health condition, affecting over 90% of the population of the United States at one time or another in our lifetimes. Anxiety can span from a mild case...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC The phrase “control freak” can mean a lot of things in relationships. It might mean that a partner has a particular way that they prefer the laundry folded or a certain way of handling finances....

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC The death of a loved one is invariably among the most painful experiences we endure as humans. The absence of a loved one from our earthly lives forever, whether sudden and unexpected or anticipated through...

by Cody Wiggs, M.A. Let’s keep this simple shall we? The Law of Parsimony, as borrowed from scientific theory (think Occam’s Razor), states that the simplest explanation is usually the best. From distinguishing evolutionary pathways to analyzing complex statistics, we...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC I learned something really important one day while I was helping my mother die. By ‘helping’ I actually mean ‘sitting by her side’ because essentially she had the whole thing pretty well handled herself; I...

by Claudia Gray, MA, LPC You were so humiliated you were speechless? …so angry you lost it with your boss? …so embarrassed you left without saying good-bye? OMG, me too and afterwards I feel really bad and have been known...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC The short answer is “No.” Only you two can save your marriage, but counseling can help if there is commitment to change on both sides. Few experiences in life are as painful as finding out...

by Elizabeth Klaers, MSW, LSW When you hear the word “connection,” what comes to mind? As Psychologist Daniel Goleman puts it, human beings are “wired to connect.” Scientific research in the last 10 years has validated this through the language...

by Karen Lenzi, MA, LPC Major change, negative change like the death of a loved one, a divorce, losing a job – those are hard and painful – but they also make sense to us.  Why is positive change so...

by Chris Lewis Ed.S., LPC A few months ago, I was being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance thinking that I was drawing my last few breaths. I had had routine surgery the week before, and had been cautioned,...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC So think about it. We sit down with our children to tell them that we have decided to get a divorce. They probably knew it was coming because they have heard the fighting and arguing....

by Claudia Gray, MA, LPC On many levels, it is a really good thing to know how to defend ourselves. However, too much of a good thing can get in our way and make life harder and less joyful. When...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC It has been asked before; In fact, I might have been one of the ones wanting to know. There are a few things that typically come as a great shock to people when they take...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC On second thought, it might be easier to first look at a few signs that you aren’t ready for relationship commitment: When your date comes over for an evening together, you have already set up...

by Hazel Field Melmed, LCSW We have all heard that communication is a key ingredient for good relationships, yet many of us struggle to express ourselves in the best way possible in order to get what we want or need....

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC Very recently, I visited the town in which I did a good part of my growing up. It is the town where I graduated from high school, the town where I lived during half of...

by Chris Lewis Ed.S., LPC Couples come to marriage counseling for a variety of reasons; infidelity, lack of intimacy, frequent arguing, having “grown apart,” and more. The one thing that these couples often share, despite what brought them to this...

by Chris Lewis, EdS, LPC And therein lies the problem. In my practice I have found that many people are able to identify the traits of codependency that haunt and hound their relationships and their lives, but don’t always understand...

by Jo Brilhart, RN, Psy.D. If you are anything like the rest of us, you have an inner critic who is alive and well. This internal voice loves to tell you when you have done something wrong, might possibly do...

by Joel Silverman, MA, LPC The boom in social media has connected the world in a way no one could have ever imagined a generation ago. Now we have the ability, at the touch of a screen, to connect with...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., L.P.C. I recently had an experience while on vacation that knocked the wind out of my sails. My family and I were in a beautiful city in England, walking along an ancient street with the sun...

By Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC In your relationship, do you: Often feel as if your words have been misunderstood, twisted, and thrown back at you very differently than you intended them? Get blamed for pretty much anything that goes wrong...

by Debbie Zucker, LCSW An acquaintance of mine once said in passing, “I am learning to make friends with time.” Years later, this thought still echoes in me. What a concept, to befriend time! So many of us feel we’re...

by Chris Lewis, Ed.S., LPC If you are reading this, there’s a decent chance most of us have survived the predicted apocalypse of Dec. 21, 2012. In any case, apparently YOU have, so now the question is “What’s up for...