With all the uncertainty and upheaval most people are experiencing as a result of COVID-19, anxiety is a word that comes up a lot. But, what is anxiety, really?...
“Unprecedented” is the word most often used to describe the current crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19. This event has touched everyone and all areas of daily life look different as we continue to adjust to new routines and...
The holidays can be a wonderful time full of fun and magic. Lights and candy canes. Parties and presents. Family and friends. Sometimes, or for some people, however, this time of year brings unpleasant or difficult feelings. Stress, anxiety, fear,...
*Thank you to Laura Pentoney, MA, LPC, for her contributions to this blog post. To contact Laura directly, visit her profile here. Consistently, one of the top resolutions made on January 1 is to get healthy, and getting healthy typically...
*Thank you to Karin Bustamante, MA, LPC, for her contributions to this blog post. To contact Karin directly, visit her profile here. The New Year is traditionally a time for resolutions. The start of a new year can evoke a...
“Why are you drinking?” demanded the little prince. “So that I may forget,” replied the tippler. “Forget what?” inquired the little prince, who already was sorry for him. “Forget that I am ashamed,” the tippler confessed, hanging his head. “Ashamed...
The New Year is a natural time for reflection, for taking stock of where we’ve been and looking ahead to where we’d like to be. More often than not, we are critical of the past and overwhelmed by the prospect...
The holidays are a time for celebration and happy gatherings with family and friends. Some people, however, find that celebrating the holidays in the traditional sense brings anything but peace and joy. Rather than looking forward to it, this time...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Whether you are among the 45% of Americans who usually make New Year’s resolutions, or you are in the 38% who never make them (Statistics Brain Research Institute, 2015), chances are at some point you have wanted to make a...
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 18 with a...
Honor the Spirit of Giving The holiday gift-giving season is in full swing and got us thinking about ways to honor the true meaning of “giving.” (Hint: It has little to do with buying stuff that most people don’t really...
Over the next three posts, we’re going to look at media coverage in relation to mental health through the following questions: What are the general effects of the deluge of information media coverage feeds to the public? How does the...
by Marta Oko-Riebau “I can’t get to sleep, I think about the implications of diving in too deep, and possibly the complications… Especially at night – I worry over situations I know will be all right, perhaps it’s just imagination…...
By Hazel Field Melmed, LCSW A recent “Time Magazine” cover story explained the value of “mindfulness”, and they described the health benefits that come from being “in the moment.” In thinking about this important state of mind, it occurred to...
This last week has been filled with family obligations, work deadlines, new opportunities, and not enough down time. And… it’s not because I have been forced to do things that I didn’t want to be involved in, quite the contrary,...
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...