Life is filled with many choices. Some are relatively easy to make like what to where, your favorite color, or what you want to eat for dinner (okay, maybe that last one isn’t so easy). Some choices, those life changing choices, are more difficult. Choices like what you want to be when your grow up,…
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If you find yourself sitting across from me in the therapy room, there’s a very good chance you will hear me say, “You can curse all you want in here. The only ‘swear word’ here is ‘should.’” By now some of my clients might think I have a personal vendetta against the word. In truth,…
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Perfectionism is the pursuit of “perfect” where anything less is failure. It requires constant judgement of oneself or others, and demands nothing less than 100%. It is living by a set of impossible standards. These standards might be self-imposed based on a belief that that’s what others want, imposed by others onto us, or imposed…
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We all have expectations on how our relationships with others are supposed to work. However, the reality is that our expectations are very rarely met. Things beyond our control impact our relationships with others such as stress from work, different upbringings, cultural beliefs and values, and personality differences. These can all interfere with our expectations…
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Sisu can be understood as a characteristic, a spirit, an attitude, an approach, or a philosophy of life. What these descriptions all have in common is that they are enduring, consistent, and most of all, take daily practice to grow, manage, and develop over time. Sisu doesn’t develop out of grand accomplishments. It takes daily…
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Recently someone asked me, “How does counseling work?” It wasn’t until that question that I realized therapy is a rather mysterious experience. Sometimes it honestly seems like magic happens because its difficult to pinpoint what exactly creates lasting change and growth in therapy. The short, mechanical answer to the question, “How does therapy work?” is…
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After a particularly good session with a client the topic of what it’s like inside my head during a session came up. It has been something I have been thinking about and marveling at for a while. The reason for this was because I had not known this was what being a therapist was like…
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When beginning therapy, you probably expect to receive a diagnosis. Sometimes, people even want one to better understand what they are going through. Though sometimes people fear a diagnosis and its potential impact on their life and relationships. What if I told you, you don’t have to have a diagnosis when you go to counseling?…
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You’ve decided to try counseling. The use of insurance is not for you (by choice or by circumstances), but you place a great value on counseling services. However, your wallet does not share that same value. Not to worry, there are affordable options out there for you. One place to look is at college campuses.…
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You’ve scoured the internet, asked friends, family members, doctors, and that nice middle aged lady at Kroger who was eavesdropping on your conversation in the frozen food section gave you a referral to a therapist. You think you’ve found a therapist you’d like to see but when you check their fees per session you feel…
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Heather is an Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist who unites systemic therapy with philosophical concepts. She has interests in Couples therapy, Consensual Non-Monogamy, Veteran Couples/Caregivers/Family, Philosophical Counseling, Sex therapy, and how to live a good life. Learn more about her here
