Sex, intimacy, and desire discrepancy may be the most common concerns couples bring to me, and they’re also some of the hardest to talk about. By the time a couple reaches me, they’ve often spent years quietly misreading each other’s behavior and feelings. One partner might think, “They must not find me attractive anymore.” The…
The Wildflower Blog
Venture into the heart of therapy with the Wildflower blog. We delve into topics that matter, blending therapeutic expertise with genuine stories of hope and transformation. *Please note that our blogs are designed to inform only and are not intended to diagnose or treat mental health disorders.
The Season of Cozy: Simple Practices to Allow Your Nervous System to Rest
This past weekend I went camping. On the first evening, after the tent was up and the sun had gradually slipped behind the horizon, I sat at the edge of a calm lake and watched two geese move across the water. They weren’t in a hurry. They swam forward, paused, drifted for a while, swam…
Quiet Knowing: Finding Your Wise Mind
Have you ever known what you needed to do before you could fully explain why? Some people call this a “gut instinct,” others intuition, an inner voice, or simply a sense of knowing. There have been plenty of times when listening to my gut has served me well, and other times when my gut has…
Autism-Affirming Therapy: What Neurodivergent Clients Need From Their Therapist
Recently there has been a growing discussion and acceptance of neurodivergence, leading to an increase in the number of people who identify with the label “autistic”. The mental health community has some history of being unwelcoming or outright hostile to autistic communities, creating unsafe environments or mislabeling certain behaviors. Many practitioners are unsure of how…
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: Tending to Your Romantic Relationship
It’s no surprise that couples come into therapy when they are at the height of their distress. They don’t get there overnight. Frequently, people have been having relationship difficulties for a long time, months, sometimes years. Relationship struggle is typically marked not only by the presence of conflict, but by the absence of small, daily…
Therapist Spotlight: Elise Barrington, MA
Elise is a psychotherapist at Wildflower. In her clinical practice, Elise draws on Emotionally Focused Therapy, the Satir Growth Model, Relational Cultural Theory, and existential therapy. Elise works with adolescents, adults, couples, and family structures experiencing disconnection related to alienation, depression, anxiety, grief, loss, transitions to parenthood, and identity transformations. Elise has experience in addressing…
5 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Metaphors We Love
If you spend any time with a therapist who is trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), you will notice something striking: they like to speak in metaphors. You might hear about switch that can be flipped on or off, or an experience of getting caught in quicksand, or someone standing in a hole with…
12 Commitments We Make to Every Client in Trauma Therapy
Every therapist brings a different perspective to trauma work, and every person’s story, nervous system, relationships, and life experiences are unique. While therapy itself looks different for every client, there are a handful of commitments that guide the way our therapists approach this work at Wildflower. They shape how we listen, how we build safety,…
The Wildflower Bookshelf: Our Team’s Summer Picks
Is there anything better than a book on the beach? We think not. We asked our team to share what books they have been getting lost in. The resulting list is a wonderfully eclectic collection of fiction, non-fiction, clinical material, and other favorites. Enjoy! Fiction & Contemporary Reads Non-Fiction & Memoirs Clinical & Professional Resources
The Freedom of Radical Acceptance
Most of us spend an incredible amount of energy fighting reality. We argue with traffic. We replay conversations that already happened. We wish our partner communicated differently. We think our children should appreciate us more. We tell ourselves we shouldn’t feel anxious, sad, overwhelmed, or lonely. We wish our body looked different. We wonder why…
