Thanksgiving and Mental Health: Setting Boundaries around Challenging Family Dynamics

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we may find ourselves filled with a range of emotions from excitement to frustration to sadness and perhaps even dread. Holidays like Thanksgiving that tend to focus on relationships with our family of origin, can generate feelings of shame and isolation for those who have chosen to place boundaries,…

Sexuality, Infertility, and Mental Health: Bridging the Gaps

Article by Kate Ernstrom, LCSW, PMH-C, CST and Gabby Pendley, LCSW, CADC, PMH-C Infertility is a highly personal journey, impacting not only one’s hopes for the future but also emotional, relational, and sexual health. In today’s world, an estimated 10-15% of couples experience infertility (ASRM, 2023), a reality that often creates a ripple effect across…

Navigating Dating Apps and Modern Dating Part 2: Attachment Styles & Ways They Impact Dating Satisfaction

In Part 1 of this series, I discussed some common experiences related to frustrations with modern dating, and specifically, dating apps. I shared some tips to navigating modern dating including how to: Get clear about your intentions Determine your needs Practice mindfulness In this article, I will be discussing potential roadblocks that might contribute to lack of…

Navigating the Transition to Parenthood as a Team and How The Bringing Baby Home Workshop Can Help

The transition to parenthood is one that comes with profound shifts in identity, roles, and relationships. These shifts inevitably impact parents as individuals and as partners. Renowned psychotherapist and relationship expert, Esther Perel, states that “having a baby is a psychological revelation that changes our relation to almost everything and everyone” (Perel, 2006). These words…

Honoring Your Limits: Setting Value-Aligned Boundaries with Family During the Holidays

The holiday season is a time of mixed emotions for many people. While some of us revel in the joy and togetherness of our beloved customs, reconnecting with loved ones, and savoring delicious meals, we may also feel nostalgia, grief, or struggle to navigate complicated family dynamics and expectations. In such situations, it’s essential to…

Tending to Your Emotional Bonfire

Difficult and intense emotions can certainly feel like a bonfire raging in our mind and body. Painful emotions like anger, shame, or fear can seem like they will consume us or be impossible to control. It can be difficult to know what to do when these emotions come up, and they can make us feel…

Care Coordination: The Benefits of Collaborative Healthcare

What Is Care Coordination? Care coordination is the sharing and exchanging of information about your health and mental health among your healthcare providers to ensure that you receive the most effective treatment possible while minimizing any unnecessary costs, delays, or misunderstandings in the process. During care coordination, members of your healthcare team work collaboratively towards…

3 Tips for Navigating Dating Apps & Modern Dating 

Modern dating is difficult. While people have more options than ever through dating apps and online platforms, the experience of trying to date can leave one feeling like dating is no longer fun, exciting, or hopeful. It may have come to feel more stressful and frustrating than anything. A research study focused on the apps…

How Individual Therapy Can help Couples Therapy

If you are struggling in your relationship, couples therapy can be an incredible tool to build communication skills, closeness, and intimacy. Couples therapy gives both you and your partner a space where the focus is on your relationship. This approach to therapy can help both you and your partner join forces to improve your relationship…

Cultivating Polysecurity in a Monogamist Culture

You’re on the road less traveled–navigating consensual non-monogamy in a monogamist culture. You value this way of being in relationship with others and you also struggle with insecurity, jealousy, anger, and fear of abandonment. Your monogamous friends say things like, “I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t. I’m just too jealous.” And while…