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Play Therapy for Children: Benefits and How It Works

Play Therapy for Children: Benefits and How It Works

Vanessa Gross, Kate Motaung2024-11-13T11:01:14+00:00May 3rd, 2024|Christian Counseling for Children, Family Counseling, Featured|

Childhood is the season of life when we are least burdened by problems. Or at least, it is meant to be. The author Patrick Rothfuss wrote in one of his novels titled The Name Of The Wind that “When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” Unfortunately, children go through experiences that rob them of their innocence, and they need help to process those experiences to make sense of them and overcome emotional and mental obstacles to their well-being. What is play therapy? One of the therapeutic techniques that therapists use to help children is called play therapy. Because of their young age, children are not always able to process their own emotions or articulate themselves enough to share their problems with parents or other adults in their lives. Play is one of the main ways that young children express themselves and navigate their world, and play therapy leverages this to create space for the child to explore their feelings and experiences. In everyday life, whether it is with or without the guidance of a mental health professional such as a therapist, children like to communicate through their play. For instance, a child who’s playing violently with their toys may be dismissed as simply being aggressive when he might be mirroring a violent domestic situation he has witnessed. If you know what to look for, toys can act as symbols and take on greater meaning as they allow a child to act out their inner feelings and deepest emotions. Play is a tool that children use to act out their fears and anxieties, to heal and problem-solve, or as a [...]

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Signs of Emotional Infidelity and How it Affects Relationships

Signs of Emotional Infidelity and How it Affects Relationships

Kate Motaung2024-10-29T15:05:15+00:00April 11th, 2024|Couples Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling, Infidelity and Affairs, Marriage Counseling, Relationship Issues|

People do not just function as purely rational beings; we are also deeply emotional, and that is just the way that God made us. Our emotions alert us to what is going on inside of us, and they can direct our actions in significant ways. For instance, deep anger at an injustice can drive you to agitate for change. Similarly, deep affection for someone may move you to care for them in ways you would not with a stranger. All of us have a deep need to feel seen and heard. When we find ourselves being unappreciated or overlooked by others, that can cause frustration as well as feelings of low self-worth. To rectify this, one might look elsewhere for the validation and sense of being appreciated that they seek. This is one of many varied reasons why people engage in emotional infidelity. Defining emotional infidelity One way of defining emotional infidelity is that it is when a person in a committed romantic relationship forms a deep level of connection with another person. This connection approximates or has the same level of emotional intimacy as a romantic relationship. It may even exceed the depth and quality of the connection to the primary committed relationship. An emotional affair is a non-sexual relationship in which two people share their emotions, thoughts, aspirations, and support with each other in ways that cross a line. When an emotional affair happens, the third party often becomes the one that is approached to share problems, secrets, and dreams with. These are all things that are typically shared in a committed relationship, but the emotional affair often displaces the legitimate partner. Some signs of emotional infidelity The line, between just friends and something more, can be a tricky one to discern. Some purely platonic relationships are [...]

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The Process of Taking Every Thought Captive

The Process of Taking Every Thought Captive

Cyndi Kay Green2024-09-27T10:24:21+00:00March 29th, 2024|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Spiritual Development|

Anxiety and stress distort our thought processes. We can get stuck in a negative thought pattern and become overwhelmed. Anxious thoughts turn over again and again in our minds, further cycling negative beliefs about ourselves that are untrue. We question why we are anxious and scold ourselves for doing so. Learning to take every thought captive is a Biblical approach to reducing those feelings of anxiety and worry. For those who suffer from an anxiety disorder, it is not as simple as relaxing. God wants us to depend on Him for peace. Learning how to replace negative thinking with positive and uplifting messages is a deep and intentional process by which a person recognizes their thoughts and decides to change them. Try the following steps the next time you are stuck. Identify the thought The first and most fundamental step is to identify the onset of the thoughts that lead to anxiety. To begin to change, we must first be able to recognize that the intrusive thought we are experiencing is present and influencing us negatively. Analyze the thought To take the thought captive, you need to analyze the thought and determine if it is causing anxiety, depression, or anger. You may want to ask yourself, “Does this thought align with my faith and God’s word?” And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2, NASB Engage the nervous system When you find that you are experiencing a thought that is triggering anxiety, depression, or anger you will need to engage your nervous system. When you take every thought captive you learn how to respond instead of reacting. Engaging [...]

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Finding Healing from Psychological Trauma

Finding Healing from Psychological Trauma

Jennifer Kooshian2024-09-27T10:30:16+00:00February 6th, 2024|Featured, Individual Counseling, Trauma|

In life, we all encounter difficult and distressing situations at one point or another. Some of these situations are shocking to the point that they can cause harm to a person’s emotional, physical, and mental well-being. That harm is referred to as either physical or psychological trauma. What is psychological trauma? According to the American Psychological Association (APA), trauma is “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster”. That response to stressful events also includes abuse, being caught in a war zone, childbirth, sudden loss of a loved one, intergenerational trauma, being trafficked, being kidnapped, or any other event that a person finds emotionally or physically harmful or threatening. However, experiencing a stressful event does not necessarily lead to trauma, and not everyone who goes through such an experience will be traumatized. Trauma can either be physical or psychological/emotional. Physical trauma is when someone suffers a serious bodily injury that may or may not leave them incapacitated in one way or another. Psychological or emotional trauma is what has been defined above, and there are several subcategories or types of that trauma, and these include the following: Acute emotional trauma, which stems from a dangerous or distressing situation. An example of this is being involved in a car accident. Chronic emotional trauma, which develops because of repeated exposure to distressing events. Included in this category would be domestic violence, child abuse, or bullying occurring over an extended period. There is a third subcategory, which is complex emotional trauma. Such trauma is the result of being exposed to several traumatic or distressing events. Trauma can also affect a person vicariously through having close contact with someone that experienced a distressing and traumatic event. For instance, people like first responders, family members, and mental health professionals [...]

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Reconciling Family Rifts Between Parents and Adult Children

Reconciling Family Rifts Between Parents and Adult Children

Melissa Plantz2024-09-27T10:22:39+00:00January 23rd, 2024|Family Counseling, Featured, Relationship Issues|

Family rifts are difficult for everyone involved. Estrangement places strain on not only the parent and adult child but also other family members, such as grown siblings. For example, if you and your oldest son are estranged, anger and resentment may trickle down to your other children, in-laws, and grandchildren. Sometimes, family rifts are unavoidable based on past behavior. Other times, an emotional distance builds as each person lives their life separately until there is no common ground. In these times, we need to seek God’s help and take small steps toward reconciliation. Reconciling family rifts. The strength of your family may rest on how you reconcile family rifts. Make the first move. Whether you are the parent or the adult child in a family rift, you may need to make the first move toward reconciliation. Opening the lines of communication might be the starting point to breaking the silence. It is time to unblock your loved one from social media and start answering their calls and texts. Take the first step and send a message. Find something you agree on. Common ground may be enough to place you back into neutral territory. Perhaps you can agree on an event for a grandchild or offer tickets or pictures of something your loved one cares about. Often, it is uniting over a common issue or topic that brings family back together. Find the one thing that puts you front and center and make the first move. Keep pride out of the conversation. It is easy to blame the other person for any family rifts. Yet, pride cannot enter the conversation if you desire a reconciliation. Pride can keep you from admitting your part in the distance. It can also keep you from accepting an apology or moving forward if you [...]

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Stress Management Tips to Help You Stay Healthy and Productive

Stress Management Tips to Help You Stay Healthy and Productive

Jennifer Kooshian2024-09-27T10:30:29+00:00January 9th, 2024|Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development, Professional Development|

Life doesn’t always come neatly packaged and easy to handle. We often encounter situations we never planned for, and even the things we anticipated can sometimes overwhelm us. When we are in a situation that we don’t feel we can manage or control, that produces the stress response, requiring stress management. Stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened, and that differs from individual to individual. Some people relish a tight deadline, while others break out in hives if they start to feel like they’re falling behind schedule. Stress is an everyday part of life, and when you encounter it, you must have strategies in place to handle stress in a healthy way that doesn’t diminish your productivity or health. Some common sources of stress. People are wired differently, so what stresses one person out, or an area of life that causes stress for one person doesn’t register for another person. Some of the more common sources of stress include: Work. This includes the nature of the work itself. For instance, some jobs like law enforcement or in the medical field have a high intensity. Additionally, if you have too much work to do, and not enough institutional support, or you’re on a tight deadline, that too is a significant source of stress. Being underemployed or unemployed can also cause stress, as can the threat of losing your job. Relationship strain. If your relationships are strained or mired in conflict, this too can cause a lot of stress. Healthy relationships are a key predictor of one’s sense of fulfillment, and strain in relationships often results in a diminished sense of flourishing Finances. Not having the resources you need to meet your obligations can be a huge mental burden and a source of pressure. Illness. Whether [...]

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Grieving Over the Loss of a Parent

Grieving Over the Loss of a Parent

Jennifer Kooshian2024-09-27T10:30:24+00:00December 28th, 2023|Featured, Grief Counseling, Individual Counseling|

One thing that most people crave is a sense of stability, to know that their world has some constants that allow them to make sense of the world and themselves. That sense of constancy may come from the house we live in, the routines we adhere to, or the people we have around us. Few relationships frame our existence quite the same way as that between a parent and child, which is why the loss of a parent and the grieving that follows is so significant. A child often comes into the world with parents around them, and these are the first people that the child knows. Their family forms the first relationships they have, and those relationships shape them in profound ways as they grow older and form relationships with other people. The loss of a parent likely marks the end of one’s longest-standing relationships, and the grief from that loss will mark a person for the rest of their life, and it can be complicated in various ways. How our grief works. You may have heard about the 5 stages of grief before. It’s something that Elizabeth Kübler Ross wrote about in her book “On Death and Dying”. In that book, she noted that while everyone can grieve differently, there are some commonalities in how grief works for different people. Grief can be divided into five stages that describe certain feelings experienced during grief. Kübler Ross’ observations came from years of working with terminally ill people. The five stages of grief are as follows: Denial. One can pretend that the loss they’ve experienced isn’t real. It may simply be too overwhelming to process and acknowledge at that moment. Anger. Feelings of anger can mask other emotions that you may be carrying at that moment. The anger may [...]

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Child Counseling for Bullying or Divorce

Child Counseling for Bullying or Divorce

Jennifer Kooshian2024-09-27T10:30:11+00:00November 30th, 2023|Christian Counseling for Children, Christian Counseling For Teens, Family Counseling, Featured|

Adults often acknowledge that people are all different. And by people, we mean other adults. Children are too often the recipients of standardized approaches that do not recognize that they are individuals, with diverse ways of seeing and reacting to the world around them. Child counseling can help shed light. The reasons each person has for requiring counseling are different. Having made that point, it is important to also notice there are experiences after which many children do benefit from counseling. If your child has experienced any of the following or is currently experiencing them, then it is prudent to consider whether the effects, fallout, and required healing would be assisted through the facilitation of a trained professional. Child counseling after bullying. Bullying affects everyone involved; the people who are the victims of bullies, the bullies themselves, and those who witness the bullying. Bullying sometimes even occurs in a child’s school friendship group and isn’t picked up in many metrics that measure poor outcomes. Bullying is a common experience for those who also abuse substances, struggle with mental health, or even consider suicide, experience depression and anxiety, have increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, experience a change in their sleep or their eating patterns, and more. Those who are bullied are likely to experience a drop in their schoolwork and participation, and in time are increasingly likely to miss or drop out of school. As with some other childhood ills, experts find that some of these issues may continue into adulthood. This makes taking steps to address it and helping your child process their experience all the more important. Child counseling after divorce. The break-up of a marriage is certainly difficult for the parents; however, it can easily be just as hard on the children of the family. There [...]

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5 Ways to Remember to Pray as a Teen

5 Ways to Remember to Pray as a Teen

Kate Motaung2024-10-29T15:05:24+00:00November 9th, 2023|Christian Counseling For Teens, Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development, Spiritual Development|

Life as a teen is incredibly busy and full. Between home life, school, work, friendships, and sports, teens can feel like they are being pulled in a thousand directions. As a teen, it is common to struggle with fitting in things you know are important, but more so, it is important to remember to pray. This is especially true when it comes to prayer. Whether you grew up praying or prayer is new to you, it is normal that you want to find a way to make your relationship with God something that feels comfortable and natural for you. This may mean it looks different than the way your parents or friends do things. As you explore and discover how you want to connect with God, consider how often you talk to Him. Is it something that comes easily? Do you have regular prayer time or conversation with God? Do you struggle to fit prayer into your life? No matter how you answer those questions, you can always learn new ways to connect with God. The best thing to do is to make it simple. Try new things and see how they feel. If you want to incorporate prayer into your life more, here are some things you can try. Set a reminder. You can set a reminder on your phone or watch to pray at a certain time every day. Sometimes things just get busy, and people forget to pray. Setting a reminder can help you remember to check in and talk to God. Pair it with something. You can connect prayer with something you already do. For example, you can pray every time you brush your teeth. Brushing your teeth is the trigger that reminds you to pray. Since you already do this, it is more likely [...]

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Words for Life: Training Your Brain for Mental and Emotional Health

Words for Life: Training Your Brain for Mental and Emotional Health

Kate Motaung2024-10-29T15:05:38+00:00August 28th, 2023|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development|

Words are powerful. When we rehearse them, we experience them forming reality as what we speak comes into being. It may not be surprising, as we are created in God’s image. He made us able to imitate Him and experience the authority of impacting our world with our words. If He spoke and saw, then we must consider the weight of what we speak, realizing that it will also impact what we see and experience and our emotional health as a result. Our brains are responsive. They will capture the messages we program and give us an output that aligns with whatever we continue to say. We tend to focus on the glaring negative messages over the positives. God factored this into the makeup of our brains. This is why He has advocated for us to savor His Word in all of our days, for the entirety of our lives (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). For this reason, we have to be intentional about disconnecting from the negative messages and the havoc they wreak on our mental and emotional health. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. – Deuteronomy 6:6-7, ESV The Brain and Belief Negative words and limiting beliefs will chip at our souls, leaving a void that influences our perception of ourselves, others, and sometimes even God. The words we meditate on infiltrate every area of our lives. They can either pull us down or elevate us into all that God has planned for us that we don’t yet realize. Our enemy is counting on us to remain downtrodden [...]

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