Individual Counseling

Teens, Social Media, and Body Image

, 2025-02-04T05:04:46+00:00February 3rd, 2025|Christian Counseling For Teens, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Last night, I opened Instagram and began scrolling. I had recently searched for new recipes and workouts, so my feed was filled with these types of videos. However, amid the dog and baking recipe videos, I started seeing videos about calorie counts, daily gym routines to make my waist smaller, and ways to lose weight. I hadn’t searched for that content, but it was now automatically showing up in my feed. I realized I probably wasn’t the only one who was seeing these types of videos centered on body image. I couldn’t help but wonder how exposure to this content might impact a person’s self-esteem and body image, especially for a teenager. What is body image? Body image refers to the beliefs and perceptions we have about our own bodies – how we view our appearance, like our size, shape, height, and weight. A positive body image involves feeling confident in your appearance and accepting the natural changes your body goes through as you age (e.g., menopause, fluctuating weight). Negative body image is the belief that there is something wrong with your appearance. The National Eating Disorders Association defines negative body image as “a distorted perception of one’s shape and physical appearance. Negative body image (or body dissatisfaction) involves feelings of shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness.” Those who struggle with negative body image often find themselves frequently doing body checking (monitoring their physical appearance via scales, mirrors, or other methods), constantly comparing their appearance to others, or going to extreme lengths to change their appearance. Those who experience high levels of body dissatisfaction are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and developing eating disorders. Negative Body Image and Social Media For individuals who struggle with their body image, social media can make these negative beliefs [...]

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Teenage Depression is Real: 3 Subtle Signs to Watch for in Your Teen

, 2025-01-29T10:00:45+00:00January 29th, 2025|Christian Counseling For Teens, Depression, Featured, Individual Counseling|

As the number of instances of teenage- depression continues to grow in the United States, the importance of addressing this issue has become increasingly clear. In a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers found that 17% of teens (ages 12-17) experienced symptoms of depression. The Importance of Recognizing Teenage Depression Supporting teens on their mental health journey has emerged as a key focus for parents, educators, and society, prompting us to explore the most effective ways to help and empower the next generation. For parents, a crucial first step is recognizing the key signs of teenage depression. Depression is more than just feeling sad. It is a serious mental health condition that affects your teen’s mood, behavior, and ability to function at school, at home, or with their friends. It can be difficult to tell if your teen is depressed because many depression symptoms are also common adolescent behaviors, like appetite changes or lack of energy. However, with depression, these symptoms are usually more severe, and they last for a longer period (weeks or months at a time). How to Spot Teenage Depression For a teen struggling with depression, they might feel sad for weeks or even months at a time. Their mood does not seem to improve, or they do not “brighten up” when good things happen. To them, it might be hard for them to remember a time when they weren’t sad. They might have trouble concentrating in class, may not be interested in their hobbies, have difficulty sleeping, or sleep too much. Parents need to notice if their teen is acting differently. Did your teen previously hang out with their friends, but now they spend all their free time in their room alone? Or does your teen who was [...]

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Setting Professional Boundaries at Work

2025-01-17T09:09:08+00:00January 17th, 2025|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Professional Development|

Setting healthy boundaries at work can be challenging due to technology and ever-changing workplaces. Setting a limit that defines a work relationship is more complex than doing the same thing in personal relationships. People are quick to take offense when they feel as though they are being disrespected. Professional boundaries are important in creating a healthy and balanced work setting. …and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. – 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, NIV Professional boundaries can be for physical as well as emotional reasons. People do not want to be asked to do more than they feel capable of, nor do they want to be left out of office decisions. Mental boundaries can protect values and ethics. They protect us in our responsibilities as well as protecting our values. Identifying and setting boundaries empowers us to share our abilities to do a good job with the assigned tasks. This will also help us learn to manage our time and complete projects on time. When professional boundaries are clear the chance of them being overstepped is reduced. Expecting the workplace to be void of engagement can lead to work burnout. Proper boundaries can encourage minimal engagement while expecting productivity. How to Set Professional Boundaries at Work Many strategies can help set professional boundaries at work. The main goal of boundaries is to keep the work relationships healthy and productive. Chose information wisely Knowing your coworkers can be beneficial. However, there is a limit on how much personal information needs to be shared outside of the home. Some things like hobbies and [...]

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4 Causes of an Insecure Attachment Style

2024-11-05T06:57:02+00:00November 5th, 2024|Abandonment and Neglect, Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues|

If you’ve been in a relationship, you probably know the feeling. Perhaps your loved one isn’t texting or calling as often, and so you assume they aren’t interested in you anymore. To preempt the inevitable, you decide to break up with them before they break up with you. But to your surprise, you find that you made massive assumptions and blew the relationship up without cause. You may be struggling with an insecure attachment style. The way we respond to others in relationships is shaped considerably by past experiences. You carry fears and expectations into new situations based on what you’ve been through before. Sometimes, these fears and expectations, which comprise your attachment style, can stem from a traumatic experience, and lead you astray and into unhealthy behaviors that undermine a healthy relationship. Attachment Styles and Their Effects Your attachment style is about how you behave and relate to others in your relationships. Some attachment styles are secure, while others are insecure. A secure attachment refers to healthy behaviors you exhibit in your relationships, flowing from the quality of the bonding experiences you had with your parents or caregivers as a child. When a child feels understood and safe, and their needs are met, they develop a secure and successful attachment. Their needs were rightly interpreted and met, which helps the child develop an expectation that it can express needs, and those needs will be met. A secure attachment in childhood will often translate into an adult who trusts others, is self-confident, can express their needs, and manages conflict well. The importance of these formative relationships becomes clear when evaluating instances where one’s needs are met inconsistently or not at all, or where they experience confusing and frightening things. If needs aren’t met or are misinterpreted, it leads to [...]

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Am I Experiencing Symptoms of Anxiety?

, 2024-12-21T09:56:23+00:00October 28th, 2024|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Women’s Issues|

Anxiety vs. worry Have you ever thought, “Am I anxious or am I just worried?” For example, a high school student might be worried about an upcoming calculus test, but once the test is done and graded, they are not worried about that test anymore. Like this teenager, we have all been worried about something, but this worry usually goes away once the situation is resolved. On the other hand, what if that same teenager finds themselves constantly worrying about their grades to the point that they have trouble sleeping, become noticeably more fidgety, and start to have panic attacks? These are symptoms of anxiety and are distinct from worry. Those struggling with anxiety usually experience both emotional and physical symptoms, which if left untreated can affect your personal, professional, and spiritual life. Anxiety is widespread Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the United States, affecting over forty million adults, or 19.1% of the population. As the OCD & Anxiety Center explains, “For many, it has become increasingly challenging to feel “enough” in a culture that puts a lot of value on having it “all together.” The pressure and stress to achieve near-impossible goals in work and personal life can, in time, result in increased anxiety and even depression.” For those struggling with anxiety, the constant worries and stress can be overwhelming, because it feels like the worries will never stop. With anxiety, these worries can last for a longer period and there might not be a specific reason behind the anxiety. Ruminating thoughts These constant worries are a key feature of anxiety and are known as ruminating thoughts. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), rumination involves, “repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences.” Below are a few [...]

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How to Maintain and Improve Your Emotional Well-being

2024-10-18T14:44:37+00:00October 17th, 2024|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development, Spiritual Development|

We are embodied thinking and feeling beings, and that’s just how we were made. Our thoughts and our feelings interact in complex and sometimes obscure ways that can leave us bewildered about ourselves. Sometimes our minds and reason lead the way, but at other times we are all heart, and we do things we can’t make sense of. At times, our hearts and minds are in alignment, but at other times they are not, reducing our sense of emotional well-being. Your well-being isn’t just about whether your body is okay, nor is it only about your mind or your emotions. Wellbeing is about all those elements and aspects of ourselves receiving adequate care and attention. Neglecting one affects the others. For instance, how you feel affects a wide range of things, including your ability to handle day-to-day tasks, manage your relationships, react to the circumstances you encounter, and make decisions. It is important to take care of every aspect of your well-being, including your emotional well-being. What is emotional wellness? According to the National Institutes of Health, “emotional wellness is the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times.” When unpleasant or unwelcome things come your way, you can become overwhelmed. A person with good emotional well-being can roll with the punches and take those difficult situations in stride. Some things can undermine a person’s emotional health, and these include experiencing chronic stress from relationships or work, the lack of a support network, adverse experiences like trauma, negative self-talk that generates self-doubt, setting unrealistic expectations for yourself or others, being trapped in the comparison game, unhealthy or toxic relationships, and feeling unfulfilled and without a clear purpose. Every person has their capacity for what they can handle, and when that capacity is exceeded, it [...]

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Christian Counseling as a Safe Space For Your Healing

2024-12-21T09:59:42+00:00September 11th, 2024|Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development, Spiritual Development|

It can be hard to find someone who will truly listen to you. Sometimes you can have a conversation with someone and then walk away afterwards wondering if they even heard what you were saying. People mean well, but at times they can rush to give you advice when what you need is for someone to hear you out and help you process what you’re going through. This is where Christian counseling can help. In some instances, it can feel awkward to talk to someone you know about the things going on in your life. Perhaps you’re afraid they will see you in a different light, or maybe because it’s about them you don’t want to jeopardize the relationship. There are several reasons you might struggle to confide in a friend or loved one. This, however, doesn’t mean you’re out of options if you’re looking for someone to talk to about what you’re going through. Christian counseling in brief Christian counseling is a space where a person can discuss their concerns with a trained and licensed counselor. The counseling can take place on a one-to-one basis, or in a group setting with others seeking to address the same concerns. The kinds of concerns that can be addressed through counseling will vary widely, from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression to other concerns such as relationship difficulties or substance abuse. Your counselor will use a variety of therapeutic techniques that are suitable to the situation and your concerns. You don’t have to be a Christian to benefit from Christian counseling, but if you do opt for that approach, note that wisdom and insight grounded in the Christian faith’s understanding of the human person and their flourishing will be woven throughout. Your counselor will use these insights in addition [...]

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Social Communication Disorder or Autism?

2024-09-27T10:25:28+00:00August 7th, 2024|Autism Spectrum Disorder, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Understanding the complexities of social communication disorder is important because some of its symptoms mimic autism. One of the distinct differences, however, is that the signs of autism can be missed when someone is a child. For a diagnosis of social communication disorder, a child must have shown symptoms from an early age.Social communication disorder is a relatively new diagnosis; previously, children were misdiagnosed as having autism.How to know if it is autism or social communication disorderWhile autism spectrum disorder may include some difficulties with communication, it also includes repetitive patterns. Social communication disorder is marked more by the inability to understand nuanced forms of communication and storytelling.While a diagnosis of SCD must be made by a trained speech and language therapist, autism spectrum disorder must be ruled out first. A child must see a psychologist to ensure the symptoms they are showing are not part of a spectrum disorder.Autism spectrum disorder characteristics differ depending on the person. Some common ones include:Communicating differently than others.Being exceptionally good at problem-solving or finding solutions that others miss.A tendency to grasp structured systems-related understanding easily –  such as computers or the mathematical patterns in music.Challenges with adaptation to change.On the other hand, social communication disorder is primarily characterized by struggles with verbal and nonverbal communication.Someone with SCD may find it difficult:To understand gestures in social contexts.To understand implied meanings that are not explicitly stated.To recognize nonverbal communication or tone in a social setting.To work in a group, especially if the instructions are not clearly communicated verbally or leave some room for interpretation.To tell stories or follow along as someone else tells a story.To share what they know with others.To greet someone appropriately for the social context.To make friends and relate with peers.How do treatments for social communication disorder differ from autism?Therapy for SCD [...]

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3 Kinds of True Friends You May Not Know You Need

2024-09-27T10:25:10+00:00August 5th, 2024|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues|

Every day we hear people talk about their best friend or their closest friend, but have you ever considered that everyone might need several kinds of true friends? Think about what criteria you use to measure the value of a friend. If you are honest with yourself, perhaps you don’t even know why or how to identify who should be closest to you. Thankfully, the Bible has many stories of true friends you can use to gain some insight into what you might have or what you’re missing in your circle of friends. Some of these stories are well known, but there may also be some not-so-popular friendship stories from which you can learn a thing or two about the different kinds of soul connections one can have. Types of true friends you need The interceding true friend: Moses and Aaron In the book of Exodus, there is an inspiring story about Moses, who had a crippling fear of failure, and about speaking to Pharaoh and pleading with God to send him a helper to stand in the gap for him. God not only gave him an assistant, but He also gave him a true friend. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people, and he will be as a mouth for you, and you will be as God to him. – Exodus 4:14, ESV Years later, when Moses had to lead the Israelites in battle against the Amalekites, yet another impossible task was required of him. As long as Moses kept his hands raised, the Israelites kept winning, but each time he lowered his hands, the Amalekites would gain the upper hand. Aaron helped him keep his hands propped up until the battle was won. Do you have an Aaron in your life? Someone who can speak [...]

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How To Deal With People That Are Overstepping Boundaries In Your Relationships

2024-10-30T09:12:11+00:00June 29th, 2024|Depression, Family Counseling, Featured, Group Counseling, Individual Counseling, Marriage Counseling, Relationship Issues|

You’ve just gotten home after a long day at work, and you’re sitting on your couch nursing a glass of wine while deciding if there’s anything worth getting into on Netflix. Your phone pings beside you, and you see a few messages that have just come in. One is from a sibling asking to borrow your car for the weekend. Another is from your boss, who’s just sent you an email that they need you to respond to in time for an early morning meeting the next day. The last one is an inappropriate text from a person you went out with once and things didn’t work out, but every so often they still send messages expressing their feelings even after you told them not to. In each of these scenarios, there’s a boundary that is likely getting violated. Your sibling may be asking for the car even though they know you tend to use it then and you’ve hesitated to loan the car to them since they had a fender bender. Your employer should know better than to send work emails outside of work hours and expect a response before the following morning. And if you’ve requested someone to stop sending you messages, they are likewise violating your boundaries and likely your sense of safety. In each of these cases, people are overstepping their boundaries in the relationship. What Are Boundaries?  A helpful way to think of boundaries in relationships is to look at a physical real-world example. If you’re blessed enough to own your home, you’ll know that there’s a boundary that marks your property and also delineates what your neighbor’s property is. When you’re cutting your grass or doing some landscaping, you’re responsible for your patch while your neighbor is responsible for theirs. The boundary indicates [...]

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