Category: Counseling Process

We all grow up in a family system. What we might not always realize is that each of us assume a role in that system to make it “work.” This can be based on birth order, needs to manage specific relationships in the family or simply occur without much thought or attention. However, the role we assume in the family often leads to issues as we navigate life outside the system.

For example, let’s say that you have taken on a responsibility role in the family. You are often the one the family expects to fix whatever problems arise. Maybe it was as small as helping your siblings with their homework or as large as helping a family member manage an addiction. Either way, the message was that it was up to you to take care of the family. As you fill that role, it becomes ingrained within you. Without realizing it becomes one of your core drives. As you grow older and step out into the world, you do so with this drive firmly entrenched and ...

We have all been there – in our youth, as students, oversleeping and missing the bus for school. As adults, getting a flat tire that causes us to be late for work. These everyday moments are stressful, but when do daily stressors become cause for concern? It may surprise you to learn that not all stress is bad! In fact, research performed at the Mayo Clinic has revealed that healthy stress can help individuals become more resilient. For example, anxiety about an upcoming exam may help to motivate students to study and be better prepared for their test. The key is learning how to combat stress and anxiety before stress becomes chronic and inhibits one’s ability to function in their daily lives.

How does one recognize the warning signs of stress overload? There are several symptoms that stress and anxiety may be becoming overwhelming, which include:

- The frequency of stress (unrelenting, constant feelings of anxiety and ...

Recent decades have seen an increasing interest in the healing and therapeutic potential of nature and the perspective of various nature-based interventions for the benefit of mental health. The field of nature-based therapies is expanding in line with this interest. During the formative years of modern psychotherapy, several psychotherapists had a close, loving relationship with nature and who had contributed in some ways to the formation of nature therapy. One of them was Carl Jung, a renowned Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was one of the first people in the field of mental health to voice concerns about the separation of men and nature. C. Jung believed that a modern man was in danger of losing all contact with the world of instinct, increased by his living an urban existence and separation from nature. Jung wrote in his diaries that the loss of instinct is largely responsible for the pathological condition of contem ...