When Do I Need Help?

This is a great question! How do you know when you are in need of mental health care? Everyone experiences emotions such as fear, sadness, anger, guilt, grief, regret, etc. These emotions are part of the human condition. It is normal for all of us to experience these emotions at times in our lives as well as the feelings of joy, happiness, euphoria and more. It is when our emotions and the management of our emotions start to interfere with our ability to function effectively at home, work, school or social situations that there is a real call to seek assistance. When fear keeps you from being able to go out of your home or keeps you from being able to perform in the work place are good indicators you are struggling; but DON'T wait until these symptoms significantly effect your functioning. When you or family/friends start to notice that you are struggling in these areas, this is the time to get help. The sooner you get help, the quicker your recovery will be!
Contact Us if you have questions about when to seek help.

Alternatives to Traditional Mental Health, Revisited

As we all know, life seems to be getting more and more complicated and fast paced. More research is emerging validating the effectiveness of e-mail and telephone consultations. There are new words and descriptors to describe these services telemental health, telecounseling, e-counseling, e-therapy, e-chat, teletriage and telehealth. Technology is changing how we connect with each other. (Telephones, Cell phones, Email, blogging, chat, instant messaging) There are so many options and ways for people to connect these days. These advancements in technology is also making an impact on how we can seek understanding of our families. These new ways of communicating are breaking down barriers, such as busy schedules, immobilizing personal fears, transportation issues and other limitations that restrict our attainment of who we were created to be and the quality of family life we are seeking.

In response to this, Counseling Connections has embraced these new and innovative ways of connecting with families and providing quality mental health services. This alternative vehicle improves our availability, accessibility and fills a niche for those who are unable or unwilling to seek other forms of assistance.

Read more about how our e-counseling service works……

Troubled Marriage?

Is there trouble in paradise? There might be if the communication style between you and your spouse is one of avoidance, explosiveness, blaming or non-existent. Life with another person = different needs, understandings and viewpoints! How you as a couple and family communicate and resolve conflicts may determine how often you feel you are living in paradise. As much as it sounds cliche and oversimplistic, it is imperative to tell your your spouse the wonderful things about him or her and to be thankful for the little things that you do for each other, (making breakfast, coffee in the morning, driving to pick up dry cleaning - the small considerate things we do make a big difference if they are noticed). If your spouse feels like they are being taken for granted, there may be built up resentment. If you are sensing or if there are overt difficulties in the areas of money, sex or children, get help now! These are the biggest issues that break down a marriage and the longer you wait to get help the harder it is to repair the "troubled marriage". Contact Us!

Laugh It Up

Laughter is good for you and your family's mental and physical well-being.

Some mental health professionals say humor is one of the best ways to relieve stress, and research proves that laughter plays a key role in human life. A good laugh loosens muscles, lowers blood pressure, and may lower levels of hormones that create stress and weaken immunity. When you laugh, your body moves blood to your heart and lungs, boosting your energy level and making you feel better instantly. It also aids communication and creates a sense of closeness between you and the people you’re laughing with.

Until recently, researchers knew that laughing was good for us, but they didn’t really understand how. New evidence points to changes in the brain—not the imaginary funny bone—as the source for laughter. Researchers found that when people laugh, a part of the brain’s reward system is triggered. In this reward system, a person feels pleasure and wants to have the same pleasant feelings over and over again. The areas in the brain triggered by humor are the same ones that are triggered by drugs like amphetamines and cocaine.

Laughing and fun go hand-in-hand and laughing together as a family will bring you closer together, improve your mental and physical health, and may help prevent your child from using drugs. Look for laughs to stay healthy!

At times we all struggle to find joy and humor in our life; this could be a sign of a more serious mental health issue. Contact us to discuss if this is could be true for you.

Is It Raining Again?

For over a week it seems we have had these cloudy and raining days....It's depressing. Just as the Spring was waking us to the longer days, sun and milder weather we have this rain spell. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the rain! We need rain, the plants, gardens, earth needed more rain in our area. Balance between the two would feel great! But like us humans I guess mother nature struggles to find the balance of life, too. If you are looking to create more balance in your life, take the responsibility to do so. No one can do it for you. You have what it takes to create what your heart desires! Contact Us!

Stress

If we had a way to measure our stress, then perhaps we could not only monitor it but identify more specifically what situations and factors contribute to it. The word “stress” seems to be a catch-all word we use when life’s pressures and our coping with them is out of balance. “I am stressed out” or “I can’t deal with all this stress” or “This is stressful”. In other words, the internal or external demands, pressures, or expectations are exceeding our ability to handle these factors in an effective or healthy manner. Our capacity to manage stress is very individual and person to our own personality, tolerance levels and learned coping skills. Stress can come and go or at times seem longer-lasting.

To obtain a measure of your stress and learn more about the effects of stress, link to this interactive stress screening at Stress and click on “find out your stress level”. This tool may offer some initial information on your current stress level and areas that could be responsible for it.

With our help as well, you can learn effective ways to handle the stress in your life. We cannot eliminate stress in our lives; but we can be prepared to respond to it in ways that can make it less overwhelming. Contact us!

Trust

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

-Kenn

Thanks Kenn for your words of wisdom...Trust is powerful yet vunerable. If you are attempting to rebuild trust in relationships maybe we can help. Check out some tips to help with your relationship or Contact Us.

Vanity Sizing, Self-Esteem and Body Image

What is vanity sizing? Over the past couple of decades women's sizing has changed. For example if you used to wear a size 10 and you are the same weight and size but now when you are shopping for new slacks suddenly a size 10 is way too big!!!! Manufacturers realize of course that women would rather say they are a size 5 than 10, so they are sizing clothing differently to supposedly make women feel better. For women or teens who has a low self-esteem or distorted body image this maybe a trigger for increased obsessive thoughts about their weight and size. Striving to be that size 0! How can anyone be a "size 0"? If you think about what it means 0 means nothing....a size nothing??

Seek help if you notice you are obsessing about your weight or you have a daughter you are concerned about.

What Holds You Back

At times in all our lives we struggle with emotional turmoil brought about by relationship stress and/or other internal conflicts. As human beings, with our connection to other human beings, it is inherent in our species that tensions, frustrations, and personality conflicts will occur. Some of us have developed coping strategies or have dispositions that allow us to self-manage most of these stressors. But, we all, every one of us, have a point at which our ability to self-manage is overwhelmed by the shear number or intensity of stressors in our lives. It is a those times, hopefully, we reach out to others that can help us through.

Ironic, in a way, our connectedness to others often results in our distress, just as that same connection to others can aid us in relief from those challenges. Knowing what holds you back from seeking that help from others is key to preparing for you to get it. Some of us turn to our church, our family, or our friends for support during trying times. This connecting can effectively provide us with those needs of feeling loved, important, and valued. That can help us get back on track. Sometimes we think a more neutral, non-judgmental, unbiased professional influence is what is best. Either way, it’s the knowing when we need to reach out and what is holding us back that effects the next step of getting help.

If you need a more unbiased, professional input. Contact us. We can help.

Confidence

Who has self-confidence will lead the rest. --HORACE, Epistles

Words of encouragement, affirmation, positive feedback, kudos and other self-esteem improving dynamics often make the difference between self-doubt and self-confidence. It is an outside-inside process whereby we develop self-confidence through the growth process of taking risks within the world around us, making mistakes, assessing our trials and hopefully throughout it all we receive encouragement from someone about our strengths and abilities.

For those who feel they have never achieved self-confidence in all or certain areas of their life, it’s time to move ahead. We can help with the “outside” affirming and guiding part of that learning process. Contact us if that is your goal.