anxiety, communication, depression, family, forgiveness, goals, gratitude, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, parenting, positive thinking, shame, therapy, thoughts, trauma, women, young adults anxiety, communication, depression, family, forgiveness, goals, gratitude, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, parenting, positive thinking, shame, therapy, thoughts, trauma, women, young adults

Befriending Our Ugly Parts

The best way to manage those unsightly parts of ourselves is actually to befriend them. Yes, even that one you hate. Hating ourselves for a certain reaction rarely creates change. 

“Parts” language comes from a therapy modality called Internal Family Systems. We can really get into the weeds on this, but the basic theory is that we all have many parts of ourselves that are performing different tasks for our overall good. The parts always intend well for us, even if their actions seem to backfire. Often these parts of ourselves are working to protect us in some way and fear that if they don’t do what they are doing (pleasing others, being critical, being a perfectionist, acting suspicious, etc.) that something bad would happen. 

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anxiety, boundaries, communication, family, goals, marriage, mental health, millennials, partners of sex addicts, recovery, therapy, trauma, women, young adults anxiety, boundaries, communication, family, goals, marriage, mental health, millennials, partners of sex addicts, recovery, therapy, trauma, women, young adults

What to Expect In Therapy in Dublin, CA

Going to therapy is an investment in yourself and an investment of your time & resources. Before you schedule your first appointment, there is often a time of “Should I go to therapy?...nah, I’m okay, I can wait…” before you actually take the first step. By the time you make the call, you’re ready to do the work. Maybe you’re considering jumping back into therapy, or maybe you’ve never been and have no idea what it’s like. Here’s what to expect when working with me as a therapist so you can get the most bang for your buck:

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anxiety, communication, depression, faith, gratitude, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, recovery, shame, therapy, thoughts, trauma, women, young adults anxiety, communication, depression, faith, gratitude, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, recovery, shame, therapy, thoughts, trauma, women, young adults

Growing Healthier Through Self-Talk

Words are powerful. The Bible compares the power of words to a spark that can cause a wildfire (perhaps a metaphor too close to home for us Californians) or a small rudder than can control an entire ship. Whether our words are spoken aloud or only thought, they have a huge impact on our emotions and behavior. Self-talk is the pyscho-babble term for how we speak to ourself (fancy huh?). Whether we speak kindly or harshly to ourselves can have a big impact on how we feel and act.

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anxiety, communication, depression, goals, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, therapy, thoughts, women, young adults anxiety, communication, depression, goals, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, therapy, thoughts, women, young adults

How To Reduce Anxiety Through Rational Thinking

Anxiety is not always rational. In fact, one of the infuriating things about anxiety for super logical people is knowing that their anxiety “doesn’t make sense”, and judging themselves for not being able to stop feeling anxious. If you can park the self-judgment (unhelpful thinking styles of labelling, personalizing, or “shoulds”), logical thinking can be very effective in reducing anxious thoughts The key is to identify where your thoughts may be distorted, unhelpful, or irrational so you can replace them with more true thoughts.

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anxiety, communication, depression, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, recovery, teens, therapy, thoughts, women, young adults anxiety, communication, depression, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, recovery, teens, therapy, thoughts, women, young adults

Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Battling Anxiety

One of the most effective ways to reduce anxiety is to use your mind to catch & replace unhelpful thinking. The thoughts that accompany (and fuel) anxiety are distorted, but have juuust enough truth that they sound compelling. If you’ve ever experienced heightened anxiety, you know how quickly anxious thoughts can spiral. Here’s the trick...don’t believe everything you think.

Anxious thoughts are usually driven by a few unhelpful thinking styles. We all utilize these unhelpful thinking styles or cognitive distortions from time to time. Here are the five most common distorted thoughts that I see fuel anxiety:

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