Why can Romantic Love be so scary for some of us? Even Toxic?
Do you ever wonder if you are in a healthy relationship? Do you fear you might be in a toxic cycle with someone and could be confusing it for love? Learn more about the signs and symptoms of toxicity in a relationship due to insecure attachment!
What is Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASP)?
Antisocial personalities can be hard to understand, often making us more susceptible to their callousness. Many people all around us show signs of antisocial personality disorder, especially if they have show little to no empathy or consideration for others or society rules.
How to be More Effective with your goals?
Ever feel stuck in your goal setting? Feel like your just procrastinating or rationalizing why you aren’t doing the steps to accomplish the goal, this blog may be for you! Harnessing some of the information gleaned in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, I cover effective goal setting behaviors.
How to Maintain A Healthy Secure Love in 2025?
Maintaining and sustaining a healthy romantic love involves intentional effort and mutual commitment. Recent research and expert insights highlight several key strategies for couples aiming to nurture a long lasting secure relationship that fulfills trust, purpose and passion, as well as family connection and continuity of rituals for fun throughout life’s transitions.
These recommendations are based on qualitative research and meta-analysis from top relationship researchers and mentors in the field. Communication is always the answer, when its off go inward and connect authentically first with self, and then with others once regulated.
What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)?
Narcissistic Personality Disorder aka NPD is a very challenging and difficult to treat condition, which is why it goes along with BPD individuals in couples counseling. Those impacted by NPD do not come to therapy on their own, typically they are encouraged and brought in by their partners. I treasure working with the symptomology in the couples counseling room as meaningful deep inner child work is working with a deeply insecure inner child. The ego is very sensitive for the NPD and understanding Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) Through the Lens of a Couples Therapist can help shed some perspective on relationship components to be aware of.
Navigating the complexities of a romantic relationship is challenging under any circumstances, but when one or both partners exhibit traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), the challenges can feel insurmountable at times without outside support. As a couples therapist specializing in trauma and attachment wounds, I’ve witnessed how NPD can affect intimacy, trust, and communication in profound ways, however they are not to be forgotten because they can change through awareness and conscious changes. This blog aims to shed light on NPD from a relational perspective and offer insights for couples who are navigating these dynamics.
Men’s Mental Health? Could it save the world?
Men need help, we all know this but for some reason its still deeply stigmatized for them to show vulnerability through emotional awareness and verbalization. I recommend therapy to all men to help our world find more stability and peace, allowing a safe place to review insecurities, emotions and feelings, can prevent relationship and family breakdowns, company and societal misalignments for all.
What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the most commonly misunderstood and stigmatized mental health conditions. These individuals are often the highest utilizers of crisis and emergency mental health services in our society. This disorder is characterized by intense emotional experiences, unstable relationships, and a distorted sense of self, BPD affects an estimated 1.4% of adults, with women being diagnosed more frequently than men, however that may be due to the stigma men face with attending mental health services.
New Year, same Relationship how to Grow within your Relationship
Setting goals as a couple can be a transformative process, deepening your connection and providing a roadmap for shared growth and connection to one another. However, for couples navigating the effects of stress, mental health, parenting, trauma, and or attachment wounds; the process requires sensitivity and intentionality on a regular basis not just at the beginning of the year. Integrating the principles below offers a compassionate and effective framework for setting and achieving goals together and effectively growing together. I love to incorporate Gottman Method Couples & Internal Family Systems approaches for establishing a safe environment for goal setting.
The Gottman Method emphasizes the importance of a strong relational foundation rooted in friendship and partnership. They recommend checking in weekly during date nights on your Love Maps which promote connection and deeper reflection on life values. When setting goals, applying these principles help promote a strong connection, which permits individualization and shared meaning for both partners to grow within the relationship.
Connected During the Holidays
Handling the holidays can be tremendously hard for individuals feeling unwell. Here are some helpful strategies to assist you in feeling more connected while honoring everyones differneces.
Cultivating Gratitude: A Pathway to Lasting Sobriety
October has been a month of reflection, renewal, and commitment to a healthier lifestyle.
Halloween is over and as we wrap up #SoberOctober and start thinking about THANKSGIVING
on the horizon (hard to believe it’s almost here!), let's delve deeper into a mindset that can
strengthen our commitment to sobriety and intentional living: Gratitude.
The Power of Sobriety: Building Self-Esteem and Resilience
Today, I want to delve deeper into what I consider to be one of the most powerful and transformative impacts of sobriety: building self-esteem and resilience.
Here are a few ways that sobriety can help build self-esteem and resilience:
Building self-esteem and resilience takes time and effort, but it's a journey well worth taking. Observing #SoberOctober can be that first step for you, just like it has been for so many others. Here are a few tips to help you on your way:
SoberCurious
One of the things I’m see a lot this #SoberOctober is the concept of “sober curious”. I love this because 1) curiosity is so often a healthy mental state, and 2) this is a great low-pressure, judgment-free approach to examining your relationship with alcohol (and other substances). So I want to join the Sober Curious conversation today! I hope you will too.
Human Connection: A Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Even though September (National Suicide Prevention Month) is behind us, we’re still highlighting mental health and trying to educate the public (that’s you, dear reader!) about suicide prevention. This week I want to talk about the significance of human connection on mental health, and its power to interrupt a mental health spiral that might otherwise end in tragedy.
Slow-Down September: Observing National Suicide Prevention Month
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and the goal of those observing and promoting the event is to both raise awareness about the dangers and signs, and ways you can help, among friends and family members of individuals who may be suffering and to provide a surge of visible support to struggling individuals who simply do not know where to turn for help.
Let’s Build Strong Sibling Relationships: A Guide for Blended Families
We’ve been talking about Blended Families lately. And mostly I’ve been talking about it from a Parenting point of view. But there are other relationships in a blended family, right? I won’t go into the couple relationship right now– that is a whole other topic! But what about the SIBLINGS? Sibling relationships can be a little challenging even under the BEST circumstances. Most parents dream of their kids being best friends, but the changing dynamics of a blended family may feel difficult to navigate. It can feel like there is so much at stake! Making sure that the love between the new couple trickles down to the kids, too, is a key part of building a new Family.
I do have two really solid tips I can give you that will help, and they balance each other out.
Combating the Negative Impact of Social Media on Young Kids
In today's digital age, social media is woven into the fabric of daily life, but for young children, it often poses more risks than rewards. From unrealistic beauty standards to the lurking dangers of cyberbullying, the potential harm is undeniable. While I’m not here to wage war against platforms like TikTok, I’m joining the growing chorus of mental health experts urging parents to delay social media use until at least age 13. But here’s the key: this isn’t about taking a heavy-handed approach. Instead, let’s explore how we can prepare our children to navigate this online world with wisdom, empathy, and healthy boundaries.
How to Nurture Your Daughter's Self-Image: Everyday Tips
As a mom, I want what is best for my daughters… In a blended family, fostering independence, self-confidence, and self-love in these girls is a huge priority for me. Girls and women still face major challenges to mental/emotional health and personal success, even though things are better for our girls than they were for ourselves, and our mothers and aunts. Props to the women who’ve paved the way so far, and I’m especially loving the most recent vibe of absolutely amazing women in the headlines. Leadership, body positivity, mental health self-care– all of this is on display and I am so excited about it. BUT we definitely still have a long way to go.
So jump on my bandwagon today, and let’s talk about some practical habits you can develop to be a role model and a full-blown cheer squad for the young girls in your life!
The Unique Challenges of Step Parenting: Tips from the Trenches
Stepparenting, a topic very much on my mind lately, (if you haven’t already noticed) is uniquely tough. Let’s take a look at a few of the unique challenges that stepparents face and talk about some strategies for meeting and overcoming those challenges.