Relationships & Communication, Sophia's Posts
Becky White George
Validation in Romantic Relationships

The importance of validation is something I emphasize with couples as it creates a dynamic based on understanding rather than score-keeping or proving right and wrong. In an emotionally charged conversation, it's common for individuals to focus primarily on their own emotional experience instead of their partner’s. Rather than listening to what the other person is saying, we may be thinking about our own response.

Validation in Romantic Relationships
Atalie's Posts, Relationships & Communication
Becky White George
Flexibility In Friendships

A common struggle for many of my clients in their 20s is navigating friendships. This includes friendship conflicts, growing apart, reassessing the closeness of the friendship, and defining what types of friendships feel fulfilling in which ones feel draining. In these conversations, we explore the importance of flexibility in friendships and why it becomes so much more pertinent during this life stage.

Flexibility In Friendships
Jessica's Posts, Trauma and Mental Health
Becky White George
Intellectualizing Feelings

I have thought through every situation from every possible angle my brain can come up with and analyzed so much of my life and experience that it often feels exhausting. This “self-awareness” can start to feel incredibly frustrating when I have some understanding, yet I still find myself in familiar patterns or generally not feeling better. If this description sounds familiar to you, you might be intellectualizing your feelings vs. actually feeling them.

Intellectualizing Feelings
Kalie's posts, Self Care & Mindfulness
Becky White George
The Animal Within

I recently stumbled upon the concept of animal chronotypes, which can be used to describe our personality traits based on our natural tendencies in social interactions and behavior. While these archetypes are often linked to sleep habits, they’re also super helpful for understanding how we connect with others. Each chronotype has its own unique traits and ways of navigating relationships.

The Animal Within
Jessica's Posts, Therapy: Getting Started
Becky White George
What I Wish Clients Knew

We were discussing a painful experience, and I was once again struck and inspired by their resilience. In this situation, I found a way to express this sentiment in the moment. However, there are many instances where sharing in the moment might not be the most therapeutic response. Even when I don’t vocalize it, I want my clients to know I carry these feelings and this care with me. Reflecting on this, I began to consider all the things I wish my clients knew about me, about the therapeutic relationship, and the process.

What I Wish Clients Knew

exposure therapy

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Getting the Most out of Therapy

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Getting the Most out of Therapy

How to Make the Most Out of Your Time in Therapy

So you’ve finally taken the leap and decided to commit to therapy. Congratulations! You’ve had your consultation calls, made your choice of therapist, and filled out your intake paperwork. You sit across from the therapist on the couch, or open up your computer screen and hope the camera is angled in a way where your sweatpants are hidden. Given the investment of time and money, and your high hopes for a successful therapy experience, you may want to know, “How can I get the absolute most out of my therapy session?”


Here are 5 tips to make the most out of your time in therapy:

Associate Therapist

Associate Therapist

In your search for the right therapist, you may have come across the term Associate Marriage & Family Therapist, the acronym AMFT, or the term Pre-Licensed Therapist. Perhaps you wondered what that means. You may have wondered if they are qualified or experienced enough to help you with your concerns. Maybe you’re just not sure if they can handle the complexities of your situation, but you don’t want to offend anyone by asking.

It is totally reasonable for you to wonder about these things, and any therapist’s office should welcome your questions. We’re happy to share with you that not only can associate therapists be a good fit for your needs, there are some distinct benefits to working with an associate therapist. We’ve broken them down for you here.

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Mental Health Support

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Mental Health Support

As someone with limited athletic ability and no cable subscription, sports, in particular tennis and gymnastics, have never been a big part of my life. This year, however, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles changed that. Their bravery in bringing mental health into the dialogue highlighted the incongruence between how we may assume someone is feeling and their internal world. This year, I cared about sports.

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Therapy: What to Expect

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Therapy: What to Expect

Are you considering starting therapy but you feel intimidated or unclear on what actually happens in the first session? Do you wonder if there is some way to prepare? Starting therapy can be daunting and lots of people aren’t totally sure what even happens in therapy. In this post we will give you the inside scoop on what your first therapy session will be like.

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How to Find a Therapist

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How to Find a Therapist

Finding the right therapist can feel daunting and overwhelming, but it is an important step in starting therapy. Therapy is a powerful tool for gaining awareness into why we are the way we are, and why we do the things we do. Through gaining insight, we are then able to change certain behaviors or thinking patterns that do not serve us, as well as learn to accept the things that we cannot change. In order to do this work, we need to be willing to step into more vulnerable spaces and get in touch with emotions that might feel uncomfortable. So finding someone that you feel comfortable with is of the utmost importance-you need to feel safe to explore more vulnerable or triggering topics.

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Starting Therapy

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Starting Therapy

11 signs it’s time to start therapy

Claudia* was 23 and had her first post-college boyfriend. She felt the pressures of that bizarre, early 20-something time, when she no longer had the structure and clear purpose of college guiding her actions. She had her first full-time job and first full-time live-in boyfriend. And she found herself getting upset about, well, everything. Everything he did made her mad. It was like they were in a constant fight. She felt sad and angry all the time and could not figure out where this was coming from. She always had positive, close relationships with her girlfriends and from what she could tell, a happy healthy upbringing and family. So why did she feel like such a mess in her relationship?

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What are you noticing now?

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What are you noticing now?

For any client or practitioner of EMDR, you are no stranger to this question. The question “What are you noticing now?” is at the fulcrum of EMDR therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a therapy treatment which reprocesses memories that became stuck in our brains and bodies during the trauma. The present-moment focus of EMDR couples beautifully with Mindfulness: a continual refocusing of your attention on the present moment. In Mindfulness, we recognize that we have stories about our past that loop, narratives in our mind that play like a tape over and over again. We worry about the future. And this is all leads to dukkha, or suffering, the First Noble Truth of Buddhism.

 

Start With You. Today.