counseling

Black and White Thinking in the Post Election Era - And the Mindset of Healing

Feeling stuck after the election? Racing thoughts, tightness in your chest, and a lump in your throat might be signs of black-and-white thinking—an all-or-nothing mindset that can trap us in negativity. Explore how this cognitive pattern affects post-election processing and learn practical strategies to find balance, heal emotional dysregulation, and embrace the power of “and.”

Click to read Black and White Thinking in the Post-Election Era - And the Mindset of Healing.

Boundaries for Self-Respect and Self-Care

Boundaries for Self-Respect and Self-Care

Does alcoholism or drug addiction run in your family? Are you married to someone or co-parenting with someone who struggles with drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, mental health issues or other things that affect your relationship with them? Are there times where you’re feeling angry and hurt because your loved one calls you drunk or abuses you during a mental health episode? Read here on ways to handle boundaries with family or loved ones with mental health issues.

The Importance of Mental Health During COVID-19 Quarantine

The Importance of Mental Health During COVID-19 Quarantine

Today marks one month since the beginning of COVID-19 quarantine lockdown and it’s been longer for some. While some people are feeling gratitude and connection with their loved ones, many are feeling anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, PTSD symptoms, isolation, grief and loneliness. So, what do we do with the pain? The anxiety? The trauma memories if we’re not supposed to avoid them?

Preventing Burnout: Mindfulness Practices for Creating Space by Melanie Taylor

Preventing Burnout: Mindfulness Practices for Creating Space by Melanie Taylor

I’ve created a list of 5 simple ways you can create more space in your day utilizing mindfulness to prevent burnout and overwhelm.

Yoga Therapy on the Main Line: Why Your Breath is Your Best Friend by Melanie Taylor, LMFT, RYT-500

Yoga Therapy on the Main Line: Why Your Breath is Your Best Friend by Melanie Taylor, LMFT, RYT-500

Your breath is both a complicated and conveniently simple process that weaves together the communication between your body and mind. Linked to your nervous system, your breath has the capabilities of keeping you alive, soothing your body and mind and increasing energy. Your breath holds a wealth of resources for you. All you have to do is attend to it. Here’s some ways to access its usefulness.

Bryn Mawr Trauma Therapy: 3 Things to Consider When Searching for a Trauma Specialist

  1. Do you want to learn skills or go deep?

Bryn Mawr Therapy, ptsd, yoga, anxiety, depression

Before searching for a trauma specialist in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, you may want to consider what, exactly you are looking for.  Do you want to learn skills to help you tolerate the trauma memories?  Or would you prefer to engage in deeper therapeutic work to get underneath the trauma so that it can heal at the core?  

Skills such as DBT Skills are extremely helpful for daily life.  

Bryn Mawr therapy, anxiety, depression, main line, Philadelphia

DBT has 4 tenants: distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation and mindfulness.  These skills are essential when doing trauma work for PTSD and for many other difficulties such as anxiety, depression, anger management, eating disorders, self-harm and addiction.  

If you’d prefer to get underneath the trauma, you will need a therapist who can help you with skills to stabilize and one who is able to help you heal at the root of the problem. 

These skills are the building blocks that will allow you to be able to function and tolerate uncomfortable memories and emotions as you dive deeper into the healing work.  

2. Which Therapeutic Models Do you Prefer?

When looking for a trauma specialist in Bryn Mawr, you’ll also want to take the time to find out the model or theory that the therapist uses to help navigate your therapy.  If you’re looking for a safe space to process and talk things out make sure you find a counselor who is great at talk therapy. If you are looking for evidence based interventions to help you DO something with the traumatic material, you may want to investigate something like EMDR.  If you want to work more from the body or a creative place, you may want to look for an art therapist, a yoga therapist or an experiential or psycho-dramatic therapist.  Ideally, you’ll find a therapist who is able to choose a therapeutic tool from a large tool belt with many choices.  

3. What is your commitment level to healing?

Successful therapy is mostly about your commitment to healing.  Your counselor may ask you to consider abstaining from addictive substances, behaviors or eating disordered behaviors, especially while you’re engaged in trauma work. If you’re doing drugs, engaging in self harm or throwing up your food while you’re trying to heal from PTSD, it can side-track the process. Instead of taking the time in between sessions to allow your psyche to continue to process and digest the trauma, engaging in behaviors can numb the emotions and make it less likely that you will process and be ready for your next session.  When you commit to your own healing process, it means you are willing to look at all aspects of your life and work towards shifting the things that no longer serve you.  

Bryn Mawr counseling, anxiety, depression, ptsd, main line, Philadelphia

Commitment to healing also means consistency.  

If you engage in therapy every week, it creates synergistic momentum as opposed to dropping in only when you’re experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms. Committing to consistent therapy will help you heal faster and more completely.  What is your level of commitment to healing from a traumatic past?

If you’re looking for a trauma specialist near Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and need some helping finding the right person for you, please feel free to give us a call at 484-784-6244 for a free 15 minute initial consultation.  We are happy to help you find the right trauma therapist for you.

Anger Management: 3 Ways to Channel Your Rage

Anger Management on the Philadelphia Main Line in Bryn Mawr

Anger is a tricky emotion, especially in our society.  We get messages that anger is “bad” and that we should never show it.  While we certainly don’t want to take our anger out sideways on innocent bystanders and we don’t want to rage at people we have anger towards, anger isn’t a “bad” emotion to be pushed away and shamed for. It is healthy to acknowledge, honor and express our anger as long as we’re not hurting anyone in the process.  Here are three ways to channel your anger:

 

1.  Acknowledge: 

Mindfully check in with your body and notice where the anger lives.  You may notice that when you’re angry, you clench your jaw. Many of us store anger in our jaws. Perhaps when you get heated, you feel your face flush.  Do you notice that you make a fist?  Or are you more someone who feels ashamed for having anger, so it’s stuffed down and manifests itself in an upset stomach or feelings of self-loathing?  However your anger manifests itself, the first step towards freedom is to acknowledge that you are, in fact, angry, even if you’re not quite sure why.

2.  Honor:

Trying to put the judgment aside, see if you can think back to when you first started noticing the anger.  Sometimes people believe that the key to anger management is to push the anger away and try to ignore it.  But, I’m of the belief system that what we resist, persists.  So if you want to get free of your rage and really learn anger management, try allowing yourself to be angry without doing anything about it, just noticing it in your body.

3.  Expression:

Anger Management on the Main Line of Philadelphia in Bryn Mawr.

Here are some skills you can try for expression of your anger.  Take what you like and leave the rest:

  • Journal about the anger
  • Write a ‘do not send’ letter to the person or thing you’re angry at
  • Sweat it out - Go for a run or engage in another form of physical exercise
  • Vent to a friend, therapist or another safe person not involved in the situation 
  • Rip up a phone book
  • Punch a punching bag
  • Create some art expressing your anger
  • Write out the story of what happened, then rewrite it with what you wish would have happened
  • Practice progressive relaxation
  • Learn assertive communication skills and directly address the issue with the person or situation

For more help with anger management, contact us here.  

What else do you find helpful for anger management?  Write your responses here: