More Women Suffer From Drug Addiction Than Ever Before

Addiction in any form is a potentially life-threatening condition, one that requires many types of therapy to conquer for some. According to the article below, more women are battling drug addiction than ever before. If you suffer from addiction contact your local counselor for help immediately.

Souza’s attempts to get clean read like a rap sheet: 16 times in detox, six times in a half-way house, and three times in the women’s step-down unit — she currently resides at Stanley Street Treatment and Resources.

— Read More At Herald News

Our staff is experienced in assisting clients suffering from a variety of disorders. The areas of care our clinicians specialize in are as follows: couples and relationship issues, such as communication impediments, infidelity, and recurrent conflict management difficulties; compulsive behaviors, such as sexual compulsiveness, workaholism, and serial relationships; working with individuals with histories of trauma and abuse; and mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

Does Low Self-Esteem Affect Likelihood Of Depression?

There are many aspects of our genetic makeup that contribute to depression and anxiety, but there are also factors in our control that minimize the likelihood of suffering from depression. This piece by PsychCentral explains how suffering a low self-esteem can make you vulnerable to depression. Depression is a serious mental condition that should be taken seriously; contact your therapist today if you need help with your depression.

The only way to disentangle the highly related concepts of self-esteem and depression is through longitudinal research, in which people are followed up over time. A study on depression, conducted by University of Basel researchers Julia Sowislo and Ulrich Orth, contrasted the competing directions of self-esteem to depression vs. depression to self-esteem.

— Read More At PsychCentral

What To Ask Your Future Therapist

Entering into marriage counseling can be intimidating at first, especially when you aren't sure what to look for in a therapist. Don't allow intimidation keep you from doing what is best for your relationship. Counseling can improve your communication and change the way you view each other emotionally. This article provides the best questions to ask your counselor before setting up an appointment.

What kind of training have you had in couple therapy? Some therapists may mention specific conferences or workshops they’ve attended. Others may point to certification programs they’ve completed post-graduation. A therapist’s response to this question will tell you whether their work with couples is something they have invested time and energy in developing, or simply something they offer as a general part of their overall practice.

— Read More at Hitched

Our staff is experienced in assisting clients suffering from a variety of disorders. The areas of care our clinicians specialize in are as follows: couples and relationship issues, such as communication impediments, infidelity, and recurrent conflict management difficulties; compulsive behaviors, such as sexual compulsiveness, workaholism, and serial relationships; working with individuals with histories of trauma and abuse; and mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

Alternative Therapies For Anxiety

When one suffers extreme anxiety, it can seem like an impossible feat to occupy your mind and body in such a way that the constant fear isn't always present. Alternative therapy in conjunction with counseling can help overcome the constant anxiety. For example, the following article highlights one woman who started knitting as a form of alternative therapy.

Huerta was skeptical at first. Knitting seemed silly -- and difficult for hands she could never seem to keep still. But as she learned to knit and purl, hours melted away. She realized she was no longer focusing on the future, imagining catastrophic things happening to her loved ones.

— Read more at CNN.com

Is EMDR Therapy For You?

EMDR therapy has been around for over three decades and has been proven to help those who have experienced a traumatic event in their life. The point of this therapy is to assist you in processing the traumatic event in a way that will be best for your cognitive health.

 Research has also indicated that medically unexplained physical symptoms, including fatigue, gastrointestinal problems and pain can also go along with this disorder. Anyone suffering from PTSD can benefit from EMDR therapy. 

Psych Central

Feeling Numb

During childhood or adolescence, there may have been helplessness in a child’s ability to response to certain situations. An adaption a child may utilize is to shut down and go numb emotionally, or to lose oneself in a fantasy world. As an adult, a person may achieve this disconnectedness through alcohol, television, or surfing the web for hours. In childhood, all they could do was disengage emotionally to diminish the overwhelming feelings they were experiencing. 

Gateway Counseling

Don't Wait Too Long

Maybe you have relinquished certain hobbies and replaced them with those of your partner’s. Maybe you have children who take up a large portion of your free time so when you are finally alone with your partner you are too exhausted to exert energy into the relationship that should be on the forefront. Whatever the reason for discontent may be, couples counseling can change the approach to your relationship for the better.

Gateway Counseling

The Ugly Truth

Couples therapy forces you to improve communication and confront any emotions you have been avoiding in the past. An effective couple’s therapist will break down your walls and expose your strengths and weaknesses. Doing this will either strengthen your relationship indefinitely or unveil the ugly truth, which may be that your relationship is done. 

Gateway Counseling

Christian Couples Counseling

Healthy relationships require a strong balance of independence and dependence. Being in therapy will help you achieve that balance and will modify dysfunctional behaviors. How long you commit to this path of improvement is entirely up to you, but don’t wait until things are really bad before entering into couple’s therapy. Studies show that those who wait too long for therapy have a much higher divorce and separation rate than those who don’t.

Gateway Counseling

Couple Counseling

When you are part of a couple, when you have been together a long time, autonomy can sometimes be sacrificed. You may compromise certain principles so that you can manage a certain level of harmony in the relationship.

Gateway Counseling

Examining Sex Addiction

Sex addiction is not something that is often discussed, as many people find the topic too controversial. This is a problem because that attitude generates an atmosphere of shame, and those suffering from this condition may not feel as though they can discuss their problem openly. This article explores sex addiction and some surprising facts that you probably didn't know.

Dr. Reid said, “It’s not that a lot of people don’t take sexual risks from time to time or use sex on occasion to cope with stress or just escape, but for these patients, it’s a constant pattern that escalates until their desire for sex is controlling every aspect of their lives and they feel powerless in their efforts to change.”

— dailyRX

Dealing With Grief

One constant in life is change, and that change more often than not includes some type of loss. These losses create a feeling of grief, and everyone processes grief in their own way. If you feel that whatever loss you experienced is too much to deal with alone you may need to see a therapist - someone who feel comfortable with. This article is about overcoming loss and dealing with grief.

What are the things people lose in life? The first thing that usually comes to mind is the death of a friend or loved one. Death is a huge loss, and one that seems so permanent – it steals all hope of seeing that person again. However, death is not the only loss life holds, nor is it always the most challenging loss to overcome. There is the loss of health through a chronic illness that changes a life forever.

— Dr. John Hawkins

Psychology Of Superiority

What makes a person feel superior to another? Psychology plays a major role in how we view the world, and this behavior can last for generations if not corrected. To transform a psychology of superiority, one must go through extensive behavior therapy. The article below, written by our very own Dr.John Hawkins, discusses the conflict with this complex and explores the behavior fully.

Psychology is the study of the human mind and emotions. A more literal translation of the word would be “a study of the human spirit or soul.” There seems to be something innate in all people that consider their group superior to other groups. If this feeling could be changed to one of more acceptance of those who are different from us, what a better world this would be.

— Dr.John Hawkins

Why Should you Try Couples Counseling Now

When you are part of a couple, when you have been together a long time, autonomy can sometimes be sacrificed. You may compromise certain principles so that you can manage a certain level of harmony in the relationship. Maybe you have relinquished certain hobbies and replaced them with those of your partner’s. Maybe you have children who take up a large portion of your free time so when you are finally alone with your partner you are too exhausted to exert energy into the relationship that should be on the forefront. Whatever the reason for discontent may be, couples counseling can change the approach to your relationship for the better.

Couples therapy forces you to improve communication and confront any emotions you have been avoiding in the past. An effective couple’s therapist will break down your walls and expose your strengths and weaknesses. Doing this will either strengthen your relationship indefinitely or unveil the ugly truth, which may be that your relationship is done. Even if you discover in therapy that you should no longer be together, it will not be a waste of time, because you are probably finding out truths about yourself that you otherwise would have been ignorant to.  

Healthy relationships require a strong balance of independence and dependence. Being in therapy will help you achieve that balance and will modify dysfunctional behaviors. How long you commit to this path of improvement is entirely up to you, but don’t wait until things are really bad before entering into couple’s therapy. Studies show that those who wait too long for therapy have a much higher divorce and separation rate than those who don’t. Your therapist can only do so much- even if they are a spectacular counselor- the rest is entirely up to you and your partner.