JournalCast: Common Reasons We Avoid Journaling and Why we Shouldn't

I have this jar on my table in my office that is filled with journal prompts. It is leftover from a creative journaling group I hosted a few years ago. I have held on to them, not knowing quite what to do with them. Then it occurred to me that they would be perfect to use as a way of interacting with people on social media and also to promote mindfulness, mental health, and self-care through journaling. In my “JournalCast” series on my Instagram page, I will be posting prompts semi-regularly from my prompt jar, which if you have been in my office before, you are familiar with them.

Read More
Here for YOU during the Holidays - Discounted Rates

I understand how difficult the Holidays can be in an average year, and 2020 is NO EXCEPTION. If anything 2020 is an ASSURANCE that the Holidays will be tough. People with diagnosed mental illness have an even harder time during the holidays, and there is so much pressure on many families with the distance from loved ones and the politics getting in the way of what SHOULD be a joyful season. NONE of that accounts for the fact that SO many families are struggling financially.

Whether you are a current client of mine, or are interested in becoming one, I would like to extend a gift to you:

If you are one of these people who really wants and needs to talk to someone but are struggling to see how you could make it work financially, please reach out to me via email, and let’s discuss it. I know personally how hard this season can be, and I don’t think that anyone should have to go it alone.

Read More
9 Essential Tools for Surviving Conflict

A cunning manipulator, we’ve all known one (if not many). My blood pressure elevates just THINKING about walking into a conflict with someone like this.

Recently I found myself in a situation where I was coming up against a conflict with someone like this, someone I perceived as a “predator”. Not in the more common sense of a sexual predator, nor the cinematic sense of an ugly claw-mouthed, dread-locked killer alien (although, if I had to choose one, it was closer to this than the former).

Read More
7 Reasons Why You Suck at Comforting Others

After 7+ years of training on this career path and about 2+ years working in the field, I have determined that the average person is… well…. not great at comforting others. I thought when I first began this journey that I was already good at this, I already had the skills, and all this education would be like a “formality”. wow. wrong. I had so much to learn.

Read More
How I escaped the TRAP of people pleasing and found Myself

Have you ever felt like you didn’t know yourself at all?  Like you are just the reflection of the people you are around at any given time?  Do you change your mind about something simply because someone else has the opposite opinion you were holding?  Do you ever just “go along to get along” (as my mother used to say)? Try desperately not to “rock the boat”? Overburdened yourself with the problems of others?  Bitten off more than you could chew simply because you didn’t want to have to say no to someone? Sacrificed your responsibilities for the pleasure of someone else?  Worried yourself sick about why someone is or might be upset with you rather than just asking what’s going on?


Oh, cool, me too.  My name is Bethany and I am a recovering People-Pleaser.


Read More
The Therapeutic Nature of Sound

Something that my clients mention to me regularly is how much they love the noise-machines that we use in our offices.  The ones we use are made by Dohm and make a simple droning breathy sound that really does the job of cancelling out voices for the privacy of clients, but it also has an odd effect: After a while you really don't even hear it anymore!  Scientists have done studies that have shown that non-threatening sounds eventually get blocked out by the brain, but still have positive effects.

Read More
How to tell the Difference between Healthy and Unhealthy Family Systems

Why is the "Family System" Important?

The family is the most basic and foundational unit of the life of a person.  It is where all people begin and start their journey into learning how to be a person.  Family systems are not always healthy, and that can be due to a number of different factors.  There are several ways to differentiate a healthy family system from an unhealthy one, based on things like child temperament, familial cohesiveness, and degree of attachment.  The family has a distinct effect on the growth and development of each person therein.

Read More
Is Love Enough to Sustain a Marriage?

The first reason you probably think of for why people get married is LOVE, but is marrying for love going out of style? What is a "successful marriage" and is it obtained by marrying for love or for more practical reasons?  Is Marrying for one or the other EVER ENOUGH?

Read More