My wife and I haven't been to a movie theater since before the pandemic. On a whim, we reserved seats this morning for a matinee showing of Dear Evan Hansen. Though we were masked up and fully vaxed (also boostered!), we were relieved to learn that we were the only people who bought tickets for that particular showing. That's right,...[ read more ]

Boundaries are definitely the most common challenge that I see in my therapy sessions with clients, doesn't matter if they're facing anxiety, life transitions, addiction, etc. But what are boundaries? Boundaries are expectations that we set in interpersonal relationships to optimize our quality of life. What are the types of boundaries? Harper (2020) describes boundaries in seven categories: Physical boundaries- These...[ read more ]

"Resilience" is an important trait in my line of work for both my clients and myself. As I reflected on the lessons that I've learned during these past 5 months in quarantine, the word resilience stood out. The dictionary on my Mac defines resilience as, "The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness;" however, I thought I'd reach out to...[ read more ]

I'm always excited to review books that can be used as resources for my clients and their parents. Today, I'm excited to share some of the insights that I gained from Dr. Sanjay Gupta's latest book, Childhood Interrupted- Raising Kids During a Pandemic. I see a lot of adolescents at my therapy practice and many of the parents of these...[ read more ]

I'm dusting off the cobwebs, as this is my first post in over a month! While I had been writing on a consistent basis (approximately 99 posts in the past year and a half), these unprecedented times got to me, y'all. So with this 100th blog post, I'm checking in to share some insights that I've gained along the way. ...[ read more ]

Due to the circumstances, I'm reading more than ever before. With that being said, I seldom come across a book that I would consider to be life-changing. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim is one of those exceptions and I'm excited some insights that I gained from his book with you. What is...[ read more ]

I got the idea to write this article after a horribly failed attempt to spell "trichotillomania" into Google. Trichotillomania (trik-o-till-o-MAY-nee-uh), henceforth referred to as TTM, is the clinical term for hair-pulling. Today, I will discuss the symptoms of TTM, triggers for the symptoms, and some of the treatment options available. Symptoms of Trichotillomania According to the DSM 5 (AKA, big...[ read more ]

To begin, I need to share a bit of background on why I chose The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon as my read of the week. In general, I tend to be skeptical about self-help books... ok, I'm downright cynical; in fact, downloaded and returned this book in the library app twice before opening it. I'm glad that I pushed...[ read more ]

Today, I want to share about a common issue that I encounter at Panoramic Counseling: depressed tweens and teens. I’ll include insights from a recent Psychology Today article titled, Why Kids' Depression Goes Unnoticed by Dr. Alison Escalante.  I found it interesting that the research supports that youth depression often goes unnoticed by parents, teachers, and peers.   “Many children-- for a variety of reasons-- work to minimize or conceal entirely...[ read more ]

Because I plan to start offering EMDR therapy at Panoramic Counseling in early 2020, I have been immersing myself in the writing of EMDR’s founder, Francine Shapiro. Today, I want to share some practical insights that I gained from Shapiro’s EMDR self-help book, Getting Past Your Past. If you’re not familiar with EMDR therapy, I’ll provide the cliffnotes definition: It’s...[ read more ]