mental health
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How Your Surrounding Space Can Help Improve Your Mental Health
Whenever there’s an opportunity to make yourself feel better, seize it! The world is a hectic place, but your life doesn’t have to be. Therapy isn’t the only way to improve mental health. There are some things you can do on your own to make yourself feel better – the space around you plays a… Read more
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An Open Letter to the Person Who Isn’t Ready to Leave
Do you suspect that there’s something amiss in your relationship? Whether it’s with a romantic partner or a friend or a family member, it doesn’t matter. But something feels wrong and you think maybe if you had better boundaries or could stand up for yourself this wouldn’t be happening. You might be wondering if you… Read more
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Why you need to go to therapy, and why you probably can’t
In theory, every single person would benefit from regular therapy. Just like you get an annual physical to check your blood work for issues you can’t see, like cholesterol, blood sugar, inflammation, and more, a regular check-in with a therapist can help you maintain healthy levels of psychological self care. When I meet with my… Read more
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There’s no timeline on healing or love
When I turned 25, I made a five year plan. Become debt free and a mother by 30, in April 2018. I am now 31 and neither of those things happened. In fact, as 30 approached, I was facing a lot of other huge life circumstances. In August 2016 I got married and immediately started… Read more
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Can emotional abuse be sexual abuse?
I got divorced last May, and in the midst of Justin Timberlake memes and shorts weather and anticipating my upcoming book launch, the anniversary of my divorce date looms near. And I am still mad at my abuser, which is frustrating because I thought I would have overcome all my trauma in a neat, tidy… Read more
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Emotional exhaustion is as real as physical exhaustion
This week is full of anniversaries for me. In 2012, my first divorce was finalized on March 19. In 2018, I began the process of leaving my second marriage on March 17. In 2018, my stepdad died just after 1:00am on March 22 and it was the first time I had seen or spoken to… Read more
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The Holiday Obligation Bill of Rights
It’s that time of year again. It’s only the first week of December but the flames on your holiday stress fire have been getting hotter since mid November. I’m prone to seasonal affective disorder, which starts as soon as the time change happens and the clocks roll back an hour. Suddenly it’s pitch black when… Read more
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Breaking the silence of parental emotional abuse
Trigger Warning: Emotional abuse. Cancer. Loss. May is tough for me. It’s tough at work, because I have spent the last several years in marketing for a crib mattress company and a greenhouse. It’s tough on social media, because all the ads and posts are about how to honor the woman who gave you everything.… Read more
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The nature of healing
Winter seemed to hold on for a long time this year, with snow in March and even a few cold days into late April. Now that it’s early May, it seems we’ve skipped right over springtime into 80+ degree days and the nostalgic smell of summer vacation on the breeze. I’ve been driving with the… Read more