Steel Pan music emerged from the tradition of enslaved African people creating new musical inventions to compensate for their drums and other instruments being taken from them by slave owners. Slave owners often thought that the drums and other instruments were communication tools being used by slaves to plan revolts and uprisings. Therefore, they were... Continue Reading →
Over the last nine months since I have been an intern at Olive Branch Counseling Associates in Tinley Park, I have had the opportunity to provide counseling services in various settings. Among them are Roseland on the south side of Chicago, and West Garfield Park on the west side. Clients in both of these communities... Continue Reading →
Depression and anxiety are among the mental health challenges of most concern around the world. Mindfulness training is a common approach used to help people to manage various aspects of depression and anxiety. According to Erford (2020: 96), “By nature, humans are self-aware and attentive. But people vary in these characteristics, and how they cultivate... Continue Reading →
In a previous blog, I discussed the nature, prevalence, signs and complexities of social anxiety. I urged readers to seek help for the disorder as soon as possible to prevent future complications. In this visit, I will discuss recommended treatments for social anxiety. Since the prevenance of anxiety is so high in various aspects of... Continue Reading →
If I asked you to tell me about the weather where you lived, would you be able to describe it? Not just the weather today but generally, what is the weather like all year? Here in Illinois, this would be an impossible task. I could tell you it is 72 degrees and cloudy today, but... Continue Reading →
In my time as a counselor, I have found myself disliking the broad question of: “What brings you to therapy?’ I find this question sometimes creates a wave of nervousness or pressure for the client. While it is certainly important for both the therapist and client to ultimately collaborate on goals and seek direction, I... Continue Reading →
Anxiety can make you feel physically awful. We often feel a tightening in our chest, or maybe our hands get sweaty? Some people feel their stomachs start to rumble or toss and turn. Other times anxiety can squeeze our shoulders or feel like something is banging on our brains, and it feels like our head... Continue Reading →
We all tend to overthink situations from time to time. We can feel our anxiety start to rise in our bodies. Our heart rate goes up, our palms get sweaty, our neck starts to feel tense. Thoughts race through our mind faster than we can keep up with as our mind jumps from one idea... Continue Reading →
Anxiety is something we all feel at one time or another. In fact, anxiety has a purpose. The purpose of anxiety is to keep us safe from harm. But anxiety can also get out of control when there is nothing around to harm us. When we feel anxiety at those times, we need to take... Continue Reading →
