Some people attempt to avoid discomfort or other uncomfortable feelings. They may avoid any negative experience, conversation, or encounter that could elicit pain. They might not even realize their avoidance comes from not wanting to feel uncomfortable. People may mask their feelings by saying things like, “Good vibes only!” or “There is always a silver... Continue Reading →
What Emotion Are You Feeling?
How many emotions can you name? In Brenè Brown’s book entitled Atlas of the Heart,Brown and her team surveyed 7,000 people in five years, and the average number of emotions that people can identify are three: happiness, sadness, and anger. However, these three emotions grossly underrepresent all the emotions we feel daily. In fact, Brown... Continue Reading →
Finding the Nuances: It Makes Sense to Feel More Than One Thing
Have you ever felt mixed emotions about leaving a situation or a person? If so, you are not alone; it makes sense to feel this way because human beings are complex and nuanced. Although we may not always have the emotional bandwidth to facilitate all emotions at once, we can experience them. Because of the... Continue Reading →
Things That Hurt Us
Let's reflect on this, why do we get hurt with certain things? Well, we get hurt depending on our perspective of the situation. The main point here is that we transform how we think about the situation. Let's explore some scenarios in which we might feel hurt, when others are involved: Someone did or said... Continue Reading →
Building Emotional Awareness
Recognizing and naming our emotions can be tough. Sometimes we are so busy we rarely notice our feelings. Other times, our emotions can be so intense that we don’t even take a moment to recognize them before we react to them. Maybe you grew up in a family where you didn’t talk about your feelings,... Continue Reading →
Recognizing Your Emotions
Emotions are signals our bodies send us to tell us what is happening in any given situation. Regulating our emotions is so important, especially if we tend to experience them intensely or we act out on them in unhealthy ways. Below are some questions you can cycle through when an overwhelming situation arises to slow... Continue Reading →
Children’s Novel Series (We’re Different We’re The Same)
In the second part of our children’s novel series we take a look at a Sesame Street book written by Bobby Kates. In our last blog we talked about Jenny Is Scared! We looked at ways to help children not feel scared as well as anxiety in children. In this book we are taking a... Continue Reading →
Children’s Novel Series (Jenny Is Scared!)
Welcome to a new blog series. Where we will help educate parents and children about mental health in children and about diversity. It is important to not just teach parents, but even children about mental health and diversity in the world today. About the Author of the Book Jenny Is Scared!” The author of this... Continue Reading →
How to Help a Friend Who Is Cutting (Self-Harm)
WHAT IS CUTTING? “Cutting” is the most popular choice of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and is an enigma amongst teenagers. Self-injury behavior can also be in the form of bruising or burning the skin. Females are more inclined to engage in nonsuicidal self-injury than boys are. Typically, the cuts are located on the forearm/wrist area or... Continue Reading →