I wake up, take a shower, get dressed and go to the office. I'll see my first customer of the day at 9 a.m. and got to my desk half an hour earlier. I go to the office much earlier these days. I prepare myself and my room for work, spray sage and light a Palo Santo stick to clarify…
Compassion fatigue is a paradox for counselors and others in the helping professions. As Alyson Carr a licensed mental health advisor and supervisor in Florida points out, this affects their ability to do exactly what motivated many of them to enter the United States field first place – empathically support those who are in pain. Empathy and compassion are attributes…
I In the world of ophthalmology, 20/20 eyesight means that a person can see the letters on an eye chart clearly and sharply while standing 20 feet away. It is estimated that only 35% of adults can see 20/20 without the help of glasses or other corrective aids. Fifteen years ago, executives from a large number of consulting organizations started…
On a warming planet, some of the fastest increases in temperature are in the circumpolar north – the area inside and in some cases just below the polar circle. Overall, the average global temperature has increased by 1 degree Celsius since 1880. Two-thirds of this increase has occurred since 1975. Since the 1990s, warming in particular has accelerated in the…
The mental health field is facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professional counselors who have worked with children and adolescents prior to the pandemic have found that some traditional personal techniques over virtual platforms are not appropriate. These circumstances require that counselors consider selecting treatment approaches and interventions that can be tailored or created for the provision of telemental…
During this bizarre and painful epoch, which is plagued by pandemic, racial trauma and social injustice, more and more emphasis is rightly placed on the well-being and self-care of doctors. Countless articles and blogs have been written about self-care by counseling clinicians, and here is one more. Why write another one? Because as a consultant, educator and supervisor, I want…
D aily, professional counselors work with clients who live in unsafe situations in which they are exposed to violent and exploitative relationships. These unsafe situations can include experiencing intimate partner violence or being a victim of child abuse or human / sex trafficking. Right now, during the coronavirus pandemic, intimate partner violence and child abuse are on the rise. Clients…
It was a simple question: "How are you?" that put us on a journey of discovery. I (Lisa) wanted to get in touch with Michelle, my teaching assistant, after racist tension consumed the news. George Floyd had just been killed and the media focused on his death, the death of Ahmaud Arbery, and the cry for justice for the African…
For people with a pre-existing mental illness, smoking cessation can look like climbing two mountains at the same time. Treating mental illness is a daily – sometimes moment to moment – challenge, and smoking is often used as a coping mechanism. Understandably, people with mental illnesses who smoke often fear that taking away this source of comfort could result in…
C Couples come to counseling for a variety of reasons, and the role of therapists is to understand the nature of couples' concerns and provide helpful tools. Sometimes, as therapists, we hear one partner complain about the things the other partner is doing, and often these things seem very trivial. We might also hear clients complaining about conflicts stemming from…