As a foster or adoptive mom, one of the most heart-wrenching yet meaningful moments comes when your child begins to ask about their story. Questions about their biological family, their past, and their identity can bring up a whirlwind of emotions—not only for them but for you as well. Here’s a guide to help […]

Fact: we all have an inner critic.   Perhaps some of them are louder than others, but sure enough, we all have one.  Your inner critic is that negative voice inside that fills our mind with self-criticism, blame, and shame.  I don’t think I need to point out how destructive that can be if you pay […]

Is it possible to learn how to forgive yourself?  Especially if, for most of your life, you have struggled to do so?  Forgiving others may come easily (depending on the person and the situation), but I have found that many of my clients find it especially difficult to forgive themselves. Forgiving yourself requires that you […]

Question:  Should a mom leave her young kids for a girls weekend even if she is quite anxious about being away from them?  A friend recently messaged me about this, as she began to feel uneasy about being away from her children for the first time overnight.  She told me that she is struggling with […]

On a recent Instagram live, a reader shared she was having trouble adjusting to the idea to her dad starting to date again.  You see, her mom had passed away about a year and a half ago, and though she was accepting (as much as one can be) of her mom’s death because it ended […]

I constantly encourage people to email me, and/or message me on Instagram or Facebook if they have therapy or mental health questions (or any questions for that matter!) because you are the people I want to be a resource to…you are the people who matter to me.  If something is troubling you or causing you […]

Writing is my jam.  I love it.  In elementary school, I would write pages and pages for every assignment.  I was writing “chapter books” by 3rd grade.  Also an avid reader as a child, as soon as I would find myself nearing the end of a Boxcar Children or Babysitter’s Club book, you better believe […]

Real talk:  I think I’m in love…with Therabox. Therabox is a subscription self-care box and it has me officially wowed.  Allow me to share a few reasons why I’m loving this box o’ goodness and then I’ll tell you just what was so amazing about the March box.  By the end of this post, you’ll […]

Self-care is about caring for your mind, body, and soul.  It’s about cultivating healthy relationships and having FUN.  Because I love chips and chocolate I’m a psychotherapist, it’s definitely easier for me to focus on the mind, soul, relationships and fun on this here blog.  But I also have a fear that whenever I write […]

Perhaps March Madness being in full swing  has me thinking about coaching techniques of late, but whatever the reason, there are actually a lot of things we can learn as parents from best practices in coaching.  Many people who were athletes as a child or adolescent would call a coach one of the most influential […]