I feel helpless and heartbroken watching the news about the latest school shooting. I watch from the living room of our home in a quiet suburb in Virginia, where we moved last year after multiple shootings in the alleyway of our beloved rowhouse in NW DC traumatized us into searching for a safer place to live. A place where we ...READ MORE »
Over the past 15 years that I’ve been providing therapy to teens and families in the Washington, DC area, the topic of psychiatric medication has come up frequently. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I don’t prescribe medication and I always recommend discussing questions and concerns with your primary care doctor or psychiatrist; but often I find that I have ...READ MORE »
In a previous blog, I talked about how to recognize what we value as a way to reframe and manage stress. In this blog, I would like to talk about how I use my values to get motivated. In my work as a child/teen, and family therapist in Washington DC, I utilize Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help my ...READ MORE »
In my first entry of “Anxiety in Grief”, I explored the idea that anxiety is a common experience within the grief process. This concept is presented and discussed in the book Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief, by Claire Bidwell Smith. As a child and adult therapist in Washington, DC, I have experienced anxiety as a part of grief in ...READ MORE »
Have you found yourself wondering lately why you are still so anxious? With the pandemic subsiding some, do you worry about why you don’t feel better yet? Have you felt some of these symptoms below recently? A sense of panic Heart racing/palpitating Obsessive worry Dizziness Insomnia Nausea/Unsettled stomach This is what grief looks like for those of us thriving and surviving in the midst of so much worldwide! ...READ MORE »
If you are like me, you may be both appalled and interested about what is happening with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For me, my anxiety over this situation has been through the roof. Being glued to twitter and the news over this has become, for me, akin to perseverating or ruminating over a stressful or anxiety producing situation of my ...READ MORE »
February is Feelings Month! And, I officially give each and every one of you full permission to feel….or rather Dr. Marc Brackett does, in his very well done book, Permission to Feel: The Power of Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Well-Being and Success. Dr. Brackett has learned from his own personal trauma and 25 years of professional experience that feeling ...READ MORE »
In my work as a psychotherapist in Washington, DC I often use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with my clients. One of the major areas covered in ACT therapy is that of values. At first glance, we may all think we know what values are and that we have them, but we often can’t answer some basic questions about our ...READ MORE »
I am so grateful that I read Glennon Doyle’s book, Untamed, at the start of the pandemic and learned of her mantra, we can do hard things. I don’t think I could have appreciated all of what this means, until we experienced all that has unfolded these last 21 months. And I know I’m not alone in this. As a ...READ MORE »
I’m writing this note on the eve of Thanksgiving, and at the onset of our holiday season, which is filled with joy, fun, and often lots and lots of partying for teens, young (and old) adults. Since I quit drinking a couple of years ago, I’ve paid much greater attention to how we equate drinking with fun. Partying=drinking or ...READ MORE »
