The road through unfair suffering is not a path you are meant to navigate in isolation. It takes immense courage to look at a shattered life and begin the slow, gentle process of putting the pieces back together.

As Mother’s Day approaches, I find myself reflecting on the many different emotions this day can bring. For some, it is a joyful celebration of mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and wives. For others, it can be a painful reminder of loss—whether through death, infertility/miscarriage or an unhealthy relationship dynamic. I am personally grateful for my own mother, whose unconditional love has set a standard I strive to meet with my own two adult children. However, I also recogniz

My transition into marriage was layered with a wide range of emotions. There was excitement, happiness, and a deep sense of optimism about building a life with someone I love. At the same time, there was also fear of the unknown, anxiety, moments of worry, and even doubt. Both sets of emotions existed together, even when I felt like they weren’t supposed to. I went from the familiarity and security of my family home into something entirely new. Suddenly, I was being asked—bot

In my over 25 years as a marriage and family therapist I have seen many individuals experience a fixed mindset that keeps them stuck believing self-defeating thoughts. A friend of mine was running a local marathon and at the time the half marathon runners (who started later would run alongside the marathon runners). The half marathon runners were running fast and my friend started running to the half marathon pace. She ultimately didn’t finish the race as she couldn’t sustain

Healing After Loss: Honoring Sadness While Making Room for Gratitude The concept of gratitude can sound jarring when you are deep in the trenches of loss. The human heart and mind are vast enough to hold seemingly contradictory emotions simultaneously. Healing isn’t about replacing sadness with joy; it’s about making room for both. This post explores how you can honor your profound sadness and find authentic moments of gratitude in the same breath. The False Dichotomy of Gr

It can be difficult to manage holiday stress when returning to family-of-origin dynamics, especially for those with a history of trauma. The blog post below offers compassionate and practical strategies for dealing with family stress during the holidays, framed from a trauma-informed perspective. Navigating the holidays with your family of origin: A trauma-informed guide Introduction: For many, the holidays are steeped in a mix of joy and pressure. This can be especially true

Feeling overwhelmed? How students can take control of their anxiety Between academic pressure, social changes, and the demands of a new environment, anxiety is a common experience for students. If you've ever felt a racing heart before a presentation or struggled to focus due to constant worry, you're not alone. The good news is that you have the power to manage these feelings. This blog post will explore practical strategies for understanding and coping with student anxiety,

My morning routine and why it’s so important to start your day with a structured daily plan. To my friends and family when they describe me the first words they use are not structured or organized but somehow I’ve managed to create a winning plan in how I start my day. I do my best to begin with reading/or listening to my Bible. I listen to the verse of the day in the Bible App and the chronological Bible in a year. Starting with reading something inspirational helps in havin

Last year I tried a barre workout at the gym for the first time. I was struck by the overwhelming negative thoughts that arose concerning my ability to follow the instructor and perform the moves correctly. This experience transported me back to my 6-year-old ballet class, where I struggled to keep up. The teacher moved me to a different class, separating me from my friends and it solidified a belief that I wasn’t good enough, I’m too slow to catch on, and I’m not graceful. A

When I first got married, I remember we didn’t have big paychecks to use on fun activities. but that didn’t stop us from having lots of amazing adventures. Our first apartment was filled with hand me down furniture from friends and family. There was no dining table so we used a coffee table as our place to eat our meals while we sat on the floor. we enjoyed many dinners at that table until we bought our first kitchen table and chairs. Many of our outings included going to new