coping patterns Archives - Page 6 of 7

Can I Tell My Therapist When They Get It Wrong? The Short Answer: Yes

August 20, 2020

anxiety therapy, communication challenges, coping patterns, depression therapy, family dynamics, relationship challenges, , trauma therapy

I’m a therapist, but I’ve also been in and out of therapy since I was quite little. I’ve worked with some therapists that were helpful, some that were unhelpful, and some that, looking back now, I can see did more harm than good. In my teens and early 20s, what I would often do if my therapist said something that hurt me (or they seemed…

Calling Them In: Talking to Your Non-Black Parents about Anti-Black Racism

July 20, 2020

coping patterns, culturally affirming therapy, family dynamics, relationship challenges,

I wasn’t looking forward to Father’s Day this year. While I missed my father and planned to see him, I knew we would have to take additional precautions– wearing masks for the duration of our time together, meeting outdoors, and maintaining six feet of distance. This makes it hard to connect, especially with my children present. And given that I had been thinking about the…

Start Where You Are: The Lifelong Commitment to Being An Ally

June 8, 2020

coping patterns, culturally affirming therapy, family dynamics, relationship challenges,

I will be the first to admit that I have had to do some hard work recently, and that until the past couple of weeks, I was not always actively thinking about or challenging my own privilege. While I considered myself a feminist and an ally, there was a lot that was happening in our country and that happened in our history, that I didn’t…

Adapting Without Acclimating: Keeping Your Imagination Alive

May 15, 2020

anxiety counseling, coping patterns, depression therapy, grief counseling, trauma therapy

I visited India in my early twenties. When I first got there, I didn’t think I would be able to handle it. I had never really traveled before, and I was used to daily hot showers and sleeping in my own bed every night. Backpacking, eating unfamiliar foods, traveling by rickshaw… it was all way out of my comfort zone. Yet after a week or…

What Do You Need? Getting Through (Another) Day in Social Isolation

April 10, 2020

anxiety counseling, coping patterns, depression therapy, grief counseling, trauma therapy

How did you feel when you clicked on this article? Hopeful? Anxious? Overwhelmed? My email inbox and social media feeds have been full of tips on getting through quarantine and countless examples of folks making the most of their time at home. As I scroll through sourdough bread recipes and exercise routines, I find myself feeling both overwhelmed and angry. Then I remind myself that…

Life in the Time of a Pandemic: How to Stay Sane while Keeping Safe

March 13, 2020

anxiety counseling, coping patterns, depression therapy,

Until the past few days, I was feeling both very detached about the news continuing to overwhelm my inbox, and simultaneously feeling afraid. Over the past 48 hours, my response has began to change, as there seems to have been a national realization of the seriousness of the situation. Is it possible to at once avoid checking out or panicking? How can we meet this…

To Touch and Be Touched: Physical Connection and Mental Health

February 17, 2020

anxiety counseling, coping patterns, depression therapy, relationship challenges,

When you think of troublemaking middle schoolers, you might picture them doing things like smoking or talking back to adults. When I was in the 6thgrade, while those things were happening too, we often got in trouble for– wait for it – excessive hugging. That’s right, our school administrators had to reprimand us for being late to class because we were busy giving each other…

When Your Emotions Are “Too Hot”: Preparing For Hard Conversations

January 15, 2020

anxiety therapy, coping patterns, depression therapy, relationship challenges, , trauma therapy

Sometimes things come up in our relationships that we have to confront. This can be really heavy and scary, especially since most of us don’t enjoy conflict. Oftentimes, we either avoid it, perhaps indefinitely (like ghosting someone over text message) or, since we’re frightened of it, we try to get it over with as quickly as possible (like putting a wall up immediately, saying something…

Ending the Year with Confetti: Celebrating Our Wins

December 15, 2019

anxiety counseling, coping patterns, depression therapy, poor self-esteem, self-image,

I like to plan things and solve problems. These are great for a resume, but sometimes these attributes are surprisingly unhelpful. For example: recently, our team at Take Root Therapy put together holiday care packages for homeless folks in our neighborhood. Though the process of gathering supplies for care packages should be relatively simple, it became complicated in my mind very quickly. I didn’t want…

Celebrating Thanksgiving with Your Child (or Inner Child)

November 15, 2019

becoming parents, coping patterns, family dynamics, school stress

The holidays bring up a lot of emotions for people of all ages. As adults, it can feel like a lot for us to coordinate travel or host guests from out of town, take time off of work, and/or cook the holiday meal. As parents, we may be adjusting to having our kids at home for Thanksgiving week. Our kids may be experiencing stress of…

The S Word: Talking About Suicide

September 16, 2019

coping patterns, depression therapy, relationship challenges,

Because I’m a therapist, people often assume that I have it all together, or else that I’m a complete mess. I think (and hope) that I disprove both of these assumptions. I try to be candid about my limitations and my own mental health challenges, and have done a great deal of work in therapy to address both. I firmly believe that my experiences with…

It’s Not All in Your Head: Why Positive Thinking May Not Always Be the Answer

August 14, 2019

anxiety counseling, coping patterns, depression therapy, trauma therapy

Recently, I woke up thirsty in the middle of the night, and when I was getting out of bed to get water, I somehow caught my leg on the foot of the bed. I fell, and fell hard. My ankle and knee took the brunt of the fall. I consulted with a medical professional, and after confirming that the injury wasn’t too serious, I have…

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