Couples come to counseling for a variety of reasons, and therapists are tasked with understanding the nature of couples’ concerns and offering helpful tools. Sometimes, as therapists, we might hear one partner complain about the things the other partner is doing and, often, these things may seem very trivial. We
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The revised meaning of self-care in the wake of COVID-19
Practicing proper self-care is often the prescription that professional counselors will share with their clients to help manage life stressors and mental health symptoms during their day-to-day lives. That emphasis has taken on new meaning over the past several months as self-care routines have been offset by quarantining measures from
Starting post-college life in a pandemic
Spring 2020 college graduates have emerged into a world turned upside down by COVID-19. The job prospects and post-college lifestyles these graduates were imagining for themselves just a few months ago are today largely nonexistent. Unprecedented seems to be the buzzword of the season, notes Roseanne Bensley, assistant director of
Black mental health matters
Racial violence and discrimination are woven into the fabric of the United States. The way policies and laws are implemented. The weaponization of Whiteness and privilege. Disparities in education and health care. The horrible and senseless killings of Black people throughout our nation’s history and into the present day. How
Keeping victims safe: Crisis response planning with perpetrators of IPV
One way that counselors can help victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) is to create behavioral crisis response plans with clients who are perpetrating the abuse. We (the authors of this article) have both worked in various roles with IPV programs, from direct service and administrative roles to research and
A counselor’s journey to healing from chronic pain
From 2005-2007, I suffered from excruciating back and leg pain. My pain was so bad that I was unable to sit for nearly a year. The only time I would sit was to drive myself to work, and the pain during that drive was so intense that there were several
Putting first responders’ mental health on the front lines
A firefighter/emergency medical technician (EMT) in Maine answers an emergency call. He grabs his gear and performs a job he knows well. The next day, he discovers that the person he helped has tested positive for COVID-19. He immediately starts worrying not just about himself but about his wife and
Counselor considerations for disclosing LGBTQ+ identity
The question of what is appropriate to disclose about ourselves to clients is one that all counselors face, whether it be about an upcoming vacation, an emotional reaction to a client or how our own past struggles may parallel those of a client. Beyond these more common self-disclosures, we also
Encouraging T-shaped thinking in the counseling profession
I thought it was a most ridiculous assignment. The instructor of my Introduction to Counseling course in 1988 asked us to write, of all things, a book report. “Make sure the book has nothing to do with counseling,” he directed. I was incredulous. “My first class in counseling, and he’s
Mental imagery as an intervention for emotion regulation disorders
Although many evidence-based practices emphasize addressing the cognitive aspects of mental health disorders, research suggests that we may be missing helpful interventions that do not fall under the cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) model of “thoughts, feelings and behaviors.” Several predominant CBT models fail to emphasize mental imagery by continuing to