The transition to college — leaving home, living with a roommate and establishing a new social circle, all while navigating academic responsibilities — doesn’t have to be paralyzing for students with social anxiety. The key is preparation, says Holly Scott, a licensed professional counselor whose Dallas private practice is a
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More than simply shy
Social anxiety is different from — and much more than — simply being shy or introverted or having poor social skills. Even so, people who live with social anxiety often find the disorder trivialized or minimized by others, including some mental health professionals, according to Robin Miller, a licensed professional
Voice of Experience: Giving away power
“Are you Dr. Moffatt?” a soft voice said as Antoine (not his real name) stepped into my office. I nodded. He was a 20-something African American male. He explained that he had been arrested for assault. His court requirements included completing 12 counseling sessions for anger management. I quickly perused
The pretend professional
W hen I served in the military, we would call cadence as we marched. Those call-and-response songs helped to build camaraderie amid challenge and established a rhythm that brought comfort and familiarity. Similarly, in my role as a clinic manager, clinic director and site supervisor, I have heard an exasperated expression
Counseling Connoisseur: Revisiting the Spoon Theory
“If opening your eyes, or getting out of bed, or holding a spoon, or combing your hair is the daunting Mount Everest you climb today, that is okay.” – Carmen Ambrosio Tara, 36, wakes up and rolls out of bed. Her pain factor is a five out of 10.
Addressing intimate partner violence with clients
Licensed mental health counselor Ryan G. Carlson had just earned his master’s degree when he began working on a grant-funded project to provide relationship education to couples in the Orlando, Florida, area. Overseeing the intake process as local couples came into the university-based research center to participate, he quickly learned
Stepping up to the challenge
Stepfamilies are complex and feature unique differences, yet on the surface, there may be little to distinguish them from “traditional” families. In fact, as Joshua Gold, a professor in the counseling education program at the University of South Carolina, points out, some counselors don’t necessarily think to ask if they
Learning to love (or at least leverage) technology
A client suffers from one of the oldest and most common fears: arachnophobia. The mere thought of a spider causes her anxiety, and she often has a friend check a room for spiders before she enters. She wants to get help, but she lives in a remote area without access
Culturally competent end-of-life counseling
End-of-life counseling is an important area of our profession. Unfortunately, it is also an area of the profession that is underdeveloped and seldom researched. Consequently, few resources are available to professional counselors that specifically address multicultural competence in end-of-life counseling. I first became interested in end-of-life counseling while working as
Grieving everyday losses
As a society, we think we know what loss is: the death of a parent, partner or child; the destruction of a home through disaster; the shattering of finances through bankruptcy. These are tangible, recognized — sanctioned, if you will — losses. But counselors know that in reality, life brings