Our Blog
Read articles about current mental health topics from our team of professionals.
The Complexities of Gender and Sexual Identity: Part 2 – Sexual Attraction
With the increasing understanding of gender and attraction spectrums, begin to be mindful of people and wonder about the possibilities of their being that goes past the surface.
Finding support for your emotional well-being
If you are struggling to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic, talking to a trained professional counselor or therapist is a great tool. In addition, there are many free and confidential crisis resources available in Washington State.
The Complexities of Gender and Sexual Identity: Part 1 Gender
Definitions of gender identity terminology can be complicated. This article provides tools to learn, understand distinctions, and provide more inclusive language for others.
Washington Resources for Career Advancement, Job Placement, Unemployment, and Health Insurance Coverage
Although not exhaustive, the below list offers resources for a variety of employment related needs in Washington State.
Treatment Barriers for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Services Across Varying Ethnic Groups
While lifetime prevalence rates for obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents is roughly proportionate across ethnic groups and treatment for the disorder offers equal benefit, individuals with a minority background continue to be misrepresented in...
How do I identify trustworthy mental health articles online?
How do I identify trustworthy mental health articles online? Look for credible sources and citations, and discuss topics with professionals.
Learning to Let Go
We can refocus on what gives us energy, and what gives our life meaning to build a life and learn to let go.
How to Identify Spiritual Abuse
Unlike common practices in cults, there is a much more pervasive and subtle kind of spiritual abuse that is much harder to recognize as it occurs in mainstream organizations. It can make it challenging when learning how to identify spiritual abuse.
The Connection Between Nature and our Mental Health
We can experience awe while seeing incredible natural scenes and sublime aspects of nature. Research has shown that people react to the wilderness with experiences such as feelings of fear, fragility, and respect.
The Hope of Grief
We have many creative ways of managing and navigating grief, and how we do so is largely dependent on what is culturally acceptable.
Self-Care with our Inner Child
For a long time, I did not want to accept that I could be affected by how I grew up or what experiences I had as a child. I refused to acknowledge that perhaps some of how I engaged myself and the world around me was tied to my past. For me, the past was the past… until I noticed it was showing up in the present. Then I found that I had a choice: I could choose to try to ignore it and stick to the patterns that were no longer serving me well in the present or I could notice, listen, care for myself, and listen some more. I have chosen the latter. Self-care with our inner child can create healing.
Goal Setting and Achieving
creating goals and achieving them doesn’t have to be a stressful or disappointing experience. Achievement can come with imagination, honesty, community, and resilience.
Imposter Syndrome
What is Imposter Syndrome? It is the idea you believe your success is due to luck, not because of your expertise. Typically, people with such a syndrome fear others will eventually find out they have been faking.
Body Connection
he word embodiment grabs attention as of lately. It’s certainly a buzzword but it points to something that every person is connected to: the idea that we all have a body that we live in and experience everything through and with. But how many of us are actually aware and curious enough of this fact to be in relationship with our body? Are we connected to our bodies and listening to them enough to take care of them well?
The Language of Trauma
Trauma may impair our ability to communicate effectively, but these coping mechanisms are their own kind of communication, and speak to a desire to be seen and understood in the darkest places.
Perfectionism
Young people especially, put pressure on themselves to be perfect. This may look like striving to look perfect, to perform perfectly at work or school, or to find a perfect partner and have a perfect relationship. What exactly is perfectionism? Perfectionism can be hard to define because the line between high achievement and perfectionism is blurred
How to Grieve
Grief springs forth from numerous sources. It evokes a range of emotions from debilitating sadness, shock, anger, regret, and guilt, to deep gratitude and even joy and happiness. As we reflect on a year of Covid, it can be overwhelming to contemplate the varied packages in which loss has presented itself. It can be difficult to know how to grieve.
Evolving our self-care
We need to look at evolving our self-care. But what does that mean in practice, when we can no longer do many of the things that used to fill our proverbial buckets in the past? How do we carve time out for self-care when others depend on our attention more than ever? How have our needs for self-care changed now that we live and work in the same spaces?
36 Questions to Fall in Love
How do you fall in love with someone? I always assumed that love is complicated and depending on a lot of different internal and external factors. In a 1997 study, American psychologists Arthur and Elaine Aron came up with a questionnaire of 36 intimate questions that help develop a close bond faster between strangers. These questions can come in handy during a first date or even for couples looking for ways to reconnect. You can use these questions to strengthen your partner’s bond or increase your intimacy with someone else. What would be a better time than to try this on a Valentine’s date?
Different Forms of Therapy
This article will discuss three commonly used types of therapy: EMDR therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. These forms of therapy can be used to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse, self-harm, suicidality, anger, as well as many other types of mental health issues.