By Ask anybody working in a difficult or thankless job: burnout is real. This phenomenon is extraordinarily difficult to cope with. It can set on suddenly or over time. Sometimes we see it coming. Other times, it seemingly comes out of nowhere. Burnout exhausts our resources, leaving us feeling like a
Light and Sleep: Unlocking a Good Night’s Rest
Sleep and mental health are two peas in a pod. You can’t have one without the other. Entire industries have popped up in trying to help improve our sleep hygiene. Many different factors determine how well we are resting, not the least of which is the complicated relationship between light
Psychological Stress: Look Out for These 14 Signs
Everybody deals with psychological stress. Ask Joe Schmo down the street how he felt while organizing his wedding, and he’ll probably talk your ear off about how difficult it was. He might rant about sleepless nights, constant fights, and tiredness that just would not go away no matter how much
Anxious About Reopening? 7 Links For Making Sense of the New “Normal”
As I write this post, we live in a very strange time. After fifteen months of a nightmarish pandemic, many parts of the world–including here in the United States– are getting back to “normal.” We’ve eagerly anticipated this moment. Yet, for many, it’s not been as easy as we’d hoped.
“Do I Have ADHD?”: 9 Reasons You Can’t Focus
When I start an initial assessment with a new therapy client, I focus on getting a good idea of what symptoms they’re experiencing. People are generally pretty good at describing their mood and general anxiety-level. Then, when I ask about how well they’re able to concentrate, they often say something
The World and You: The Bronfenbrenner Perspective on Mental Health
When it comes to our thoughts and emotions, everything feels extremely personal. That sadness? Our fault. This anxiety? Our responsibility. However, back in the 1970s, a social scientist named Urie Bronfenbrenner suggested that the world around us has an enormous effect on our mental health. Our society typically views mental
Feeling Overwhelmed? Look Out for These 11 Physical Effects of Stress
Stress is a normal feeling that everybody has felt at some point in their lives. Yet for something so quintessentially human, the physical effects of stress can be overwhelming. Think back to life in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t worry, I won’t make you think about it for
What You Should Know About Sleep and Mental Health
Sleep has an enormous effect on our mental health. A huge fraction of our day is spent sprawled out, eyes shut, and useless to the world. Children and toddlers often revolt against going to sleep, but as they grow older, they always want more. Sleep is essential to our core
What is Mental Health? Three Answers to the Big Question
One day, I got a befuddling question: “Chris, exactly what is mental health?” What a ridiculous question, I thought. Duh, it’s… well… I have a bachelor’s in psychology. I got a master’s of social work with a focus in community mental health. As a therapist and licensed clinical social worker,
A Very Special Welcome to this Mental Health Blog
As I write my first post, I wonder to myself… does the world really need another blog? A quick Google search shows that in the United States alone in 2019, there were more than 500 million blogs. The ever-expanding internet is jam-packed with content in every way. You want a
