School's Out... Now What? Helping Your Teen Thrive This Summer
As the school year comes to an end, it can be an exciting time for teenagers. All final exams are over, and the grades are in!
Summer break is beginning, and the pressure from the school year is fading; a much more relaxing time is approaching. While summer often brings a sense of relief, it can also be a significant transition for teens and their families.
Premarital Counseling or Couples Counseling: Which One Does Your Relationship Need?
Before marrying my wife, I had never been on the receiving end of premarital counseling. Naturally, this was my first time getting married. After dating for four years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about her and could picture what our marriage would look like.
And that's where the first myth begins.
When Life Feels Out of Control: Finding Peace in the Middle of Anxiety
We all experience anxiety at times, but what can we do about it?
Understanding anxiety and what is causing us to feel anxious is important to getting a handle on it. Anxiety is rooted in fear. A few examples include fear of current conditions, fear of the future, and fear of “what-if “scenarios. The question to ask yourself is, “What am I feeling anxious about?” Anxiety can be rooted in a desire to control a situation that seems out of control or something that is beyond our ability to control. Is it reasonable to expect yourself to control a situation that is not controllable? In other words, if something is not under your control, should you be anxious about it?
Making Space for Sadness: Why Feeling It Is Part of Healing
Sadness is one of the most misunderstood emotions we see in counseling—especially among Christians who deeply value hope, gratitude, and faith. Many people quietly believe that if they feel sad, they are failing spiritually or emotionally.
In reality, sadness is not a weakness—it is information.
Replay. Analyze. Worry. Repeat
Overthinking is something many clients talk about in counseling, even if they don’t always call it that. Usually, it sounds more like: “I can’t shut my brain off,” “I keep replaying the conversation over and over,” or “I know I’m probably making this bigger than it is, but I can’t stop thinking about it.
Depression: Gaining a Better Understanding
A change in your behavior can be caused by a change in your environment due to a life event. Likewise, a change in your automatic thoughts (images/words that randomly pop into your head) can influence how you feel, both emotionally and physically, therefore resulting in a change in your behavior. Typically, when a mood is experienced, there is a thought connected to it that helps define it. Mood intensity may cause a distortion in the thought; therefore, it is important to check the validity of our moods and beliefs.
Whose Responsibility Is It? The Art of Self-Regulation in Marriage
In the real world, marriage isn't the end of the story—it’s the beginning of an entirely new chapter. It is a commitment to figuring out how to build a life together. It’s one of the wildest rollercoasters you will ever ride, and the most important part? You aren't on it alone. You’ve committed to taking this ride with your spouse, a journey that will, at times, bring out both the absolute best and the absolute worst in you.
Beyond the Tantrum: Understanding What Your Child Needs Most
Clinical Psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy says it’s helpful to think about tantrums this way: kids are born with all of the feelings and none of the skills to manage those feelings. Kids have tantrums when they have big feelings without the skills to handle those feelings. We call the management of feelings, emotion regulation skills, and it’s our job as parents and caregivers to teach kids the skills to handle their feelings.
Letting Go of Control: What It Really Means to Surrender
As human beings, we’re built for survival, and for a long time, control helped keep us safe. Even now, it still serves a purpose. We make choices, set boundaries, and shape parts of our lives. That can feel grounding, even empowering.
But what happens when life doesn’t cooperate? When something unexpected hits, or when, no matter how tightly we try to hold things together, it still falls apart? For many of us, control quietly shifts from being helpful to becoming exhausting. And sometimes, without realizing it, control itself becomes the thing keeping us stuck.
When Should I Discuss Sex With my Child?
Most of us agree that our culture is saturated with inappropriate images and distortions of the human body and sex. Often, parents feel uncomfortable and avoid directly discussing sexual character and maturation with their children. Some parents discuss anatomy, puberty, and sex with their sons and daughters in ways that emphasize fear, shame, or that it’s a topic that is hidden and not discussed. When parents step into their leadership role, they become their child’s trusted advisors by using age-appropriate language about anatomy and maturation and equipping their child with accurate knowledge that builds confidence about sexuality and character for life.
What If the Problem Isn’t What You’re Saying—But How You’re Listening?
When listening changes, everything changes—making it easier to understand each other and find common ground.
One of the most important aspects of every marriage is clear communication. While there is verbal and non-verbal communication in all relationships, I’m referring specifically to verbal communication. Both spouses are responsible for how they communicate in their marriage. The husband can control only how he communicates, and the wife can control only how she communicates. Let’s face it, trying to control the way your spouse communicates is futile – taking responsibility for the way you communicate will improve your side of the communication equation and, hopefully, will help your spouse follow suit.
Why Fighting Anxiety Keeps You Stuck—and What Actually Helps
If you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or exhausted from trying to control your anxiety, there’s another way—one that helps you respond with clarity and finally feel at peace.
Many people come into counseling with one clear goal: “I just want the anxiety to go away.” While understandable, this goal often keeps anxiety stronger for longer. The paradox of anxiety is this: the more we try to beat it, the more power it gains.
Healing begins when we shift from control to willingness.