When we think of self-care, we often refer to practices we engage in to maintain our physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. This can look like having a reflective practice such as journaling or meditating, making time for our hobbies, spending time with friends, managing our time to get the rest we need, setting boundaries, and even treating ourselves.
Read MoreIt can feel overwhelming or daunting when you think about working toward a goal or making a change in your life. You might tell yourself you’re not good, brave, or motivated. A common thing I hear my clients say is, “I wish I wasn’t so lazy. If only I wasn’t so lazy, I could ___.”
Read MoreHaving great care for a friend, family member, or partner's needs and well-being can lead to compassion, understanding, and patience towards our loved ones. In addition, it can lead us to develop an awareness of stressors in our loved ones' lives that we become mindful of how we can reduce additional discomfort or stress. This can look like taking on a task that a loved one is usually responsible for or saving a conversation for when our loved one has more clarity and can be present.
Read MoreMany of my clients describe themselves as the emotional caretaker in their families. They're often known as the responsible, the mini-adult growing up, and the ones their parents confided in and depended on. They are parentified by their caregivers/parents in that they bear the weight of ensuring the happiness of the adults around them growing up.
Read MoreMany clients come to therapy with an awareness of their tendency to self-blame, self-criticize, or self-sabotage. For many of us, the tendency to self-criticize isn't limited to professional achievements; it extends to our daily social interactions, dating, and relationships with friends and family.
Read More“I don’t feel like myself right now.”
“Am I making the right decision?”
“The old me would be able to get through this easily. Why can’t I be that person right now?”
These are some statements and questions I often hear working with clients who are going through life transitions, experiencing change, or who feel lost and wonder what direction their lives are going.
Read MorePart of therapy often deconstructs what it means to be “productive.” In a culture that predominantly values hustle and progress, it’s no wonder these themes come up in therapy.
Read MoreOften, clients come to therapy seeking tools for how to “be more rational and less emotional.” We believe that unpleasant feelings are inconvenient or untrustworthy. Perhaps our families, cultures, or society have influenced us to assume that rational or logical thinking is more valuable or productive than sitting with a feeling, especially an unpleasant feeling.
Read MoreWhenever June comes around, I think of transitions. Students graduating on the last day of school, folks moving away from loving communities, projects wrapping up, cohorts or groups ending, and clients transitioning out of therapy. As we reach the end of something, it's common to be so consumed by ensuring we get to that endpoint that we forget to say goodbye or worry that we're not making the most out of the time we have left.
Read MoreMental health has been getting a lot of attention these days, in questions around the impact of a global pandemic on mental health, celebrity news, and Tik Tok, to name a few. Increased discussion around mental health creates opportunities to de-stigmatize diagnoses, but it can also lead to more pathologizing and further create unhelpful stereotypes like “that’s so borderline,” or “you’re being bipolar.”
Read MoreDisney’s first Asian-led animated movie “Turning Red” beautifully captures the life of Mei Lee, a 13 year-old Chinese Canadian adolescent. Mei struggles to embrace her independence and pursue her interests, while also honoring and respecting her mother’s wishes for her life. As an Asian American child of immigrants, I found myself relating to Mei and the conflicts she faced.
Read MoreWhat I share with clients is that in our time together therapy isn’t focused on finding ways to get rid of the parts of yourself that are depressed, anxious, or grieving — in fact it’s focused on gaining a deeper understanding of all parts of yourself. By understanding who we are when we are depressed, anxious, or grieving we give ourselves the opportunity to be in relationship with these parts. Through this relationship, we create room and the possibility to ask those parts to take up less space and less control over our lives.
Read MoreYou may have heard the phrase before that goes along these lines: "people go to therapy to deal with the people in their lives who won't go to therapy." This is often applicable when it comes to relationships with difficult family members.
Read MoreMany people come to therapy seeking relief from exhaustion, anxiety, and burnout. When meeting with my clients, I consider the possibility that these feelings may result from people-pleasing tendencies.
Read MoreWhen I reflect on the past two years there are times where I catch myself feeling a sense of emptiness in my chest. It feels hollow and bare as if it's waiting for something to fill it. This absence — it wonders if it can ever feel whole again. When I call myself to be in relationship with this experience, I realize that I'm grieving.
Read MoreOften for young adults like myself, measurements of success and meaning have previously been a continuous journey of looking towards the next thing, “I just have to get into a good school, get a degree and find a good job.” Then what? I like to think of it as climbing up a ladder and arriving in space; there are many opportunities, but very few natural anchors.
Read MoreWith increasing work demands, keeping up with life’s responsibilities, and surviving a global pandemic, many people are at their last straw and simply burnt out. Whatever your situation, burnout can come with overwhelming feelings of exhaustion, hopelessness, and defeat.
Read MoreIt is often difficult for us to navigate our internal emotional conflicts. We may feel excited about all the possibilities of being a new grad, but also feel overwhelmed by the uncertainties ahead; we may feel a strong desire to please family members but also feel resentful towards them because of that very people-pleasing urge.
Read MoreWhen we think of self-compassion, do we automatically associate it with self-indulgence, condoning, or even selfishness? It's a good and common question clients have asked me, and I've wrestled through it myself.
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