The Healgood Blog
Tips for Navigating Back-to-School Stressors
As summer fades and the new school year approaches, it's normal to feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. Whether you're a student, parent, caregiver or teacher, the shift from the more flexible summer schedule to the structure of the school year can be challenging for everyone involved. It's important to acknowledge this transition and offer kindness and understanding to ourselves and each other.
The Pressure of Perfection: Navigating Mental Health Amidst Olympic Standards
The Olympics are a global celebration of athletic achievement, showcasing the incredible feats of athletes who often dedicate their lives to perfecting their sports. While these performances can inspire admiration and awe, they can also set unrealistic standards for viewers.
Myths and Misconceptions of Family Therapy
Family therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth, but it is often misunderstood. Myths and misconceptions can prevent families, especially those with adolescents and young adults, from seeking the help they need.
At Healgood, we want to clarify what family therapy is—and what it isn't—while shedding light on our unique approach that integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with family systems theory.
Breaking the Taboo: The Heart of Therapy
Today is Valentine’s Day — a day to celebrate love, but there's a type of love often overlooked in the world of therapy – the love we have for our clients. Now, before you raise an eyebrow, let's dive into this taboo topic and explore why the heart of therapy beats with genuine caring and connection.
Balancing New Year's Resolutions with Acceptance and Change
As we step into the promising embrace of a new year, many of us find ourselves reflecting on the past and envisioning the future. It's a time when resolutions are crafted with the best intentions, fueled by the desire for positive change. However, as a Licensed Professional Counselor with a specialization in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), I encourage you to approach your resolutions with a unique perspective—one that incorporates the principles of acceptance and change.
Peace, Comfort, and Joy Amidst Uncertainty: A Dialectical Approach to Coping with Holiday Stress
During the holiday season, traditionally associated with "peace, comfort, and joy," many are grappling with holiday stressors alongside family problems, anxiety, depression, trauma, and various challenges. Adding to the complexity is a backdrop of global concerns.
Navigating the Teen Years: What's Typical and Not So Typical
The teenage years are a rollercoaster of emotions, challenges, and growth for both teens and their families. Frequent questions we get asked by parents of teens is, “Is this normal teen behavior?” “How can I best support my teen in this life stage?” and “Could my teen benefit from therapy?”
Embracing Joy: The Power of Pleasant Events
Life can sometimes be a rollercoaster of stress, emotions, demands, and responsibilities. It's all too easy to get caught up in the hustle and forget to take a breather. That's where the "Pleasant Events" DBT skill comes in handy. It's like hitting the pause button on life's monotony or chaos to savor some much-needed joy.
Nourishing the Athlete: The Importance of Nutrition for Athletes
As an athlete, understanding the basics of nutrition and fueling your body is essential for achieving optimal performance, promoting recovery, and preventing injury. Proper nutrition provides the body with the necessary fuel and nutrients to support the demands of training and competition.
How to Help Your Tween Thrive This Summer: Tips and Activities for Supporting Their Emotional and Physical Wellbeing
Summer can be an exciting time for tweens - a chance to explore new interests, make new friends, and have fun in the sun. But it can also be a time of stress and uncertainty, as tweens navigate transitions and changes in their lives.
Nourishing Recovery: 5 Tips for Supporting Your Child During Meal Times in Eating Disorder Recovery
As a parent, watching your child struggle with an eating disorder can be incredibly difficult. Supporting your child during meal times is an essential part of their recovery, but it can also be one of the most challenging. Here are five tips to help you support your child during meal times in eating disorder recovery.
Rise and Shine: Three Steps to a Morning Ritual that Supports Your Mental Health and Wellness
Mornings tend to have a bad reputation for being rushed and stressful - but they don’t have to be! Having a morning routine or “morning ritual” can help individuals feel less anxious, empowered, and in control. Taking the time to plan how you want to feel in the morning instead of letting feelings take the wheel can put you in a state of “responding” rather than “reacting”.
More than just picky eating: Avoidant / Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
Avoidant / Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) sometimes referred to as “selective eating or picky eating” is an eating disorder which affects a person's physical and/or mental health by significant impairment to eating or feeding behaviors. ARFID behaviors are not motivated by…
Embracing Self-Love on Valentine's Day: Navigating Mental Health in a Societal Pressure-Filled Holiday
Valentine's Day is a time when many people celebrate love and affection with their significant others. While this holiday can be a source of joy and happiness for some, it can also be a source of stress and anxiety for others.
For many, Valentine's Day can bring up feelings of loneliness, depression, and low self-esteem. In this blog, we will discuss how mental health affects relationships, the impact of societal pressures on Valentine's Day, and ways to cope with negative emotions during this holiday.
Healing in “real life”: How restaurant and grocery store exposures facilitate eating disorder recovery
When in recovery from an eating disorder, many find that there comes a point when “the rubber meets the road” or, in other words, “sh*t gets real.” You’ve come to a juncture in your recovery journey, where you’ve successfully practiced and the learned tools and skills necessary to challenge the eating disorder. Yay! But then, plot twist, the next challenge is to use these skills beyond the therapist’s or dietitian’s office and in real life.
Teens & self-harm: What it is and isn’t
While self-harm behaviors are worrisome, it’s important to understand what self-harm behaviors are and what they’re not.
Three Mindfulness Practices You Can Do From Anywhere
Mindfulness is one of the most effective tools in regulating your body's nervous system and it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Changing Your Life with Self-Compassion
Self-compassion isn’t something that many are taught or come by naturally; in fact, it can seem contradictory to what we are taught.
What Holistic Healing Is and Why it Matters
We each have our own thoughts, feelings, and lived experiences. At Healgood, we use a holistic, inter-disciplinary approach to healing that looks at the interconnection between each individual's unique biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors and how these factors play a role in their health and well-being.