Posts Tagged ‘mental health counselor’

It’s a chilly Oregon spring day, and an 11-year-old boy is about run his first competitive race, in all his 6th grade glory; the 800-meter-dash. The short shorts and tank-top barely cover his slight frame which is subsequently covered in goose-bumps caused by chill and nerves. Through the crackly bull-horn comes, “Runners take your mark…”…

As we continue on in this series on shame it is important to know that shame and guilt are two different things.  Sometimes they overlap and we can get them confused.   But here is the difference, Guilt: “I did something bad.” Shame: “I am something bad.” Sometimes our guilt causes us to feel shame.…

When was the first time you felt shame?  Do you remember an instance when you began to feel shame?  Maybe you didn’t know it was shame, maybe you would categorize it as embarrassment.  That is where shame starts, with embarrassment.  Maybe you did something and were criticized for it.  Maybe something happened to you such…

Welcome to our series on shame.  Shame is powerful and if we let it, it can take over.  Maybe you are wondering if you have ever experienced shame, or maybe you are struggling with shame right now and you are wondering how to break free from it.  Most of us have experienced shame at one…

Whew…that is a scary word!  Who wants to be vulnerable?  I don’t think many of us would elect ourselves to be vulnerable.  Lets look more into this world of vulnerability. The definition of vulnerable is “Susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.  (Of a person) in need of special care, support, or protection because…

While out on a run recently – tunes blasting in my ear, my aging muscles screaming for me to stop, the heat and humidity of the Chicago summer draining the life from me one drop of sweat at a time – I heard a phrase through the earbuds, as if sent straight from the running…

Does mental health sometimes seem oxymoronic? Think about it, who doesn’t have mental health days?  Don’t we all have anxious thoughts, depressed feelings, confused direction… like all the time?  The answer, far from moronic, is duh.  Is it possible to achieve a healthy mind?  That would be awfully nice. Are we not people who live…

What do you do when the pain is too much to handle?  When people come into counseling that are hurting, their first question is, “How do I release this pain I am feeling?”  They are looking to me to help them feel better.  Unfortunately I cannot take their pain away, even though I wish I…