What is depression? How can counseling help?

Many people feel sad, discouraged, or "down" once in a while, but for some people, this mood does not go away. There can be a loss of interest or pleasure in life. When these problems last two weeks or more, and are so bad that they get in the way of daily living, it may be depression. A person with depression may experience emotions such as hopelessness, despair and anger. Energy levels may be low and the simple day-to-day tasks may seem overwhelming.

Turning the garbage of life into fertile soil for new growth.

Who are all these different kinds of mental health people?  When you first think about getting mental health help it can seem confusing to figure out who you need to talk to; there are so many different names used to refer to different mental health professionals. Who are all these people and who do you need to contact? The task can seem overwhelming at first. Here are some answers for you.

One of the issues a new Mental Health Professional (MHP) faces is deciding how to ethically and appropriately identify their professional identity.  There is a confusing array of titles and descriptions that are used by mental health professionals. Each of the titles or descriptors that MHPs use has a different connotation. The issues to keep in mind include; the population it serves, and the kind of work the MHP focuses on.

Counseling can provide you with effective relief from your distress. Studies have shown that talk therapy works as well as pills do for depression, anxiety and other disorders. Actually, it works better, if you take into account the lower relapse rate. The advantage of cognitive therapy (over drug therapy) is that it seems to keep working even after the therapy sessions are over. Often a majority of those who are treated with medications alone may relapse. But the majority of those treated with talk therapy continue to do well. A cost-benefit analysis shows that while cognitive therapy may be as expensive as drug treatment to start with (since it involves extended one-to-one sessions with a highly trained specialist); it is cheaper in the long run

What is talk therapy, counseling? Counseling is a way you can make your life better. Talking through your concerns with a competent therapist can help you find better ways to cope, solve problems and set realistic goals. Counseling, therapy, talk therapy or psychotherapy are general terms for a way of treating mental and emotional disorders by talking about your condition and related issues with a highly trained mental health professional. Through these talk sessions, you learn about the causes of your condition so you can better understand it. You also learn how to identify and make changes in

Therapy? Counseling? Not everyone needs professional help.

However, talk therapy may be beneficial when you are having struggles that hinder your ability to function effectively at work, your ability to concentrate is diminished, or when your level of emotional pain becomes too troublesome. If you are feeling unfulfilled, depressed, anxious or isolated, you can work together with a highly trained Licensed Professional Counselor to gain insight and to understand effective ways to achieve lasting relief.
Some indicators that therapy could be beneficial include:

When it comes to child safety, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. What Every Parent Should Know About Stranger Danger and Child Sexual Abuse. The risks to your child are right here in your community. Child sexual abuse happens in your neighborhood. Learn how to recognize the risks and the warning signs. Learn Parent Safety Skills. Learn what you can do to make your child’s world safer and greatly reduce the risks to your child.  Learn what you can do to keep your child safe. Teach Your Child Safety Skills. There are vital safety skills that every young child should know.

The holidays are not always happy for everyone. It is Christmas. I love the joyful attitude. I take pleasure in the happy faces of the children. It is a time to remember the great gift God gave us.  Unto us a Savior is born... It is a time to think of others, time for an extra focus on giving and sharing. A time of joy and singing. It is also a time of sadness for some of us. This is one woman’s  quiet reflections on the holidays. 

In the midst of your busy day the stress builds; whether at home or at work stress is a part of our daily experience. The effects of stress can create short tempers, lowered productivity, difficulty in thinking clearly and may have many detrimental health effects. Stress levels rise as tensions accumulate. Here are seven easy ways to quickly break that cycle and lower your stress levels.