Life Counseling, Anxiety Therapy
Erica Warshawer
How to Know if You Suffer from Social Anxiety ...

You’ve probably heard of social anxiety. It’s a term used loosely at times when someone isn’t in the mood to socialize. However, not always being in the mood to socialize is normal. But true social anxiety is much more than that.

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by a fear of being judged by others, feeling highly self-conscious in social situations, and avoiding meeting new people. It’s also known as social phobia. Social anxiety disorder makes it hard to create meaningful connections with others. It can even make it hard for people to complete everyday tasks.

How to Know if You Suffer from Social Anxiety and What to Do About It
Life Counseling, Anxiety Therapy, Depression Therapy
Erica Warshawer
Reducing Your Mental Health Symptoms: How ...

Mindfulness has become a trendy word. Please do not mistake that for a negative. The concept of staying present is a fundamental form of self-care. In the realm of mental health, it has countless benefits for serious practitioners. Practicing mindfulness has been shown to help people struggling with conditions and issues like:

  • Anxiety

  • Chronic pain

  • Depression

  • Addiction

  • Suicidal ideation

More recently, mindfulness is making a difference for those dealing with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since trauma is something that gets you stuck in the past, this approach makes a whole lot of sense. Let’s learn more:

Reducing Your Mental Health Symptoms: How Mindfulness Can Make a Difference
Teletherapy
Erica Warshawer
Telehealth After the Pandemic? Why Online ...

Until last year, telehealth was mostly a niche approach to therapy. It was incredibly helpful for someone who was disabled or lived far from any therapist. Along came the pandemic and the need for teletherapy exploded. For a while, the only way a client could meet with their counselor was via video chat (or phone call).

Today, with nearly 17 months of experience under our belts, many Americans have discovered a preference for telehealth. The numbers below will help illustrate this trend. In other words, online options still make sense. In some ways, they are here to stay.

Telehealth After the Pandemic? Why Online Options May Still Make Sense
Anxiety Therapy
Erica Warshawer
How You Can Calm Anxiety in Five Simple Steps

If you’re one of the 40 million Americans living with an anxiety disorder, you already know it’s much more than feeling nervous. Everyone worries or panics from time to time. That’s normal. Anxiety is something that impairs your ability to function. It feels as if it’s out of your control.

From intense discomfort at social events to sleep-altering nightmares, anxiety disorders are a daunting reality. Among other things, they may have you dealing with sweaty palms, digestive issues, body trembling, or self-isolation. Whatever uncomfortable symptoms you face, they can be managed and calmed by committing to some basic self-help steps.

How You Can Calm Anxiety in Five Simple Steps
Depression Therapy, Life Counseling
Erica Warshawer
Strategies for Staying Emotionally Healthy ...

Anywhere from 40 to 50 percent of (first) marriages end in divorce. The odds are that you or someone close to you has had to endure this painful experience. Still, let’s be clear, in many cases, a divorce is a traumatic event. Your body, mind, and spirit will be severely challenged. That reality deserves care and attention.

Women, in particular, are at higher risk for depression. Why? They tend to handle the lion’s share of domestic duties and often have fewer financial options than men. For almost every person involved, especially if children are involved, divorce is a time of turmoil and drastic change. That’s why it’s so important to safeguard your well-being as this process plays out.

Strategies for Staying Emotionally Healthy During the Divorce Process

Life Counseling

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Career Motivation: How to Keep Your Drive During the Summer Months

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Career Motivation: How to Keep Your Drive During the Summer Months

It can be hard to stay motivated during the warm summer months. When the temperatures go up, your career drive can often go down.

Many of us would rather be outside than at our desks. And with kids out of school and families taking vacations at every turn, it can feel extra difficult to head to the office every day.

If you would prefer the pool to your office water cooler, you are not alone. Unfortunately, work continues year-round, and it is important to find ways to remain motivated and avoid the summer blues.

Below are several tips and tricks on how to keep your career drive alive during the summer:

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Prepared for Parenthood: What to Know & How to Plan

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Prepared for Parenthood: What to Know & How to Plan

Parenting is quite a paradox. So, so many people do it. Yet, very few ever appear to be prepared for what it entails. This might be because entering parenthood is as life-changing as it gets. How does one fully plan to have everything turned upside down?

You’ll have less money, time, privacy, sex, energy, sleep, and more. Meanwhile, you will be presented with more responsibility than you may ever face in your entire life. So yeah, it sounds daunting but this does not mean you can’t be as ready as possible. You’ll need teamwork, commitment, and self-awareness to make that happen.

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Uniquely Woman: Inspiration for Finding a Strength All Your Own

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Uniquely Woman: Inspiration for Finding a Strength All Your Own

“I am woman, hear me roar.”

Helen Reddy caused quite a stir when she released that song in 1971. Unfortunately, in 2021 – 40 years later, women are still fighting for equality in everything from the workplace to relationships.

While it might be easier to be a woman today than in the past, there are still inequalities that can make everyday life feel overwhelming at times. That has lead to some women trying to carry themselves more like men, rather than embracing their unique womanhood.

The reality is, women won’t be seen as equals if they’re changing their habits to be more like their male counterparts.

Instead, it’s important to focus on finding your strength on your own, as a woman.

If you’re finding that to be easier said than done, find things that inspire you to boost that strength.

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6 Ways to Relieve Built-Up Stress During Home Renovations

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6 Ways to Relieve Built-Up Stress During Home Renovations

The walls have been stripped down to the studs, the kitchen is an explosion of pipes and wires, and let’s not even get started with the bathrooms!

The words “remodeling your home” and “stress” seem to go hand-in-hand.

Remodeling is certainly a big commitment, both in time and finances. Plus you never quite know what to expect when you strip your house to the bones. There could be mold, insects, dry rot, etc.

However, managing your remodeling stress is not much different than other kinds of stress. Only this time you have sledgehammers!

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How to Reduce Test Anxiety During Finals Season

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How to Reduce Test Anxiety During Finals Season

Most students eagerly await long holiday breaks. But in order to get to the break, they usually have to go through finals season first. For many students, this is a stressful time. After all, a lot rides on these finals. They’ll be reviewing several months’ worth of material, likely not just in one class, but in several.

The grades they get may determine their acceptance into specialized programs. Achieving even a passing grade may also be a cause of anxiety for some students.

So it’s understandable that many teens experience test anxiety. Fortunately, there are steps they can take to better manage these feelings.

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Anticipatory Loss: Living with the Losses that Lie Ahead

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Anticipatory Loss: Living with the Losses that Lie Ahead

Everyone experiences grief. Not enough people are willing to talk about it. Death remains a somewhat taboo topic even here in the twenty-first century. It’s just not socially acceptable to express feelings like bereavement and mourning. More forbidden is any discussion of anticipatory loss.

You see, some losses are known about in advance. For example, a loved one may be diagnosed with a terminal illness. Hence, the grieving process commences before death — sometimes well before death. You grieve the looming loss, of course. In addition, you may be in pre-mourning for all the other changes that the death will set into motion.

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Combating COVID Anxiety: 6 Tips to Effectively Rein In Unhelpful Thoughts and Emotions

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Combating COVID Anxiety: 6 Tips to Effectively Rein In Unhelpful Thoughts and Emotions

Far too many people have been infected with COVID-19. Many more people have been stricken with COVID anxiety and the results are building into a tidal wave.

  • Will I get sick?

  • What about my family and loved ones?

  • Will I weather the financial turmoil?

  • Why does the country feel so divided?

These are just a few of vexing questions on the minds of Americans. It’s no wonder that so many of us feel at the mercy of unhelpful thoughts and emotions.

Life in Transition: 5 Ways to Navigate Unexpected Changes and Thrive

Life in Transition: 5 Ways to Navigate Unexpected Changes and Thrive

Life in transition. That phrase basically sums up the first half of 2020, huh? By all accounts, there are more transitions on their way. In many, if not most, instances, we have little or no control over the events that alter our lives. Unexpected changes can, therefore, throw us for quite a loop.

It is an essential life skill to learn how to best navigate transitions and still manage to thrive on the other end. Such life skills are attainable through a committed combination of self-care and professional help.

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What You Can Do to Maximize Your Teletherapy Sessions

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What You Can Do to Maximize Your Teletherapy Sessions

As the country vacillates between re-opening and re-closing, we’re all getting more and more comfortable with long-distance communication. Work, school, social time, etc. — it’s a time to re-invent our interactions in the name of safety and physical health. But it’s also a time when our mental health may feel threatened in new ways. In an age of social distancing and conflicting agendas, how can we take safe steps to guard both our physical and mental wellbeing? The answer is “teletherapy.”

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Pandemic Problems: How the Media May Be Fueling Your Fear (& How to Stop It)

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Pandemic Problems: How the Media May Be Fueling Your Fear (& How to Stop It)

Let’s say you happen upon two article headlines on your newsfeed. The first one reads: “Scientists Agree: Too Early to Know Full Impact of COVID.” The second headline, however, declares: “Experts Warn: Pandemic Death Toll Will Reach One Million Before It’s Over!”

Which one will you click on first? Better yet: Which of the headlines is the only one you’ll click on at all? Best (or worst) of all: Which headline will draw your attention and then gnaw at you for the rest of the day?

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Having Difficulty Recovering from Your Loss and Moving On? Is That Normal?

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Having Difficulty Recovering from Your Loss and Moving On? Is That Normal?

Loss can be a difficult thing to accept. But when the pain of it drags on, determining whether or not your difficulty recovering is healthy can be complicated.

That said, experiencing grief is normal. Also, there is no specific time period that determines how long you should grieve. There should simply be a point at which you can process the emotions, intergate the experience, begin moving ahead.

If you’ve been grieving for a while but can’t sense much progress or healing, then it might be time to seek out professional help. Consider the differences between grief types and how to cope.

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Divorce and Your Mental Health: Tips for Handling the Effects of Stress

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Divorce and Your Mental Health: Tips for Handling the Effects of Stress

Pop culture has taught us all a very particular perspective on divorce. It usually involves lots of screaming, mixed with the silent treatment. It all leads up to a climactic confrontation followed by a lifetime of animosity. Of course, this cinematic image does very little justice to a complicated and nuanced experience. It also neglects to even hint at the inevitable toll the stress of divorce takes on our mental health. This isn’t about he said/she said or which spouse was “right.” Divorce of any kind is stressful and requires its participants to take steps to safeguard their mental health.

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4 Healthy Ways to Manage a Breakup

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4 Healthy Ways to Manage a Breakup

Going through a breakup can be hard on anyone. Even if you know it was the right thing to do and you ended things on good terms, it’s still a loss. And it’s still important to cope in healthy and productive ways.

If the breakup was ugly, it’s even more important to know how to cope properly. When you take the time to manage a breakup the right way, you can find peace with your decision and move on with your life.

When you don’t manage a breakup in healthy ways, you can turn to negative ways of coping. Doing so could lead to excessive use of alcohol or drugs, or it could even lead to mental health conditions like depression.

So, what are some healthy ways you can manage a breakup?

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COVID and Your Connection: Signs Your Relationship is Suffering

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COVID and Your Connection: Signs Your Relationship is Suffering

When the time comes that we’re finally able to tally up the total cost of COVID-19, there will be one category that will likely get ignored: relationships.

The diverse and relentless impact of this pandemic is wreaking havoc on our collective mental health. This reality creates a treacherous terrain for couples from coast to coast. Stress, in general, is challenging to your connection and 2020 is fast becoming ground zero for stress. How can you recognize this trend and what can you do about it?