Stress Busters

Anxiety and stress are the most common causes of mental illness in the U.S., according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Anxiety disorders affect more than 18 percent of the U.S. population and cost the country more than $42 billion a year in healthcare costs. Finding simple ways to help alleviate stress on a […]

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Spotlight on Ginny Graham, M.S., Certified Spiritual Director

Therapist Ginny Graham has had a life-long love affair with reading. As both a high school creative writing teacher and a counselor with an interest in spiritual direction, Graham finds herself returning to old works and recommending them to clients and colleagues. “Although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, back in the late […]

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Don’t Wing It

You wouldn’t think of flying in an airplane with a pilot who had no training. Making your marriage fly is a far more complex task, yet you probably had almost no formal preparation. You and your partner simply got in the cockpit and took off, hoping not to crash but not really knowing how to […]

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Making Phobic Assessments

Indiana Jones’ fear of snakes was a nice bit of comic relief in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. While most people will admit to having at least some fear of things such as spiders, heights, or flying, the difference between a basic fear and a phobia is more pronounced. With the help of […]

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Recharging Batteries: Soothing Your Overworked Partner

“Is loss of connection and intimacy an inevitable outcome of our harried lives?” asks Offra Gerstein, Ph.D., a psychologist and columnist in Santa Cruz, Calif. Not if we become aware of the impact of work, family, and stress on our relationships, she says. “Couples who are both employed outside the home encounter work demands and […]

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World Peace Starts at Home

“How many of us, if granted three wishes, would ask for world peace? Or maybe we wouldn’t – because we stopped believing in it a long time ago,” says Tim Atkinson, Executive Director, Imago Relationships International. Atkinson makes the unusual confession that he sees himself as an obstacle to world peace. “I create what I […]

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Dealing With Postpartum Depression

Most mothers will say that having a baby was one of the most important activities of their lives. At the same time, most mothers also will say that parenthood is more challenging than they had anticipated. The so-called “baby blues” are a common, short-term experience of depressive symptoms following childbirth experienced by between 60 and […]

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Love As It Is

So often we want to hold on to love because we think that’s the way we can keep it. We want it so badly we squeeze it to death or we’re so afraid it will leave that we chase it away. But the trick is to not try so hard. Love wants us as much […]

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Spotlight on Beret Moyer , M.S., NCC

PC&CC counselor Beret Moyer is an avid reader who often recommends books to clients and friends alike. One of her favorite recommendations is Reinventing Your Life by Jeffery Young, Janet Klosko and Aaron Beck. Written by two cognitive psychotherapists, this book describes 11 behavior patterns the authors call “lifetraps.” According to the authors, lifetraps are […]

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Teaching Empathy

Rebecca Sears is constantly working to teach her own teenaged daughter about the relational model of connection. At holiday time, Sears began to think about how to apply this aim to gift-giving. “In a time when kids already have more than enough, I was considering a gift with lasting meaning,” she recalls. When she learned […]

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