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“My whole life I’ve dreamed of taking my kids camping. I even saved kid-size camping chairs from my childhood to set up around the campfire. I grew up fishing and hiking with my dad, and even loved winter camping trips with my fellow Boy Scouts.......
“I just can’t believe it, everything is different now,” Madeline sobbed, shoulders shaking as she reached for the tissue box. “What do you mean?” I softly asked. “We were fine. Mom and Daddy weren’t together, but we had our 2 houses and everything. Now it’s......
“I just found out my favorite aunt has terminal cancer,” Bobby shared. “She’s one of the most wonderful people in the world! She never missed a birthday, always came to my soccer games, and made me feel exceptionally special. I just can’t believe she’s dying.”......
(Trauma trigger warning; this could be a difficult story to read, depending on your personal history.) Pain. Part of my daily life is sitting with people in the midst of deep, dark, raw pain. “Is it normal for someone to try and have sex with......
“I am done with on-line dating!” Suzanne emphatically declared. “Oh no, what happened?” I asked. A few months ago Suzanne had passionately researched on-line dating options for people over 60, and landed on a few sites that focused on her age-range, retirement status, and her......
Bruce lives an enviable life. Having worked for years in the corporate world, his retirement includes the financial resources to afford luxurious vacations, high-end sports equipment, and a new modern home with expansive views. He enjoys an active dating life, attends various charitable functions, and......
Bob started talking even before he sat down in the chair. “I’ve made so many changes in my life! Over the past few years I’ve stopped using substances, started exercising, included vegetables and fruit in my diet, reconnected with my adult kids, and just wrapped......
Trevor looked at me with tears spilling onto his cheeks, “I just want to see my cousins for the solstice. We always go to their house. I don’t understand why I don’t get to go this year.” Trevor and I were in the middle of......
Tina sat in front of me with a huge grin on her face. “I did it!” she exclaimed. “I convinced him to take the kids while I go to Mexico with my girlfriends.” I felt confused. Tina had been talking with me for months about......
Paul came to the Zoom screen looking exhausted, yawning after every answer to my checking-in questions. “What’s going on?” I finally asked him. “Are you sleeping ok?” “I guess,” he mumbled. I started asking him about his schedule for the past week. “Normal?” he said.......
Yvonne came to her counseling session upset about her friend group. “I’m always the one that initiates getting together,” she explained. “I find the movie, pick the latest restaurant, or find the concert tickets. Then I text everyone, coordinate schedules, budgets and rides, and finally......
Donovan had minimal contact with his father, Joseph. As a young man he’d had some serious fights with his dad, over everything from money to his character. Now in his 60’s, Donovan came to me to work on a plan to re-connect with his dad,......
“I don’t see why I have to choose my words Amy. I should be able to say whatever I want. My family and friends want me to be honest, don’t they?” Ward was asked to come to counseling because those around him complained that his...
“My daughter experiences high levels of anxiety right before she goes to sleep.” Unfortunately anxiety in kids, from a variety of sources, is something that I’ve been seeing more and more in our community recently. I talk with Erica’s dad about her diet (specifically levels...
If it weren’t for Facebook, Belle would have no idea what was happening with her grandchildren. Her oldest granddaughter just changed her status and, because she’d been reading Katherine’s posts and commenting, she knew who the new boyfriend was and that he was a healthy,...
Transactional Analysis (TA), a psychological theory created by Eric Berne, M.D., in California in the 1950’s, combined Psychoanalytic (Freud), Humanistic (Rogers) and Cognitive (the pre-curser to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the most researched theory these days). In 1968 Stephen Karpman, M.D., wrote one short TA article,...
It’s been one of those weeks. I’ve had person after person in my office, angry that their life is not what they wanted. The answer? If only I could snap my fingers and give them what they want their lives would be “fixed.” Although everyone...
Cabin fever is a very real phenomena for residents of the Colorado Rockies. It usually sets in around February… or mid-March, when we get our most snow and experience some of our coldest, pipe-busting days. Typified by low-energy and apathy, people who suffer from cabin...
“But what exactly are you? Can you prescribe medication? What’s your degree anyway?” The mental health field is so confusing these days, I thought I’d take some time to explain. A Psychiatrist is a medical doctor (MD and state medical license) specializing in psychological disorders....
The field of psychology has a terrible reputation of giving mothers all the blame (or on good days, all the credit) for the psychological health of all human beings. In the 1940’s Dr. Leo Kanner, one of the original autism researchers, listed “refrigerator mothers” as...
“I want to lose weight. I’ve tried diets and workouts. Over my lifetime I’ve been everything from a size 2 to a size 24. I’m ready to deal with whatever it is that’s keeping me fat.” Molly has tears in her eyes. “Who calls you...
“So my last therapist said I needed to feel and express all of my feelings,” Sal explained. “How did that work for you?” I was genuinely curious. Sal is an imposing figure and I’m not sure what complete emotional expression might look like. “Well, kind...
“I am done with on-line dating!” Suzanne emphatically declared. “Oh no, what happened?” I asked. A few months ago Suzanne had passionately researched on-line dating options for people over 60, and landed on a few sites that focused on her age-range, retirement status, and her religious beliefs.
Bruce lives an enviable life. Having worked for years in the corporate world, his retirement includes the financial resources to afford luxurious vacations, high-end sports equipment, and a new modern home with expansive views. He enjoys an active dating life, attends various charitable functions, and connects regularly with his kids. As he was sharing all his accomplishments and resources with me, I began to wonder why he came in for counseling.
Bob started talking even before he sat down in the chair. “I’ve made so many changes in my life! Over the past few years I’ve stopped using substances, started exercising, included vegetables and fruit in my diet, reconnected with my adult kids, and just wrapped up my last debt payment. It’s like I’m a new person, and everyone is always complimenting me. But I still have times when I have the old thoughts and fight to not do old behaviors, like being mean and selfish to my family. I don’t want to be the old me anymore, but sometimes I feel like I can’t help it.”
Trevor looked at me with tears spilling onto his cheeks, “I just want to see my cousins for the solstice. We always go to their house. I don’t understand why I don’t get to go this year.” Trevor and I were in the middle of a play therapy session, surrounded by toys of food, dogs, cats, people, playground equipment, a grill, books, and his favorite stuffed animal. Trevor was creating a happy family celebration scene, and then showing me that unseen storm or force would come in and destroy the joyful scene.
