Blog

Category: Blog

Navigating Challenges in Cross-cultural Relationships

July 1, 2026

 

 

 

Anna Rucinová, MA

Associate Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Culture deeply shapes how we interpret and approach the stressors of daily life, especially in our closest relationships. Culture is the unspoken system of social rules that shapes our most basic assumptions about what we should expect of others and how to connect with them. Our own culture is usually helpful and invisible to us, until you’re doing life with someone with a different of invisible cultural assumptions – whether they’re from a different country, or even just from a different community within your own country. Continue reading “Navigating Challenges in Cross-cultural Relationships”

HALT: A Simple Tool for Self-Care

June 17, 2026

Whitney Wilson, M.A., ALMFT

Associate Marriage and Family Therapist

Sometimes simple tools are the best and most effective tools. No matter what mental health or relational issue someone comes to counseling to address, I almost always teach the HALT acronym during treatment. It is a quick, helpful tool borrowed from the recovery community to remember four physical and emotional states that lower distress tolerance. It stands for

Continue reading “HALT: A Simple Tool for Self-Care”

Staying Grounded During Summer

June 1, 2026

Lauren Hartford M.A., LCPC, ALMFT

Summer is the season of busyness and excitement. This is the season that we look forward to all year, when the snow melts away, nature blooms and flourishes green, and we get to enjoy the small window of heat that the Midwest grants us. In the season of it all comes a pressure for us to wring out every little drop of summer that we can get, which can often look like overflowing our calendars with BBQs, late nights-out with friends, road trips, and those travel baseball plans. It can feel like a whirlwind, when all of a sudden, it’s the end of August and

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What is EMDR: The Gen Z’ers Guide to EMDR

May 11, 2026
Erin Olszewski, M.A., LPC
If you’re on TikTok or Instagram reels, there’s a good chance you’ve come across ‘MentalHealthTok’ and seen a video or two talking about the magic of EMDR therapy. With new research comes new therapeutic approaches and interventions, and while EMDR isn’t necessarily a new approach it is definitely becoming more popularly requested. However, despite popularizing EMDR, TikTok can also portray a variety of ‘sus’ misconceptions about therapy. So what is EMDR? Let’s spill the tea.

Continue reading “What is EMDR: The Gen Z’ers Guide to EMDR”

What is Resiliency?

May 8, 2026

yasmeen

Yasmeen Ismail M.A., LPC 

Licensed Professional Counselor

According to Google, resiliency is defined as a person being able to withstand shock, recover quickly from adversity, or returning to an original shape after being ‘bent,’ or ‘stretched’. Another easier way I like to look at the word is being able to “bounce back”. Now, you might wonder what are some things that can test our resiliency – the things is, everyone has a different capacity to resilience. Some examples you may have attempted to overcome through resiliency include experiencing grief or loss, struggling with anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem, moving across the country, facing a job loss, chronic illness or injury, financial instability (and the list can go on).

Continue reading “What is Resiliency?”

Five signs you might benefit from therapy

April 27, 2026

courtney Van Acker

Courtney Van Acker M.A., LPC, NCC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Therapy is a wonderful tool to help you cope with various stressors in your life, find solutions that are tailor-made for your unique personality, background, and current situation,.  It provides emotional support and a safe space to process your thoughts and feelings without fear of judgement. Sometimes people may not be aware that they could benefit from therapy.  They might think that therapy is only for people with deep, profound trauma, severe mental health issues, or addictions that have spiraled out of control. However, there are many common issues that everyone has experienced that would be beneficial to address in a therapeutic space.

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Attachment Theory and Styles

April 20, 2026

Alexus Lee

Alexus Lee M.A., LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Attachment theory is credited to John Bowlby, a researcher interested in the relationship and bonds between people, especially long-term relationships between parents and children and romantic partners. Before his research, behaviorists believed that attachment was a learned behavior based on our physical needs for food as babies who could not feed ourselves. Bowlby’s work demonstrated that attachment is an innate and primary motivating force for survival itself. Comfort and care were important driving factors to creating an attachment bond. He theorized that early bonds influenced future relationship patterns based on the internal working models developed about self and others. Positive attachment involves an inner working model that views self as loveable and competent and others as dependable and trustworthy. Throughout our lives, seeking and maintaining contact with others is essential for our survival and overall well-being.

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Couple’s Counseling: Only One Person Wants To Go?

March 16, 2026

Crystal Elapumkal

Crystal Elapumkal, M.S., LCPC

Licenced Clinical Professional Counselor

The question comes up often:  “What do I do if I feel my relationship can benefit from couple’s counseling but my partner refuses to go?”  What a difficult position to be in when one person strongly sees how couple’s counseling can help, while the other refuses to entertain the idea.

Continue reading “Couple’s Counseling: Only One Person Wants To Go?”

Understanding Anger: What’s Beneath It?

February 26, 2026

Ricardo José Infanzón

Ricardo José Infanzón MSW, LSW  

Licensed Social Worker

Anger is a natural emotion
Anger is a natural emotion, but it’s rarely the first one we feel. Typically it’s secondary.  Most of the time, it’s a reaction to
something deeper — often hurt, fear, or feeling threatened in some way.
We may feel anger when we feel rejected, misunderstood, threatened, overwhelmed, or
disappointed. In those moments, anger can feel easier to express than vulnerability. Continue reading “Understanding Anger: What’s Beneath It?”