Depression is ubiquitous, and unfortunately, a loved one in our life may struggle. When someone we love is having a difficult time, all we want to do is help, but many ask how? You can let them know you have noticed the change and express empathy.

Taking on a challenging work project, school paper, workday, or studying can feel overwhelming, so much so that it sometimes causes you to push through without stopping until the task is complete. While in this process, taking the time to pause can bring feelings of guilt. Often, having this mindset can make the thought of taking a break as being “lazy” or “unproductive.” However, taking a break is the opposite of this, as there are many benefits that you will experience from doing so. Adapting the mindset of viewing breaks as a productive way to better help complete your tasks is essential.

Communication is vital in any relationship (romantic, workplace, family, friendships). Communication helps in sharing expectations, feelings, disappointments, and opinions. Being open in these relationships helps to strengthen the bond between them. This communication is essential when you feel disappointed or after your feelings are hurt; however, these situations are the most intimidating to approach due to fear of rejection or an argument. When approaching these difficult conversations, it is important to enter with a soft startup to lay the foundation for a productive, calm conversation.

Filling up your positivity gas tank is a term that can be used to help convey a similar idea as when one fills up their actual gas tank in their car. When you know you will need to drive your vehicle, and it needs to get you places reliably, and the gas tank is running low, you ensure that you stop and fill up the tank so that your car may perform as you need it to when you need it to. This metaphor is fitting for how our tolerance works in our daily life. Many people who suffer from common mental health challenges struggle with a thought distortion referred to as “filtering out the positive .”

On social media or in conversation, the term “relationship goals” has gained popularity as a term used in response to an example of a relationship that one feels represents the desired relationship in their life. In couple’s therapy, goals are crucial to establish and continue to interact with and update throughout the process to help keep the treatment focused and productive for the couple. Being able to develop genuine and wise-minded goals is more challenging than you think.

While healing from a divorce, you may experience a grieving process and there are things you can focus on during this time. Exhaustion, overwhelming feelings, negative and painful feelings may arise and while these can be scary, they are also normal and can be worked through. Here are some ways to cope through the process of moving forward from a divorce.

When you are feeling stuck in therapy it’s usually due to wanting to make changes yet struggling to do so. Feeling stuck in therapy shouldn’t automatically feel like a bad thing. Some people consider this moment a “tipping point.” You may be asking what’s next and where to go. Here are some ways to get unstuck within the therapy space.

When someone sets a boundary, it can feel sudden. To you, it may not even feel as though you were acting or speaking in a way that made this other person feel as though they needed to set a boundary. You may freeze up, become upset, or even start an argument. Oftentimes, there are conversations focused on the importance of setting boundaries and how to do this, but there is not much discussion on how to navigate boundaries that others are setting with us. Read along to find out answers to some of the questions you may have.

Change is inevitable, it is something that will always come at some point in your life. However, change can bring up varying emotions and thoughts. There may be feelings of anger, shock, sadness, excitement, fear, overwhelmed, grief, relief, and/or even acceptance. The range of emotion is a natural part of the change process, even if it may be a positive change. However, it is important to make sure that these emotions do not take control of the situation. The following are some useful tips on how to more easily cope with change.

There are many ways that people strive to conceptualize their relationships and that of others around them. It is hard to apply a framework to something so complex, so what is being offered in this blog post is not a full framework but rather a device to use to help side-step being defensive, reduce co-dependency, and increase your commitment to your personal values while in the context of a relationship.