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.

Many people struggle with making changes in their lives. Some people may not be convinced of the need for change. Some people may understand the change required but may be unable to act due to resources or timing. Some people understand the changes that they want in their lives, have the capability and resources, and yet still struggle with activating that change. It is this third group of individuals with which many folks suffering from mental health difficulties can identify. While working with individuals who list a “lack of motivation” as a reoccurring symptom that is significantly affecting their life, building motivation is one of the first steps needed because motivation is needed to cope, to change symptom-reinforcing habits, and to eventually experience a more desirable mood and quality of life. The next few steps would be one of the most effective ways to help build motivation for change, even for those who particularly struggle with this challenge.

Eating disorders can be complicated, confusing, and overall a frustrating truth for some people. Recovery is not linear, easy, or as simple as “just eat”. It’s not simply “just buy clothes that fit you”, or “maybe you should start going to the gym?”. Some of these comments can be incredibly hurtful, triggering, and lead to a relapse and worsening symptoms. There are some myths about eating disorders that can lead some people to not take the diagnosis seriously. Recovery is the most successful when you and your family and/or support system learn about common eating disorder myths and accept a new way of thinking. Eating disorder recovery may challenge common beliefs you have learned over your lifetime, generationally through your family, society, or medical professionals. Let’s take the time to get familiar with the truth!

If you are a parent seeking out help and to better understand how to support your child, male or female, living with an eating disorder, below are some strategies and resources for you. Maybe you just started to learn more, or you are here because you suspect your child is struggling with unhealthy eating habits, or maybe something more severe.

Now you know what an eating disorder is, but you want to learn more facts about how prevalent they are! Wonderful. You have come to the right place. There are many resources out there to help you understand more about eating disorders.

People who struggle with eating disorders experience a significant preoccupation with food, body weight, shape, on a routine basis that has been perpetuated over time. Common eating disorders can include binge-eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and avoidant restrictive intake disorder (ARFID).

Part of some people’s mental health challenges, especially if they struggle with anxiety and/or depression, is an experience referred to sometimes as “overthinking”. Many people struggle with long strings of thoughts about one or many topics that end up effecting their daily lives. Overthinking can make you late for appointments, generate unreasonable anxieties against your own goals, or put a halt in your basic motivation which is sometimes casually referred to as “analysis paralysis”. These habits can chronically effect someone’s quality of life, but they are still just habits. As habits, they can be broken, and new habits built up in their place.

Anger is one of the emotions most people would put in their list of fundamental feelings that they, and most others, would experience regularly. There are entire treatment modalities and services specifically dedicated to anger management that help educate and coach individuals in recognizing anger triggers and reducing the spikes in distress in the moment. This does lead to the idea that anger is one of the most common emotions that people do struggle with in ways that directly effects their lives. Though anger is a very strong feeling and one of the ways we may choose to express how we feel in many situations in our lives, it was during my start as a therapist that I was taught, and then reaffirmed through my experiences, that anger almost always comes second. This is means that it is rarely a primary emotion and is often then referred to as a secondary emotion. A secondary emotion refers to a feeling one has about another already existing feeling. It is here that the iceberg idea begins.

The way you begin your morning can have a huge impact on the rest of your day, whether this be a positive or negative impact. The first moments of the day have a correlation to your productivity and your mood. Starting the day off on a positive note helps to set you up for success to conquer the day. This all begins with a morning routine that sets a positive tone.