As a provisional registered art therapist, I receive a lot of questions from clients, parents of clients, friends, family, coworkers, and others about art therapy. Questions such as…"What is art therapy?" "What is an art therapist?" "Who can participate in art therapy?" "But I am not an 'artist.' Can I participate in art therapy?"
Some people may be wondering when the right time is to seek counseling. Ben Franklin, in 1763, famously advised fire-threaten Philadelphians that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Naturally, preventing fires is preferred to fighting them when it comes to the structural integrity of a building. Tenants, for all intense purposes, would desire to have the engineers address the crack in the building, sooner rather than later. The same is true with counseling, prevention is preferred over recovery.
Valentine’s Day is one day a year with a universal expectation within relationships to prioritize date night, express appreciation, give gifts, and go out of their way to complete an act of service for their partner. All to create a romantic atmosphere to show your partner how much you value them. If you read my last blog, Rituals of Connection This Holiday Season, I talked about rituals of connection–doing lots of little things consistently for your partner to create closeness and connection.
Happy International Play Therapy Week from Embark Counseling Services! This year, the Association for Play Therapy’s (APT) International Play Therapy Week is from February 4 to 10, 2024. I am super excited to see how play therapists from around the country and even the world celebrate the therapeutic powers of play.
The adolescent years are full of confusion in terms of finding who you are. Adolescents not only face internal challenges of assessing their own values and interests but also have the pressure of fitting in with their peers and feeling accepted. One area that an increasing number of adolescents are exploring today is their sexual and gender identity. As a parent, this can stir up an array of different emotions, and you may not know how best to help your child through this time in their life.
The holiday season can be a time filled with joy, kinship, fellowship, and tradition. It can also be a time accompanied by stress, grief, conflict, and financial insecurity. How do we manage the latter so we can be more present with each other and truly enjoy this holiday season? As a couple, feeling like a team and creating a sense of “we-ness” during this time is valuable in managing those harder feelings that may accompany the holiday season.
It can be SO hard to navigate your relationship after bringing a child into the equation. The transition to parenthood can be both an exciting and scary experience, from choosing your child’s name to creating your birth plan. After bringing a child home, it is easy to become so wrapped up in the excitement and planning that we often forget to have conversations about creating an environment that nurtures the relationship with our partner and keeps the connection strong.
October can mean many things: football, Halloween, fall weather, or a time change. For those of us in the mental health field, we know things get tough when seasons change. Although fall may be my favorite time of year, I know that daylight hours are getting shorter, and others may start to feel a little darker, too. You may not know this, but 1 in 5 U.S. adults and 1 in 6 U.S. youths experience mental illness each year (NAMI). According to SAMHSA, only 47.2% of U.S. adults with mental illness received treatment in 2021.
When it comes to working with, and interacting with young people, understanding identity and providing a supportive environment is crucial. According to The Trevor Project, LGBTQ teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. In the same article, The Trevor Project indicates that a youth who is LGBTQ+ who has at least one supporting adult in their life is about 40% less likely to attempt suicide.
Research has shown that children who have a secure attachment with their parent, otherwise known as a good parent-child bond, continually excel in areas such social skills, self-confidence, academics, emotion management, empathy and competency. Playful parenting requires intention and skill, and it ultimately results in the development of secure attachment for your child.