We all know what February 14th is…the day that some of us love and some of us dread and some of us don’t even believe in it…Valentine’s Day, but whatever our views, it’s a day about love. And red…don’t forget about the red. I looked down the seasonal aisle in Wal-Mart the other day and could not see any other color…it would stink to be colorblind in that aisle. Continue reading “Valentine’s Day….”
Automatic thoughts. We all have them. Don’t lie. When you saw this post, you thought hmmm automatic thoughts, that’s what this post must be about. But we all take our perceptions at face value. You know the saying, first impressions are everything. Well it’s true. Let’s think about when we meet someone for the first time, shall we? We look at their clothes, hair, face, etc. right off the start. Continue reading “Sometimes our thoughts are just….automatic.”
If you would have seen me wake up this morning, you would have seen me roll over, look at my cell phone and think, “Man, I could sleep another 15 minutes, but I just cannot, I have to get up, I have to prepare.” Prepare for what you might ask, my first real counseling client. Even though my client wasn’t until 10am, I was up at 7:45am, wondering what it was going to be like. Continue reading “The Fight or Flight Response is Strong in This One.”
You know that country song, the one titled, “Live like you were dying”? I don’t know who it is by because I am no country music buff, but that singer is really on to something. There have been many times in my journey as a Master’s student where we have been asked to look at our “pie of life.” This is basically a pie where you map how how you spend your time in a typical week and then you make another pie of where you would like your time to be. This is a technique that you can use in session for people that may be neglecting one area of their wellness so that they can make adjustments if they would like to. Continue reading “Live like you were dying.”
I’m sitting here tonight, and the inspiration is just not flowing like it usually does. This in itself gives me an idea for a topic. Think about us as a human race. We talk….a lot. Sometimes we talk to ourselves (let’s just hope that we don’t answer). Sometimes we talk when no one is around to hear us, and maybe sometimes we talk to people that don’t want to hear what we have to say. Yet, still, this form of communication is very dear to us. Continue reading “Communication…it’s key”
“A psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components.”
There are so many aspects to this one simple word, yet this one simple word can cause so much trouble. So why do we let it bother us? Why do we let things get us so anxious? If I knew that answer, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing about it, but it’s this anxious feeling that has me writing this blog. Continue reading “Anxiety.”
You know the saying from Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming.”? I think that’s my motto for the day. I had to be back in State College last night for a meeting early this morning, 8:30am to be exact. Woke up at 7 this morning, tired as all get out for some reason, hit snooze twice, but still managed to be out the door at 8:10…which is a little late start to the morning. Continue reading “A speeding ticket to start off the day…”
Yet another one of my ideas for a post comes from riding in the car by myself. On the way down to my mom’s house this weekend, I decided halfway down there that I was going to listen to the radio. The first half an hour was kinda boring considering I switched from one radio station to the next with country song after country song, but once I got out of hickville, USA, I was better able to find a better selection. I divided up the time and had my share of rap, r and b, and pop….etc. Continue reading “Spirituality in the car.”
So crazy times tonight, we went over the CEDAR Clinic manual in my practicum class, which for all you non-counselor education majors that means that I get to see real clients this semester with real problems. REAL clients. REAL problems. Interestingly enough, even though I go to mass every week, I have decided that this semester when I can make it that I will go to daily mass. The first thing I thought of when the fact that I would be talking to real people about their real problems was that I needed to pray about this situation. Continue reading “Reality, meet Stephanie.”
Labels are everywhere. Let’s face it. We use them everyday. We call someone “stupid” without evening thinking, we are “dumb” when we forget something. Some labels are nicer than others. If you go around calling everyone “sluts” and “bitches” I am sure that you will not have as many friends as the next person. We have to pay attention to labels, I’m not saying that you have to be politically correct, but you have to respect the rights that every person ought to have. This is where person-centered language comes into play. Continue reading “Person-centered language.”