The Balanced Life, Huntsville Alabama

Recently, one of the very first couples I worked with in private practice got married. As a therapist, it’s such an honor to be a part of helping someone, or in this case, a couple overcome challenges and strengthen their relationship to the point that they are truly ready for the commitment of marriage.

If you're stuck in a rut or feeling trapped in your life, it can create feelings of hopelessness and fear.  Recent research shows that depression and anxiety are highly correlated with inhibited neuroplasticity, but what IS neuroplasticity?

In today’s world, we are often consumed by stress about completing items on our “to do” list. Instead of focusing on the little things in life that bring joy and happiness, we find ourselves pouring energy and worry into tasks and obligations.

For several years now at TBL, I have been offering a teenage girls group in the summer that focuses on building self-esteem and confidence. In addition to that group this year, I am also creating one tailored to younger boys that teaches them how to build healthy relationships while implementing social skills.

Today marks the five year anniversary of the day my husband, Randall, and I filed the paperwork to make our LLC, The Balanced Life, official! 

When a marriage breaks up, it causes heartache and broken dreams for at least one of the spouses, usually the one (or both) who is hurt. Marriages that end in divorce are complicated and end for many different reasons.

As my family was sitting down to dinner a few years ago, I noticed that my eldest daughter was repeatedly saying, or projecting, negative things into the future. “I’m probably not even going to have enough time to finish my dinner, am I?” She shifted in her seat, intentionally stuck out her bottom lip a little further, and focused her gaze down toward the table.

Exercise has many benefits and has been linked to decreased risk of many chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes as well as depression. While exercise can be a great thing to incorporate into your day-to-day life, it is very easy to turn what should be fun into another chore.

Originally, I sat down to write this as a letter to my former self to express kindness, validation, and reassurance. But I would also like to pen this as a send-off, a good bye letter, a farewell to my past toxic relationship.

After reading a few of my colleagues’ recent blogs, I was compelled to continue the theme of focusing on the new year in 2019, although with a different outlook. As others mentioned, it is a common expectation to set personal goals at the beginning of each year and attempt to reach those by the end of December.

I received a random email one morning last week called “Trivia Daily”. I have no idea how this landed in my in-box or how I got on their email list. Normally I would delete such an email and never look back and I might even delete myself from their email list. But this particular morning I opened and read the email.

Ah, it’s that time again…New Year’s Resolutions! It seems most of us can be divided into two camps- those who have given up on even setting any resolutions each year, because, well, we often don’t stick to them beyond January 15^th or so. And the other camp- those who continue to ambitiously establish a slew of goals for the new year that go to the way side by January 15, even despite our good intentions.