No one gets through life without being hurt by another person. We all have experienced the pain of a thoughtless remark, gossip, or lie. If you have experienced an unhappy marriage, the devastation of infidelity, or suffered physical or emotional abuse, you know what it feels like to be hurt. It is tempting to hold on to these feelings and build a wall of safety around yourself, but the best way to heal is to forgive the person who hurt you.

Have you ever thought about all the times we make choices in any given day?

I’ve spoken about judgments before, and how to open our awareness to it so we can move into a place of less stress and anxiety, but what about actually choosing how we feel?  We see it all the time. Choose happiness!! Choose love!! But sooo many times, the response (and understandably so) is WELL, THAT'S GREAT BUT HOW???? ....

Every human feels anxiety on occasion; it is a part of life. All of us know what it is like to feel worry, nervousness, fear, and concern. We feel nervous when we have to give a speech, go for a job interview, or walk into our boss’s office for the annual performance appraisal. We know it’s normal to feel a surge of fear when we unexpectedly see a photo of a snake or look down from the top of a tall building. Most of us manage these kinds of anxious feelings fairly well and are able to carry on with our lives without much difficulty. These feelings don’t disrupt our lives.

Have you ever wondered if medication is a "must" if you go into counseling if you've been feeling kind of depressed? A lot of people do, and they worry about it. In our opinion, it really depends. We believe that the least invasive, but yet most effective, means is the best approach.

And, what the studies have shown may surprise you...

Anxiety in, and of itself, by its very nature creates more anxiety. One brief anxious moment can easily slip into another...and another...until you are experiencing a full-blown panic attack. Fear begets fear. It can be a vicious, uncomfortable cycle that you just can't seem to get away from, but the good news is, you can.

Have you been wanting to try counseling but just couldn't find the motivation? Or, have you tried counseling and expected everything to get magically better in a session? Have you looked everywhere for a "fix" but couldn't find one? Sometimes, the answer lies within yourself. Sometimes, not always, we have to look deep within and make the change. Feelings don't necessarily launch actions. But actions can almost always impact feelings. Sometimes, we get this backwards.

Counseling can help us hear ourselves, learn to trust ourselves and pay attention to the most important person...us! You know that little voice inside your head? Or that feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach? Or maybe the feeling in your chest that comes at certain times? Well, are you listening?

In counseling, sometimes we practice the non-judgmental stance. It is an eye-opening experience for most people! Counseling can provide the means to see things more clearly that we tend to do routinely and without much thought.

Do you practice the constant state of judging yourself? And, has anyone ever said to you, "Oh, you shouldn't feel that way!" Or maybe, "That's a terrible thought!"? I'm not talking about anything catastrophic here, I'm talking about everyday kinds of thoughts and feelings.