mom therapy

How Therapy Can Alleviate Mom Guilt

How Therapy Can Alleviate Mom Guilt

When you think of your children, do automatic thoughts of guilt come to mind? Maybe you blame yourself for your child getting their cold. Maybe you are filled with a sense of wrongdoing after having to work extra shifts to pay the bills.

You may have a little voice in your head that keeps telling you that you are not enough. No matter what you do or how much you sacrifice, you could always be doing more and doing things in a more efficient manner. When you feel this way, it is important to remember that you are not alone, and you do not need to feed into your mom guilt.

Overcoming mom guilt is a unique journey since it looks different to everyone. For example, you may find that unfollowing “supermoms” on Instagram does wonders for your mental health. On the other hand, you may take a different approach. For instance, you may need to reframe your thoughts on what it takes to be a good mom in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Your Guide to Self-Care As A Parent

Your Guide to Self-Care As A Parent

Parenting is a rewarding journey, but it is also a difficult one! From staying up all night with your newborn to rushing to get your kids to school on time, it can seem like your to-do list is never-ending. Amidst all the craziness, it can be easy to dismiss self-care, viewing it as something frivolous or a luxury.

Contrary to some people’s beliefs, self-care is not selfish. It does not have anything to do with being narcissistic or egocentric. Instead, it is deeply connected to health and wellness- both mental and physical. Once you begin to view self-care in the correct way, you will notice that self-care is anything but self-seeking.

The Difference Between Baby Blues and Postpartum Depression

The Difference Between Baby Blues and Postpartum Depression

From depictions in movies and television shows to social media posts, motherhood is portrayed as a wholly joyful and even effortless experience. While becoming a parent is undeniably a cheerful time in your life, it can also bring new challenging experiences. While many mothers brace themselves for sleepless nights and limitless love, you may not have adequately expected or prepared for the emotional rollercoaster of postpartum depression and anxiety.

Many new moms may experience “baby blues''. Baby blues refers to a period of sadness that mothers feel after giving birth. This typically occurs the first few days after having a baby. You may begin to feel this unhappiness two to three days after your baby’s birth and these feelings can persist for up to two weeks.

3 Ways to Help Your Child Express and Manage their Emotions

3 Ways to Help Your Child Express and Manage their Emotions

While parenting is one of the most rewarding gifts in the world, it can be undoubtedly difficult at times, particularly if you are dealing with a child who may act out. Meltdowns happen, especially with toddlers, but, for some children, emotional outbursts and impulsive reactions may persist. Crying is a normal response to overwhelming feelings, such as stress, irritability, and fright, regardless of age; however, some children may cry more often, get excessively passionate, and reach a level of annoyance quicker than other kids.

Emotional control is the capacity to govern emotions to:

  • Reach goals

  • Finish duties or chores

  • Manage behavior

How To Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance During COVID-19 [Part 2]

How To Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance During COVID-19 [Part 2]

A lot of people are having difficulty finding a balance between work life and personal life when operating both from the same space. As working from home continues for most due to COVID-19, this ever-looming concern becomes more and more apparent. While most people did not expect to work from home for this long, it is likely to continue for a longer period of time. As a mental health professional, I list some tips that i tell my clients which can also help you make it through this difficult time.

How To Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance During COVID-19

How To Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance During COVID-19

Over the last few months I have been hearing one issue time and time again for many, if not all, of my clients attending therapy who are working from home: the difficulty between finding a balance between work life and personal life when operating both from the same space. As we approach the 6th month of working from home due to COVID-19, this ever-looming concern becomes more and more apparent. While most did not anticipate working from home for this long, it seems as if this is a likely reality for many moving forward. (Google just announced their workers would be working from home until summer 2021).

The Top Causes of Depression

The Top Causes of Depression

Depression can impact anyone for a multitude of reasons. There is a lot of research into the cause of depression and there is not just one clear answer. There could be multiple reasons as to why you feel depressive symptoms. These causes can be broken down into two main categories that include biological factors and environmental factors. It is possible that you have one or both of these factors impacting your mood. Below I will discuss what falls under these two categories in detail.

How To Support Your LGBTQ+ Teen

How To Support Your LGBTQ+ Teen

Your pre-teen and teenage years are filled with time of exploring the world and how you fit in it. Identity becomes a huge topic of exploration for most teens. Your teen may be contemplating anything from as simple as their future career goals up to their gender identity or sexual orientation. This is typically a time that you may find your teen to come out to you by identifying as being a part of the LGBTQ+ community. As a parent, no matter how accepting you are, this may come as a surprise to you and it may take some time to process. Once you have processed this new information, you can then take some extra steps to support your teen as they navigate their new identity and grow into an adult.

Tips and Tools to Improve Communication with your Partner through COVID-19

Tips and Tools to Improve Communication with your Partner through COVID-19

When it comes to improving communication in a relationship, it takes more than just talking more to your partner. It is the way you speak, what you say, what they hear, and much more. As previously discussed, healthy and meaningful communication is built in many ways. One of the biggest issues that couples come across when communicating is oversimplifying it to the belief that one person talks and the other listens. Sure, in some way this is true, but communicating is an active skill and both the speaker and person listening need to be engaged and attuned.

Communicating with Your Partner through COVID-19

Communicating with Your Partner through COVID-19

As a couple’s therapist, the most common issue I see among couples is a breakdown in communication. This does not mean that they are unable to communicate, but that their communication no longer makes them feel connected. In a relationship, we all want to feel heard, seen, and understood. This often gets lost in translation, and is even more difficult to repair under the current circumstance. While many are spending more time than ever together during the pandemic, healthy and effective communication can take a back seat to external stressors. It can be hard not to get caught up in talking about the basics: work, kids, to-do lists and so on. If you are looking to improve communication with your partner, you may need to challenge yourself to do something different and outside of your comfort zone. A strong and fulfilling relationship needs a strong foundation, and that foundation is almost always built on healthy communication. In this first blog of a two-part blog series, I will discuss two key types of communication that couples have and the common problems that may arise for each.

9 Normal Human Responses To A Global Pandemic

9 Normal Human Responses To A Global Pandemic

After 2 months of experiencing stay-at-home orders, you may start to find yourself feeling not your normal self. A lot of people feel alone in how they are experiencing the impact of the global pandemic of the spread of COVID-19. While everyone does have a different life experience, we are all experiencing this trauma together. This is an event that is different than anything we have ever gone through before since it is an ongoing situation that is impacting everyone drastically. You may have experienced a loss in your job, a loved one, or you are isolated from others. Parents have become home school teachers while trying to continue to maintain their own jobs if possible. This is a time to survive and not to thrive. It is okay to not feel your best self or your most productive right now. Below are some things that you may feel during this pandemic that are completely normal to experience at this time and some ways how to help yourself.

11 Tips To Working From Home If You Have Anxiety or Depression

11 Tips To Working From Home If You Have Anxiety or Depression

Millions of people experience anxiety and/or depression in their lifetime. Due to the spread of COVID-19, we have been physically isolated from others. This has caused a spike in mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. In addition to these increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression, you are expected to work your full-time job from home (if you are lucky enough that your job allows you to make this transition). It has become difficult to manage your mental health along with this major adjustment of working from home. Below I will go through realistic tips on how you can manage working from home if you are also experiencing any level of anxiety and/or depression.

Tips for Parenting During a Pandemic

Tips for Parenting During a Pandemic

As we enter week 6 of the COVID-19 quarantine in Hoboken, New Jersey, I have noticed how difficult and defeating this time has been for parents. The challenges of parenting during this pandemic can seem endless and insurmountable. Many parents are trying to balance the stress of work, full time care of their children, teaching their children, their own well-being, and mental health with none of the support they once relied upon. Exhausted and overwhelmed, these daily struggles start to build up and make us feel like the light at the end of the tunnel has dimmed or disappeared altogether. With so much uncertainty about the future of the world and your family, anxiety and fear are at an all-time high. This level of pressure combined with the collective unease of society makes it extremely difficult to handle day to day stressors with the same degree of self-control that many feel they once had.

How Couples Are Taking Advantage of Telehealth Counseling during COVID-19

How Couples Are Taking Advantage of Telehealth Counseling during COVID-19

Telehealth has always been a useful tool to provide therapy services to many individuals over the years. It allows those who would otherwise be unable to attend regular sessions access even if their life and schedule make it difficult. During this pandemic of the spread of COVID-19, couples are able to take advantage of this time to start couples counseling and work on their relationship through telehealth sessions. Many are wondering how telehealth works when it comes to couples counseling. As a couples counselor, I have been providing these services through telehealth for years and have found it to be equally effective as in-person sessions. I hope to answer some questions and concerns while also reassuring anyone interested in telehealth during this time of isolation that you can get help regardless of circumstance.

How To Practice Self-Care During COVID-19 Isolation

How To Practice Self-Care During COVID-19 Isolation

Hoboken, along with the states of New Jersey and New York, has been doing a great job in taking the lead in the country with rules around self-isolation and staying at home. However, this self-isolation is going to have a huge impact on everyone’s mental health as it is projected to continue longer than one month. It is important to look out for signs of depression, anxiety, increased disordered eating behaviors, OCD, and substance abuse at this time. Please remember that you are doing Hoboken, or your community, an amazing service by staying inside. But as you practice this self-isolation, you will most likely see a decline in your mental health. It is really important to take care of your mental health (more than ever!) during this time. Below are some ways in which you can do just that.

All You Need To Know About Telehealth Mental Health Therapy Services

All You Need To Know About Telehealth Mental Health Therapy Services

Due to the spread of the covid-19 virus, we have transitioned to telehealth sessions only until it is safe to go back to in-person sessions. most mental health professionals and other businesses are making the shift to work from home to stop the spread of the coronavirus. luckily mental health has always been effective through telehealth sessions. research actually shows that telehealth sessions are just as beneficial as in-person sessions. at anchor therapy, we want to help flatten the curve as much as possible so that our hospitals hopefully do not get overrun. below is all the information you need to know about telehealth for mental health therapy sessions.

How To Re-Ignite The Fire In Your Relationship

How To Re-Ignite The Fire In Your Relationship

Most will remember the feelings of excitement, butterflies, and attraction when they first fall in love with their significant other. In the beginning, everything feels like an adventure when you’re falling in love. The question is how to maintain that spark after years of commitment. Passion at the beginning of a relationship serves a very important purpose, to help you connect, learn about each other, and keep you craving more and more time together. If you notice that over time the intensity you once felt has dimmed, you are not alone!

6 Ways To Handle Intrusive Thoughts

6 Ways To Handle Intrusive Thoughts

An intrusive thought is something that we all experience from time to time. An intrusive thought is when you have an unwanted and involuntary thought, image, or idea that is upsetting or distressing pop into your mind. Some people realize that these thoughts are not based on reality and they can easily brush them off and move on to a next thought. While others have a hard time dealing with these intrusive thoughts and find themselves in a destructive thought loop. Most people find these types of thoughts disturbing and spend a lot of time questioning their reality because of it. Intrusive thoughts are more common and frequent for someone who experiences depression and/or anxiety. Below are some ways that you can handle these intrusive thoughts if they do come into your mind and disrupt your thinking.

What To Do After You Binge Eat

What To Do After You Binge Eat

A lot of people experience binge eating in their life and a good majority of those people feel terrible after it happens. It is possible to experience binge eating once in awhile and that would not be classified as a Binge Eating Disorder. whether or not you have a binge eating disorder, it is still important to have a plan after you experience a binge.

8 Ways To Beat Seasonal Depression

8 Ways To Beat Seasonal Depression

This time of year can be hard on a lot of people as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder. Seasonal depressive disorder is a real thing. It means that you feel more down, lethargic, and depressed during a specific time of the year. For most people with seasonal depressive disorder, this falls during the winter time. Usually the winter comes with less sunlight and colder temperatures that isolate you inside. Without nice weather that entices you to go outside, it can be hard to feel motivated to stay active and do things you usually enjoy doing.