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Welcome back, Brainiac! Today, I wanted to share some ideas for enhancing your self-care as we begin a new year. As a licensed professional counselor, I often get asked how I cope with the vicarious trauma that is too often par for the course in mental health work. I don't have one particular thing, rather a web of routines that help to bolster my psychological, emotional, and spiritual resiliency. Here are some ideas for your consideration. The American Psychological Asso

Welcome back to the Brainiac Blog! Today I wanted to share a simple activity that can be helpful with managing grief, especially around the holiday season. Grief is a strong emotion that all people feel when they lose someone or something that was important to them. Grief can be caused by different kinds of loss (i.e., loss of a loved one or pet, a big move, divorce, physical injury or change in mobility, etc.). It's often a time marked by intense sadness, anger, guilt, co

Welcome back, Brainiac! Today, I wanted to answer a question I have been hearing a lot lately related to children's behavior and development. As a licensed professional counselor who predominantly works with children, I often get asked, "what makes kids act the way they do?". Here are some thoughts for your consideration. All humans are unique beings that are a beautiful bundle of complexities- from their biology to their environment, and everything in between. Often paren

Welcome back! Today, I wanted to explore the growing child-nature gap and the implications on the mental health and wellbeing for the future generation; with inspiration drawn from “Children and Nature: The Great Disconnect” by Louv, R. Within the span of a few decades, the ways in which children understand and interact with nature has changed dramatically. “The growing child-nature gap has profound implications for the future, including the mental, physical, and spiritual

Welcome back to the Brainiac Blog! Today I wanted to share a note on Garden Therapy with inspiration drawn from “Gardens that Heal” by Diehl, E. “Gardens are a fundamental component of human life, and their design and use can tell us a great deal about the people who created them” (p. 168). Gardens have long been thought of as a place of refuge and healing, which is supported by the literature on this topic. It comes as no surprise then, that interest in gardens as a place

Welcome to my world- my entry into blogging.