Blog Posts

Category: Productivity

stillness in commotion

Finding Stillness in the Commotion

“Stillness is where creativity and solutions are found.” -Meister Eckhart According to the World Health Organization, mental wellness is defined as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution

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finding a new therapist 2022

A Therapist’s Tips for Finding the Right Therapist for YOU

“Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful parts of us.” ~ David Richo Not more than a decade ago, going to therapy had a negative stigma attached to it; it was something that people did not share or talk about. As time has passed and we have evolved, therapy has become

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holiday blues

Handling the Holiday Blues

While there is no perfect cure for the loneliness that accompanies the holidays, it is important to recognize that loneliness is normal, hard, and experienced widely by many during this time of year.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the time which, for many of us, means reconnecting with friends and family

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Introvert extrovert

Surviving the Holidays: Extroverts & Introverts

“The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some, it’s a Broadway spotlight, for others, a laplit desk.” ~ Susan Cain At any given gathering, a group will always form around Lauren while she makes people belly laugh from her hilarious stories and unbelievable relatable anecdotes. She comes alive when

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perpetual gratitude

The Perpetual Art of Gratitude

“I am happy because I’m grateful. I choose to be grateful. That gratitude allows me to be happy.” ~ Will Arnett Well, we are now safely into December. Thanksgiving and her season of gratitude has passed…but what if we are still searching for thankfulness and contentment? Last post I wrote about the ABCs of gratitude–where

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ABCs of gratitude

November Gratitude: A Ruminators Guide to Being Content in the Now

“Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” —Socrates We all have down days where we feel discouraged, defeated and troubled. Ruminating, however, is when we experience excessive, intrusive, and negative thoughts about experiences and feelings for an extended period of time. For example, a person with a history of trauma may be unable to

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social media break

Breaking Up With Social Media

“Social media pulls us up into our heads. We’re judging, comparing and daydreaming about what we’re seeing online, so we’re not fully living our own life. Instead, we’re caught up in a virtual world that might not be exactly the way it appears.” ~Jane Pernotto Ehrman, MEd When we open Facebook or Instagram, what do

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hibernation chair pic

Time Alone: Hibernation or Isolation

“Solitude vivifies; isolation kills.” ~ Joseph Roux There have been times where I have been so excited for a girls night or to get together with friends, family, neighbors, or coworkers. I look forward to catching up with the people I care about, getting to know new friends, and having an enjoyable time together. That

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powering down

Powering Down to Recharge

“Wisdom is knowing when to have rest, when to have activity, and how much of each to have.” ~Sri Sri Ravi Shankar You feel restless. Your eating habits have changed. You are awake at all hours of the night. You have lost all motivation. You have no energy or desire to socialize. You cannot concentrate.

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When You Need a Healthy Escape

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” — Abraham Lincoln General anesthesia is a combination of medications used to put an individual in a sleep-like state before a surgery or medical procedure to produce a pain-free state. Likewise, you and I have probably allowed ourselves to self-medicate with an activity that

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9/11 silhouette

Remembering and Moving Forward: Reaching for Safety

“When Americans lend a hand to one another, nothing is impossible. We’re not about what happened on 9/11. We’re about what happened on 9/12.” —Jeff Parness, founder of New York Says Thank You It was my Sophomore year at college. I was not, and am not, a morning person, so my first class did not

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Remembering and Moving Forward: 20+ Years in the Making

Our guest blogger recounts her experience, as a child, during 9/11. She relates it to the internal and external safety we need, all the time, not only after times of national tragedy. Guest blogger, Lydia Judd likens our nation’s experience after 9/11 of increasing our external safety and how we need to look inward and

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Melissa Cluff, MS, LMFT, CSAT

Melissa Cluff is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in North Texas, providing face-to-face and telehealth therapy options to clients in Texas.