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Caring for Ourselves During Transitions
Transitions come in our lives for a multitude of reasons. Some of these reasons may be exciting, such as having a child or moving in with our partner. Others may be incredibly challenging, such as the diagnosis of an illness or the death of a loved one. In either case, these changes can stir up…
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Nurturing Healthy Boundaries
Healthy boundaries act as an invisible force that protects our emotional, mental, and physical health. They help us form our identities, serving as guidelines that define where we end and others begin. Boundaries allow us to establish limits on what we are comfortable with, what we are willing to tolerate, and what we require to…
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Scroll with Intention
A lot of us have thought or even said “social media is a total mind suck,” but can it also be a helpful tool to inspire and heal? I think it all depends on content.
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Becoming a Fat Positive Psychotherapist
If there were something you could do to improve the safety and well-being of your clients who live in fat bodies, would you make the effort? My name is Sarah Landolfi and I’m a psychotherapist, consultant and trainer. I specialize in working with fat clients in therapy, and I offer something unique to these folks:…
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Tuning In To Ourselves This New Year
Society often prioritizes external measures of progress, improvement, and success. We are surrounded by cultural messages and images of achievement. Aside from the occasional memoir, we are rarely exposed to the steps and setbacks along the way. Seldom are we exposed to the internal experience attached to external outcomes. We are unlikely to challenge what…
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Treatment not Trauma: Demanding Reinvestment in Chicago’s Mental Health Infrastructure
There are currently only 5 community mental health clinics in all of Chicago. Half of the public clinics were closed or privatized in 2012 under Rahm Emmanuel, and before that, reduced from 19 clinics to 12 under Richard Daley. For the past 30 years, community mental health resources in the city have been stripped away,…
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Prioritizing Self-Care during the Holiday Season
For some, the holidays can for some be a joyous time of the year, but for others, it can be a time laden with anxiety and stress. If you are someone that feels depressed or overwhelmed by the holiday season, first, know that you are not alone. It is quite common for this season to…
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Starting Small: Building Capacity for Present-Centered Awareness
A history of trauma can make it difficult to feel present. Often in an effort to stay safe, our mind and body pull us into our past or become hyper-vigilant about our future. Though these strategies are adaptive and often helpful in surviving traumatic experiences, when they become habitual we can be left feeling out…
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What’s in a Gender?
Recently, a cis person introduced me with the sentence, “This is Hannah and she uses they/them pronouns.” The man who said it is kind and well-intentioned; it wasn’t a malicious incident, but it does exemplify a slippage that a lot of cis people get caught in. He knew that gendering me correctly was respectful and…