10 Reasons ‘This is Us’ is All of Us

*Major Spoiler Alert* This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here.  If you’re like me, you love the emotional, romantic and tear-inducing NBC show This is Us. All my therapist friends, those who love a good cry and sad stories can’t get enough of this show. Every time my husband sees me […]

Your loved one is depressed. How to tell them about therapy

  You’re sitting with your BFF (best friend forever) as she’s depressed, in tears and describing her extremely painful situation(s). You feel so much for her and also feel frozen. You don’t know what to do or say to make her feel better. All you know is you want her pain to end and don’t know […]

SMART Intentions

  Happy New Year! On January 1, most Americans vow to make some sort of New Year Resolution, behavior change, or as I’d love for you all to call them, “SMART Intentions.” As a therapist and someone who believes in recovery and change, I couldn’t be happier about someone making positive changes to their lives. […]

Free download: Coping through an Emotional Crisis

by Sofia Mendoza, LCSW Coping through an emotional crisis can be incredibly tough. Here are some do’s and don’ts on coping that can help you get through it. Please note that these are ‘band-aid’ and temporary skills that one can use to get through the most difficult parts of a crisis. You are urged to […]

A Mental Health Gift Guide to Inspire Healing

by Sofia Mendoza, LCSW It’s officially the holidays and with that can come with gift giving, stress and trauma triggers for many. Since the holidays can trigger painful memories and emotions for many, I always recommend finding things to soothe with during this difficult time. While it’s hard to be going through the difficult time, […]

15 Statements to Convince Yourself to Self-Care: A love letter to all parents

  “What to say” Series: Last week I wrote a blog post on 20 easy 5-minute self-care ideas for parents. Today, I continue the conversation in the guest post, “15 Statements to Convince Yourself to Self-Care: A love letter to all Parents” on The Productive Parent website. I provide 15 statements and quotes that parents […]

“I’m not bad…”

Ever want to shout out at a child, “Stop it, you’re being BAD?” You are definitely not alone. Parenting, caregiving, teaching children requires lots of patience and skill especially when they are not complying. Growing up, I knew a lot of kids who heard this from teachers, siblings, and well-meaning neighbors. These kids didn’t listen, […]

What to Say: It’s OK to not be OK

‘WHAT TO SAY’ Series: Recently mental health awareness efforts on social and public media have been growing exponentially. It makes me super happy that folks are talking about it from a public health perspective and making it’s way to people’s instagram, Facebook and Pinterest accounts and even music playlists as different artists are writing and […]

Grieving after an Affair

Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D wrote the amazing guide book, “After the Affair” (this is an affiliate link) for couples struggling after an affair. She is able to break down such complex dynamics that occur in a relationship and/or in an individual when an affair occurs. She labels the partner who didn’t cheat as the “hurt […]