When our loves ones are struggling, typical holiday gifts may seem irrelevant or even insensitive. How do you choose a meaningful and useful gift that shows how much you care? Because I love finding the perfect gift and enjoy helping others do
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The coronavirus is far from over, but most children are returning to school and other activities. A refrain I’ve heard from parents is that the pandemic forced them to re-evaluate their priorities and how they want to spend their time. Maybe you
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Be sure to check out the last post, “Find your chill: Parent edition.” Spending time in nature sounds like a nice thing to do, but it’s more than that. Time outdoors actually promotes mental health. Interested in learning more? For starters, you
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It’s been 14 months since most of North Carolina shut down, and just as spring is showing her loveliest self, we’re seeing a partial return to the way life used to be. No, Covid-19 is not over. (Will it ever be?) But
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In our last post we looked at many symptoms of anxiety, some which are often overlooked or misunderstood. I want to focus today on children. Maybe because we assume kids are carefree, maybe because we’ve heard too many times that “kids are
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When I talk about mental disorders, I find it helpful to look at the definition. In other words, what criteria would a clinician look for if they were assigning a diagnosis? Giving a list of criteria can be problematic for a variety
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“Oh, that’s just my OCD kicking in.” “I just had a panic attack!” “Deciding what to wear Saturday night is giving me anxiety.” “I have such a phobia of talking on the phone.” Ever hear comments like these? All of the statements
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A common misconception about stress is that we cannot escape it as long as the stressor remains. In a sense, this is true. If watching the news raises your blood pressure, for example, you can turn off the television. If joining the
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You’ve probably heard before that stress can affect your physical health, but maybe you’ve questioned if it’s really true. Maybe you’ve wondered: Do people say this for attention? Do they exaggerate so you’ll take their stress more seriously? Are they hypochondriacs? Do
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Many caregivers experience chronic stress, yet have enough resources to not descend into full-blown burnout. In this case, parents and caregivers are often lulled into thinking: I can push through this. What choice do I have anyway?This will never change. Why bother
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