The Wellness Diary

Insights, advice, new research, tips and tricks, and new resources to help you with your mental health journey.

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Episode 45: It's Not About Sex: Healing Intimacy Issues That Lead To Compulsive Sexual Behaviors

In this episode, I am joined by Andrew Susskind, LCSW who is an author, podcast host and therapist. He specializes in compulsive sexual behaviors. Andrew shares his experience working with clients struggling with these behaviors, his own journey to recovery and brings insight into what we can do to begin normalizing and healing these types of addictive behaviors through vulnerability and trauma work.

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4-Comfortable Sleeping Positions For Couples

We already know that in order for a relationship to last, two people have to be compatible with one another in most things. Their dreams, plans for the future and even sense of humor should match at least a little- but the same applies to sleep habits too.

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Money Anxiety: Creative Ways to Alleviate Financial Stress

If you’ve lost your job in the last few months, you’re likely dealing with a layer of stress you had no way of planning for -- and searching for a new position doesn’t do much to alleviate your anxiety. Hunting for jobs is tough and comes with a lot of rejection, which can be overwhelming for many of us. It’s OK to wait for the right opportunity to come along, but there are always bills to be paid and life to be lived -- money is simply a necessity of life.

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Episode 43: Coping With Covid-19

Jillian Ziesmer, LMFT and LPCC joins me to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on our mental health. Jillian dives into easy to use coping skills that can be used to deal with anxiety or depression that might be coming up for you at this time.

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Understanding Trauma Bonds In Toxic Relationships

Trauma bonding is a psychological response to a form of abuse. It occurs when the abused person forms an unhealthy bond with the person who abuses them. The person experiencing the abuse may develop extreme sympathy for the abusive person, which becomes reinforced by the cycles of abuse, followed by total remorse. Stockholm syndrome is one of a type of trauma bond.

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8-Top Supplements for Brain Fog

Can’t help but fall asleep during your Zoom meeting? Coffee just not doing its job anymore? It might be worth a shot to try out a few supplements for brain fog. Read on for our top picks that can help get you back to a clear mind.

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Why Is Substance Abuse Among Older Adults Being Unrecognized?

As we get older, various medications and prescription drugs become important to our health. Whether you are enrolled in Medicare Part D or pay for these prescription drugs out of pocket, there is no doubt they play an important role in keeping us healthy. They treat a wide variety of illnesses, ailments and conditions many of us will deal with as we age. Unfortunately, some individuals will abuse these prescription drugs and they can become a problem.

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Toxic Positivity: It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

Toxic positivity refers to a pattern of behavior wherein a person adopts a lifestyle that engages in being positive at all points of time no matter what, because ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. It involves rejecting the negative triggers of your life, thus investing all your attention and energy into the positive stimulants. How come a lifestyle that sounds like a mental detox, be labeled as toxic?

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5-Tips To Master Non-Violent Communication

Conflict resolution is a difficult skill to master. Especially in the context of romantic relationships. It requires a variety of skills and including but not limited to high levels of self-awareness, the ability to recognize and tolerate uncomfortable emotions, the courage to stand up for what you need while simultaneously empathizing with, understanding, and considering your partner’s needs. It also requires a social tact and the ability to communicate said needs in a way such that your partner will receive them instead of encouraging defensiveness.

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How To Up-Level Your Conflict Resolution Strategies

You may prefer one of the conflict resolution strategies discussed over the others, all of these strategies can be used effectively in certain situations. For example, if the issue is minor and won't have lasting consequences, it may be in your best interest to accommodate the other party rather than to try to serve your own needs. However, if the issue is severe and will impact multiple people, it may make sense to choose a strategy with more assertiveness.

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Boost Your Brain: 5-Vitamin Supplements that Help Aid Memory

The benefits of vitamin supplements are incredibly far-reaching. They can help aid bodily functions such as digestion, metabolism, and immuno-response. As science has progressed, researchers have continued to back the idea that vitamin supplements play a large role in. longevity. When combined with a proper diet, adequate sleep patterns, and daily exercise, a noticeable impact on life quality can be seen.

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5-Simple Ways to Help Someone With Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal part of life, with everyone experiencing it to varying degrees. Anxiety is one of the things that has allowed the human species to survive and evolve, allowing us to assess situations and react accordingly to them. And while it is normal for everyone to experience feelings of anxiousness at some point in their lives, many people suffer from more serious and at times debilitating forms of anxiety disorders.

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5-Uncomfortable Conversations to Have With Your Therapist

In therapy, if the client-therapist relationship is strong, it is much more likely that therapy will be successful and that the client will reach their goals. In fact, it may be the most influential factor in creating successful outcomes other than the overall skill and competence of the therapist themself.

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The Skeletons in Your Mind

Jung was very well known for contributing new concepts to psychology that invoked a sense of imagination and symbolism, and simultaneously, an appeal to science and rational skepticism. Jung is probably best known for developing a framework to understand our conscious and unconscious by looking at it through a prism of archetypes and symbols as well as looking at our own past events to understand the present.

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