The beginning of a new year brings with it the tradition to make resolutions for self improvement for the upcoming year. The previous year's end presents an opportunity to look back and reflect on our lives. It presents an opportunity to analyze our personal lifestyle...
Although everyone has experienced sadness in their lives, the sadness that occurs during the holiday season is a unique feeling. Especially felt during November and December, holiday depression is commonly referred to as the "holiday blues". The holidays are associated with festivities and Christmas and...
Anger is a form of our emotional state. The intensity behind anger often varies from annoyance/irritation to an intense state of rage and fury. Anger, in its inception, is completely normal for a human being. Everybody gets angry at some point in their life. The...
Child therapy resembles therapy and counseling that is similar to what is experienced by adults. Therapy, in and of itself, offers a space that is safe for the child to come out with his or her problems. It offers an empathetic shoulder, not to cry...
The emotional fallout of the pandemic is pushing some folks to quit their jobs. Even if they've been able to work with the bare minimum of exposure to the virus, there is a general degree of stress and anxiety that they can't ignore. Some people...
As unprecedented and overwhelming as the coronavirus pandemic has been, it is noteworthy to consider a fact- human beings have a wonderful ability to adapt to circumstances. It’s perfectly normal to feel stressed out now and then. As a result of the pandemic itself, and...
Depression is a commonly seen disorder of the mind. If you have lost interest in life, like to be alone and/or consistently feel sad, you are more likely suffering from mood disorder, or depression. It is not uncommon for people to go through mood changes. Feelings...
The term ‘eco-anxiety’ refers to a serious mental health condition in which one constantly worries about ecological damage or environmental disaster. It is the state of persistently worrying about the future of Earth. There are several terms related to this sickness- ‘eco angst’, ‘climate change...
These are unprecedented times. Life as we know it has changed for the time being. We don't know when or if things will be back to normal. The world is struggling with a pandemic never seen before. While different illnesses have different symptoms and aftereffects, COVID...
Anxiety is an emotional response of your body to stress. It is the fear of what’s going to happen next. For instance, attending an interview or first day of college may cause nervousness for some people. Feeling nervous is nothing to worry about. It happens for...
Winter has different effects on different people. Some of the common things like minimal exposure to sunlight and exposure to sudden weather changes can affect people's physical and mental state. Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is known to affect millions of people around the world....
Experiencing changes in social life and watching friends and relatives falling ill can take a toll on people's mental health. Large scale pandemics like COVID can sometimes lead to job loss and changes in economic conditions. This is another trigger for stress in adults. Stress and...
Every marriage is different and has to be perceived as such. There is no “right” time to go in for marriage counseling. Every case is deemed as individualistic and married couples may opt for counseling at any point in their marriage. This may be at...
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR for short, is a psychotherapy that is used to treat people who have gone through emotional distress. This distress could have been the result of certain life experiences or a single event in the person's life. About EMDR Originally, the...
When you experience a loss in life, the feeling that accompanies it is called grief. It is most commonly associated with the death of someone important in your life. However, you may also experience grief in connection to other losses like losing a job, chronic...
A lot of us take very good care of our physical well-being from eating right to exercising regularly. But what about your mental health? Do you take care of your emotional, psychological, and social well-being as much as your physical health? Mental health is extremely...
Postpartum depression (also known as postnatal depression or PPD) is a mood disorder that arises after childbirth. While postpartum depression can occur at any time within the first year, symptoms typically appear between two weeks to a month after delivery. Postpartum depression is a serious...
Online therapy (also referred to as tele-therapy, virtual therapy, telemedicine therapy, and E-Therapy) is readily available. Colorado online therapy is the delivery of online services - from a licensed therapist to a client located anywhere in Colorado. This type of therapy is delivered through a live...
Seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD or seasonal depression, is a condition that affects millions of people. It is more common during the winter months when the days are shorter, hence its name. The symptoms tend to wane once spring sets in. People who suffer...
Cognitive therapy & schema A schema in psychology is a cognitive thought pattern or behavior that helps organize and decipher different categories of information we receive from our external world. It can be explained as a mental structure of pre-existing ideas and beliefs, a psychological framework...
Ready to schedule an appointment? Schedule online or call 303-986-4197. At some time in our lives, all of us feel overwhelmed and might need skilled assistance to cope with our problems in life. The issues of each day can at times feel considerably debilitating. And sometimes we...
Getting through the holidays can be difficult with all the planning and preparing, but it doesn’t have to be. With everything that goes into making the holiday great, one of the most overlooked activities is self-care. Taking care of yourself is the key to creating...
Medicine is used for various physical and mental ailments. It is meant to improve our health and quality of life. But are you aware that medicines can have serious side effects? Various medicines prescribed by different doctors can work against each other and ruin your...
Anxiety Have you ever felt scared for reasons you couldn’t explain to anyone else? Maybe you felt your chest grow tight, your arms grow numb, and you felt unnaturally aware of your own heartbeat when you normally never hear it. This can be because of an...
When most people hear the word “anxiety,” they think about sweaty palms being unable to sit still, and the jitters. This is true for many people but doesn’t illustrate the complete picture. Anxiety is a far more complex condition than most people realize. The WHO estimates...
Kaiser Permanente has around 13 million members with a variety of health plans. If you're one of them, you may be wondering how to find the best provider for you.This post will outline a few ways to help you find the provider who best meets...
“Everyday is a second chance.” — Anonymous Have you ever had days when you hated the thought of waking up in the morning? Maybe you’ve been struck by a feeling of apathy and felt as if all your efforts would never pay off in the long run....
Marriage is often depicted as a dreamy affair, but real life is quick to help couples realize that marriage is not as rosy as it is made out to be. Marriage is hard work. Fights and disagreements are normal between any couple. However, you need...
Anxiety levels are extreme among Gen Z, including millennial populations in communities all around the world. As per the 2020 Deloitte Millennials Report, almost half of Gen Zs and Millennials say they're depressed all or much of the time. The report, which was published in...
It can be painful to admit your child needs more help than you are equipped to provide. Not every child is the same, and everyone has their own needs. The only thing that matters is that your child receives the necessary help that they need...
EMDR therapy is quickly gaining recognition as an effective form of treatment for trauma and PTSD. Reputable organizations like the World Health Organization, Department of Defense, and American Psychiatric Association have recognized the effectiveness of EMDR therapy for trauma patients. EMDR therapy is also being...
There are many actions you can take to manage your social anxiety. At any given point, social anxiety disorder is expected to affect about 12 percent of the population. People with social anxiety struggle with many aspects of their lives. In some cases, people with...
For abuse survivors, seeking therapy can often be a difficult decision, and may not be a conscious, chosen path to coping until years afterward. Throughout a person’s life, abuse can come in many forms—including physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, psychological and financial mistreatment—and unfortunately, the list...
Have you ever wondered, “Am I an emotional eater?” The truth is most of us, at some point in our lives, will question whether or not we are making the right choices when it comes to food. As we get older, our bodies grow and...
For those suffering from chronic pain, learning how to manage the physical symptoms is often just the beginning of a complex journey toward healthy living. Persistent bodily pain can easily take a toll on your mental health, leading to unpleasant changes in mood, behavior and...
The choice to seek individual therapy is a significant moment in a person’s life. When someone decides to see a therapist, it is often a reaction to troubling thoughts and behaviors (such as anxiety/depression), a recent trauma/life event or other ongoing issues that make it...
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a commonly used, evidence-based practice that’s employed to treat mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. While perhaps not for everyone, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (or “CBT”) treatment has proven effective for a number of individuals who wish to change irrational...
Therapy for Managing Stress and Trauma: Adjustment Disorder Many times, people have trouble adjusting to a difficult or stressful event such as the loss of a loved one or a natural disaster such as a storm or flood, or a violation of their individual rights. Over time,...
Biofeedback therapy is a form of treatment that is used to help patients suffering from attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression, anxiety, addiction, and other conditions by controlling involuntary mental processes which may be contributing to these problems. Through biofeedback, patients may learn to control their heart...
Play therapy is a technique used in therapy for children. In play therapy, a therapist interacts with the child by interpreting play behavior and communication. Play therapy also uses a child's play to help him or her manage the emotional and behavioral difficulties that interfere with...
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Or EMDR Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing or EMDR is a therapy technique that is used to treat patients who are troubled by traumatic memories. The technique focuses on the emotions and negative feelings triggered by trauma. EMDR is most commonly used...
Conduct Disorder Conduct disorder is a term used to describe various emotional and behavioral problems that are commonly observed in adolescents. Teens suffering from conduct disorder are generally anti-social and have a tough time adhering to proper social conduct, rules, and norms. They can be aggressive...
Oppositional Defiant Disorder Oppositional defiant disorder or ODD is a common condition with children. It is a general tendency to oppose authority and includes back talk and disobedience. While some amount of disobedience and disrespect is exhibited by children of all ages, if this behavior far exceeds what...
All who struggle with panic symptoms or other types of severe anxiety have individualized patterns in which these issues are expressed; however, an especially common anxiety symptom is extreme fear or dread. Symptoms Examples of excessive tension and irrational fear include: Overpowering feelings of stress and anxiety...
What is psychosis? People often have a skewed impression of psychosis, which may refer to the symptoms of a mental disorder rather than to a disorder itself. The condition often manifests as hallucinations, delusions, extreme confusion and other forms of reality-impaired thinking and perception and may...
What is EMDR? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of psychotherapy crafted to reduce negative thoughts and feelings arising from traumatic experiences. The primary targets of EMDR are not only on the traumatic circumstances themselves but also the unpleasant symptoms and emotions resulting...
Dealing With Childhood Trauma Childhood is the time to play, have fun, socialize and learn new things. But not all children are privileged to have a fulfilling and happy childhood. Some children become victims of abuse - physical, emotional or sexual, making their childhood the most...
Signs of Emotional Difficulty in Adolescents Mental health issues can strike anyone, irrespective of their age, nationality, gender and physical location. But emotional or mental problems in adolescents can be especially concerning. Adolescence is not an easy time of life, and as a result it's common for...
Signs Of Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder is not at all a rare condition in the United States. According to a study conducted by Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), about 5.7 million adults in the US currently are affected by bipolar disorder. The condition is often...
Get Over Traumatic Experiences With Therapy It is surprising to know how many people have faced trauma of various kinds. So many people have fallen victims to crimes of racism, sexism, violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, combat…the list is quite extensive. No matter how much traumatized people...
Family Therapy – Reconciling Problems at Home Every family has its own issues. There is no family that does not have its fair share of quarrels, rivalries, squabbles and so on. However, sometimes things can get out of hand – but the members of the family...
There are various kinds of depression each with distinctive qualities, triggers, and results. Being aware of which kind of depression you are coping with will go a long way toward managing signs and symptoms in addition to choosing the best treatment plan. Major depression Major Depression is...
Substance abuse is a disease. Without professional help, your loved one may not recover. Due to the sensitive nature of this issue, never take it upon yourself to tell your loved one to stop abusing alcohol or drugs. Instead, calmly tell your loved one why you believe...
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) sufferers normally have both obsessions and compulsions, although some people may experience obsessions alone. The seriousness of symptomotology tends to vary, but it often gets worse over time, especially throughout occasions of stress. Here are some examples of OCD variations: • Excessive Washing (e.g., washing hands...
People with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) experience excessive, intrusive and undesirable ideas (obsessions) supported by compulsive actions whose purpose is to superstitiously reduce fear, anxiety,or the chances of catastrophe. These sufferers frequently recognize that their obsessive ideas and compulsive actions are exaggerated and even irrational, but nonetheless they feel at...
People with panic attacks have multiple and often unpredictable episodes of intense fear which may be accompanied by sweating, chest discomfort, rapid heart beat, nausea, rapid breathing, dissociation, tingling, numbness, feeling "unreal," and/or other responses associated with a heightened state of the sympathetic nervous system. Panic...
Here are some signs that aid in recognition of a serious drug or alcohol problem that may be developing in self or others: 1) Needing more and more of the addicting substance (drugs or alcohol). 2) Keeping the company of addicts. 3) Using the substance all day long. 4)...
According to a study just published by an international team of researchers, people who have suffered childhood abuse are more likely to be diagnosed with major depression after reaching adulthood, even more likely if they have inherited genes which cause a predisposition to the disorder. Adult patients who...
The beliefs you will have about yourself often appear to be statements of truth, although truly they're really only opinions. They tend to be based on the experiences we've had in life and the messages that these experiences have given us about the type of...
There are some common foods which can help boost energy and emotion quite a bit. To determine which of these are especially right for you: 1) Eat one of these foods at a time, going methodically down the following list; 2) Journal what your reactions are one...
The first step is to fully recognize the tendency to get overly attached to one thing after another, substituting one addictive substance or activity for that of another. Once this recognition has occurred then a therapy program of change can truly begin. Naturally, the substitute addiction...
When it is alcohol abuse, drug abuse, or an addiction to such things as prescription drugs, there are encouraging and nurturing strategies to assist your family member with the habit before it worsens. Educate Yourself on the Dependency It's important to first understand the inner workings of the...
Often people seem highly satisfied with their lifestyles, but if everyone is so happy then why is our society so affected by drug or alcohol consumption, abuse and addiction? We may use these terms interchangeably, but there are major differences: Experimentation Only Alone or with others, one...
Title VI provides new state and federal powers to reduce and prevent insurance abuse, including Medicare and Medicaid. Drug and medical product companies will have report most gifts. The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute will study and support clinical outcomes on new therapies. Nursing homes...
In yet another effort by the Affordable Care Act to help regular Americans, this section establishes a National Healthcare Workforce Commission to plan for the needs of workers and to expand the healthcare workforce. Major expansions for community health centers are also supported. An exceptionally good source of information...
In the history of our nation, Title IV is the most purposeful and aspiring legislation ever written to prevent illness and disability. Data-based clinical prevention will be provided in many insurance policies without consumer cost. Chain restaurants must post the calorie content of their selections. An exceptionally good...
Title III: Improving the cost, quality, effectiveness, and compassion of health and mental health care in the US. This title improves the effectiveness, level of compassion, and quality of health and mental health care in the US. Medicare enrollees receive lower drug costs and preventive health...
Title II addresses Medicaid. Low income people are now eligible, not just those who are disabled or who are parents or are children. Medicaid grows as a national program with improved standards for eligibility, enrollment, and quality. An exceptionally good source of information on the Affordable...
Title I. Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans This title prevents health insurers from imposing pre-existing, annual benefit limits and lifetime benefit limits upon coverage. Most Americans are required to obtain coverage, and low income Americans will have subsidies to help the afford these policies. An...
Obamacare is the latest in a long history of attempts to address and repair the nation's health care problems. For example, the Nixon administration in the 1970s introduced the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) as a proposed solution to the continued rise in the nation's health...
As a public service, Westside Behavioral Care in Denver, CO, is providing a series of blog posts explaining several important aspects of the Affordable Care Act (known colloquially as Obamacare). The primary source for these summaries is a seminar recorded on DVD and recently published by...
Written by therapist Annie Hutt I am trained in family systems and I have learned to see individuals through the lens of their family, community and culture. None of us was born in a vacuum. We influence and are influenced by those around us. Some of...
Movies as homework. With any couple, if there is willingness from the start to work on the issues mentioned in Part I and Part II—unmet expectations and related resentment, difficulty communicating, not being able to argue like adults, waning romantic connection and many others—then that willingness...
Saving the Relationship or Not? Reasons Why Couples Enter Treatment So the marriage begins and the two people in it might realize that they are not as committed as they thought, or they realize the other person doesn’t love them as much as they thought, or...
Part One: Does the Institution of Marriage Stand a Chance in Today’s World? I believe in marriage, as an institution, as a concept, as a lifestyle choice. I think lasting lifelong marriage between two people is possible, even in this time where one of two...
America’s inadequate mental health care was thrust into the spotlight in 2013 following the stabbing of Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds by his mentally ill son. The younger Deeds, who committed suicide after the attack, had undergone a psychiatric evaluation but was turned away by...
Prescription drugs are playing an increasingly larger role in U.S. life, with nearly half of all Americans taking one or more medications. On one hand, more people than ever are receiving effective treatment for chronic conditions and chronic pain. But doctors and pharmacists also find...
Despite great strides in our understanding of mental illness and vast improvements in the dialogue surrounding it, too many still suffer in silence. Tens of millions of Americans face mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). National Mental...
We continue to experience tragedies world-wide. If you watch the news or read the paper you’ve seen heart-wrenching photos of the families who have lost loved ones. It’s so difficult to watch because you yourself might have feelings of grief, putting yourself in the shoes...