Waterloo Counseling Center

Join us Monday, July 29th for our Proud Partners Support Group! Meet with other cisgender partners of trans individuals for support in our goal of being the strongest allies to the people we love! Link in bio to RSVP.

Join us this Monday at 5:30pm for our Transfemme Therapy Group! Come meet and be supported by other transfeminine individuals! Link in bio to submit an intake form.

Join us at 7pm on Thursday, July 24th for our in-person Statewide Q***r Support Group! Expect comfy vibes, cute lil snacks and creative energy. We have limited availability so RSVP at the link in our bio before spots fill up!

Celebrate Pride with community by practicing self care with Waterloo Counseling Center at the Statewide Q***r Support Group's FIRST in-person meeting on Wednesday 6/26! We meet up at 7pm in South Austin. Click the link in the bio to reserve your free tickets and get all of the deets. Spots are limited but there is still currently some space available. Expect comfy vibes, cute lil snacks and creative energy.

Pride Month is a time to celebrate your journey! It’s also a time to honor your true self with self-love and setting healthy boundaries.

✨ Embrace who you are with self-kindness and compassion.

✨ Know your limits, take time to recharge and protect your peace.

✨ Remember that taking care of your mental health is a powerful act of pride.

You are worthy and beautiful and deserving of love and kindness!

Pride and anxiety? We've got you covered!

• Plan ahead for events that you want to attend
• Give yourself time to prepare for an event
• Create outfits that make you feel confident
• Go with a friend
• Remember people are there to celebrate a common/shared experience
• Challenge negative thought patterns/beliefs
• Be kind to yourself and others

Join us Thursday, March 21st for our Define Healthy Intimacy Relationship Group! A peer support group for exploring healthy relationships and intimacy. Link in bio for more info.

Interested in becoming a peer facilitator? We will train you! Apply before the March 16th deadline.

Sign up here: https://www.waterloocounseling.org/peer-facilitator-application

Are you interested in trans-specific group therapy? Look no further! We offer both Trans Femme and Trans Masc therapy groups, virtually!

Sign up here: https://app.waitlistplus.com/WaterlooNew/Portal/Signup?lId=6397

Join us tomorrow for Art & Heal, a safe space for LGBTQIA+ people to gather biweekly to explore their creative and emotional landscapes!

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-heal-tickets-773864919807?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Join us every other Tuesday starting (date?) for our Resilience Workshop Peer-led support group.

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/resiliency-workshop-peer-led-self-care-skills-psychoeducational-group-tickets-609954409057

Navigating family, loneliness, or the pressures of spending money around the holiday season? We've got some tried and true (we use them too) tips for you!

This , we want to recognize Bebe Moore Campbell and her impact on mental health advocacy for marginalized communities. Today we stand in solidarity and honor of her legacy 💛

Happy Pride baddies 🌈🌈

Whether it’s your first time getting tested, your first PrEP appointment, or your first time accessing gender-affirming care, we want to hear your story. For us, access to healthcare is what Pride is about. Join us this Pride at events across Texas, and let’s celebrate 🎉

Take some time today to care for yourself - mind, body, and soul. Learn to recognize when you need a break and nurture yourself so that you can better care for others.

So far this month, we have learned a few new skills to be aware of and help us manage our mental health. Thank you for joining us on this journey so far!

We know we always talk about how important self-care and self-compassion are. When we are passionately focused on caring for others, we often don't think about ourselves or the care we need. I'm looking at you, flight attendant, with your magical but practical metaphor for life, telling me to put my own oxygen mask on before helping the person beside me. That is so much easier said than done on a daily basis.

We set high expectations for ourselves. For others, we might have more compassion and understanding and give more grace, but how do we do that for ourselves? How do we make space for ourselves in our day-to-day without feeling guilty? How do we offer self-compassion to ourselves?

Try this:
- Pause
- Close your eyes and take 3 deep breaths
- You have come so far and grown into the amazing person sitting here today
- Take this one moment, appreciate the caring and powerful person you are, that you have created and uncovered all for yourself
- You deserve this moment of rest, this moment of pause and acknowledgment

It's ok to not be ok - don't be afraid to reach out for help and talk about your mental health. You are not alone 💕

Words are important. Our development of language is a crucial part of our experience. We use it to communicate with others, navigate the world, and most importantly, understand ourselves. Self-talk, or internal dialogue, can be passed on from previous generations or gained from experiences with others who do not understand themselves or feel safe to pursue understanding.

Consider the thought experiment of being given a box of stuff, some of the content contains stuff from generations of family members, old functions of society, and people that respond from their own experience of pain. Some of the stuff in that box can be useful, helpful, and nurturing, while other things are no longer needed and require an upgrade. Consider the old Nokia phones some of us remember from the early 2000s; they served their function back then but didn’t support the progression in technology that we have now, such as maps and email. (Definitely would be difficult to attend a Teams meeting.)

Some forms of conventional therapy refer to internal dialogue as a function of cognition, meaning belief systems about yourself, which can impact how we move and perceive the world. Some examples of this are:

Observe if you use any of the phrases to communicate and describe yourself in situations.

- I’m not good enough.
- I don't deserve love.
- I am a bad person.
- I am incompetent.
- I am worthless/inadequate.
- I am shameful.
- I am not lovable.
- I am a failure.

Consider what it would be like to use the examples below instead,

- I am good enough/fine as I am.
- I deserve love; I can have love.
- I am a good (loving) person.
- I am competent.
- I am worthy; I am worthwhile.
- I am honorable.
- I am lovable.
- I can succeed.

Stand with us as we continue to stand for Trans Healthcare!

Senate Bill 14—which would ban age-appropriate, medically necessary, lifesaving care for trans youth—passed the Texas House of Representatives. While this outcome is disheartening, our pursuit for health justice is far from over.

There is still a chance for legislators to stop this bill from going to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 14 now heads back to the Senate for that chamber to concur with the changes. If SB 14 moves to a conference committee, members of the Texas House and Senate will aim to reconcile the differences between the versions passed in both chambers



Photo Credit:
Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman
Gabriel C. Pérez / K*T
Jake Lindley / Sopa Images

Today's mental health quote is from the legendary Glenn Close, who encourages us to shed light on our mental health needs. Be sure to take some time today to be kind to yourself so you can shine 🌟

We know the benefits of adding movement to our lives. Being busy or maybe not having such a great relationship with exercise or our bodies, it can be hard to remember or convince ourselves to get active.

In our own therapy, we have learned to look at movement through the lens of joy. Channeling our inner Marie Kondo here. There is no right or wrong way to move (as long as you're being safe), no right or wrong activity and no right or wrong amount of time or energy to put into physical activity. Instead, focus on what makes you feel good! You deserve to let the struggle go and feel good.

This can look like anything!
- A pole dancing class
- Cycling for the HCRA event ;)
- Going for a run in your neighborhood
- Grabbing a friend for a hike
- Gentle yoga at home or at a class
- 5 or 10 minutes of quick exercise at home
- Practicing your runway walk
- Stretching
- Taking a stroll after dinner
and so much more!

Stuck at work? Getting up and moving during the workday has amazing benefits!
-clear our minds
-help us get more creative
-keep us focused
-boost our mood
-build our resiliency and ability to handle stress
-help prevent burnout

The Emotion Wheel is a tool we use with clients and ourselves. It helps put words to complex emotions, makes us pause and be mindful of what we are feeling, and helps us learn about ourselves and what is under those emotions.

Try this: (adapted from )

1. What is your core (primary) emotion? To understand our emotions and our body's reactions, we must understand the primary emotion underneath any overwhelming feelings. To do this, identify your feeling in the outer circle and follow it inward to the center circle of primary emotions. *****For example, we might feel annoyed that a friend did not call when they said they would. The primary emotion here would be anger.
2. What are the possible causes? The cause for that emotion might be the friend not calling.
3. How are these connected? When we connect the cause and emotion, there is generally an underlying reason for our reaction. The underlying reason in our above example might be that it feels like the friend does not care.
4. What effective action can you now take? Now that we know where the anger and annoyance are really coming from, we might be ready to have a clearer, kinder and more satisfying conversation with the friend.

In this context, we can see that no emotion is good or bad; no emotions need to be "fixed." Emotion is simply information that gives us insights into who we are and what we need and want.

shared some great benefits of using the Emotion Wheel
- Knowing yourself helps avoid downward spirals and overthinking.
- Fostering empathy connects you deeper to yourself and others.
- Gaining emotional maturity to manage conflict.
- Recognizing that all emotions provide important context.

As 2023 Beneficiaries at this year's annual Black Tie Dinner, Texas Health Action is honored to join the “Dessert B4 Dinner" kick-off event. We're so excited to learn the theme for this year’s 42nd Annual Black Tie Dinner!

Caven Enterprises will host the event, which will be held at The Rose Room in Dallas (located upstairs inside S4) at 3911 Cedar Springs Rd. Dallas 75219. Come out and join us! ❤️❤️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Get tickets here: http://ow.ly/OUzk50O8X9s

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It's Mental Health Awareness Month, a national movement to raise awareness about mental health. Together we can help end the stigma surrounding mental health and support the members of our community who are struggling.

We are excited to share that Texas Health Action and our programs, Kind Clinic, TeleKind, and Waterloo Counseling Center are beneficiaries of the Black Tie Dinner in Dallas! raises funds and provides resources for organizations that support LGBTQIA+ needs in North Texas.

Save the date for this year’s Black Tie Dinner presented by : October 28, 2023. More details to come! ❤️❤️

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Such a fantastic ride this weekend with Hill Country Ride for AIDS! Team "Back That Ride Up" would like to thank each and every one of our donors who helped us raise funds for Waterloo Counseling!

Today is the day we Back That Ride Up with Hill Country Ride for AIDS! Come on out and cheer us on as we bike across Hill Country and donate to our cause!

It's that time again for a Pledge Match Challenge from our generous sponsors at Viiv Healthcare. Starting at noon, pledges up to $100 will be matched until the $10,000 is gone!

Donate here: http://ow.ly/omRv50NNXhN

Hill Country Ride for AIDS is the largest fundraiser for organizations providing services to people impacted by HIV.

Our team, Back That Ride Up, is raising funds to support our work at Waterloo Counseling.

Funds raised will help support care like individual and group therapy for people living with HIV who may be uninsured or have difficulty affording therapy.

📢 We've signed on with Equality Texas to oppose anti-LGBTQIA+ extremists’ efforts that invalidate the existence of our neighbors.

🏳️‍🌈 We believe each one of us should have the freedom to define ourselves, pursue our dreams, make private family decisions without government intrusion, and have a good and happy life – without exceptions. LGBTQIA+ Texans and allies deserve lawmakers who will focus on efforts to improve our lives instead of ones that invalidate our existence.

📍Check out the full letter at bit.ly/aifeletter