Sweitzer Counseling

Are you worried about your teen? Adolescence can be a challenging time, filled with emotions, transitions, and pressures. Teen counseling offers a safe space to navigate changes, build resilience, and develop healthy coping skills. Whether it's anxiety, self-esteem, or communication, therapy can help teens feel understood and supported.
I would love to talk to you about your teen and how I might be able to help. Reach out for a free consultation. https://loom.ly/D8Km6zY

"The most important thing may not be what you do, but what you do after what you've done."
This phrase is one of the most profound principles I've learned in repairing any relationship. It recognizes that to be human is to make mistakes, but we can recover. Having the courage to admit you lost your temper or said something hurtful - and making real efforts to repair and make amends - can mend many relationship ruptures.
This is especially powerful in parent-child dynamics because it also models for a child a healthy relationship skill. Yet it's also vital in adult relationships, especially in intimate ones.
Can you think of a time when you did not make things right after a mistake or disagreement? Maybe it's not too late!

Journaling is a powerful exercise for growth and healing, is backed by research, and yet many still struggle to follow through with it or do it consistently.
Sentence stems can help kick-start the process. Here are a few helpful ones:
✅ When I'm around this person, I feel...
✅ The thing I'm struggling with most in this decision is...
✅ If I really allowed myself to listen to myself in this situation and trust myself, I would...
Do you journal? Share your experiences below.

“Emotional Agility” is a book I recommend written by Harvard psychologist Susan David. In it she talks about the power of acknowledging and feeling negative emotions and research to support how it makes us more resilient. You can also watch Dr. David’s impactful TED Talk: https://loom.ly/GlAibJ4

The Making Caring Common project at Harvard interviewed over 10,000 middle and high school students about their values and the messages about values they're getting from parents and other adults in their lives. About 80% of the youth in the survey report that their parents are more concerned about achievement or happiness than caring for others. A similar percentage of youth perceive teachers as prioritizing students’ achievements over their caring.
We can tell our kids that being honest, or kind to others is important, but it's essential for us to notice what we are paying attention to, where our resources are going, and what we're modeling for our kids and other young people in our lives. As the saying goes, "It's not what's taught, it's what's caught." Let's be mindful of whether and how we are living out values of kindness, fairness, empathy, self-responsibility, etc. Impressionable people are watching.
Understand More: https://loom.ly/apkZUf8

The Children We Mean to Raise: The Real Messages Adults Are Sending About Values — Making Caring Common Our youth’s values appear to be awry, and the messages that we’re unintentionally sending as adults may be at the heart of the problem. According to our recent national survey, a large majority of youth across a wide spectrum of races, cultures, and classes appear to value aspects of personal su...

If you find yourself having a hard time with time management, regardless of whether you have ADHD, a timer can help.
Many people experience "time blindness," and have a hard time estimating time. Timers create external structure and cue the brain to take action (like initiating the steps to get to school or work). We use them in cooking, sports, etc., but they're so valuable in many other settings for helping with focus and transitions, and even in having an attuned conversation with a loved one (where the timer can help to prevent interruptions). And since smart phones have built-in timers, it's easier than ever to access this effective tool.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 🍀
This is your reminder that good relationships don't happen by chance -- it takes effort and attention to be "lucky in love." If you feel like your relationship could use improvement, reach out and let's talk about how couples therapy can help.

Family therapy pioneer Virginia Satir identified the "Five Freedoms" that she saw as vital for psychological development. She wisely knew that many of us learn things in our families when we're small that we never unlearn and can get in the way of forming healthy relationships and realizing our full humanity and potential.

5 Freedoms

A powerful truth, expressed beautifully by Fred "Mr." Rogers.

Interesting fact: researchers estimate that early humans walked an average of 5 - 10 miles per day - way more than the most active among us today.
Our bodies were built to move! Make exercise part of your life and you will reap physical AND mental rewards.

When an argument escalates to the point of impasse, taking a 20-minute break can do a world of good. Here are some suggestions for regulating your nervous system during that break. Just remember...it's important to set a time to revisit the argument. Stepping away doesn't solve anything - but it does allow cooler heads to prevail when the point of contention is revisited.
If you have other suggestions, leave them in the comments below. ⬇️

The next time you encounter anger (either yours or someone else's), think about what could be behind that emotion. What comes up for you when you take a moment to reflect? Is it time to address the root of your own anger? Does understanding others' underlying emotions give you more compassion or empathy?