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Joe Sanok

Is parenting your teen causing conflict?

Parenting teens can be very difficult!

Parenting conflicts with teens is something that most of us have joked about amongst our fellow parents. If you are raising a teen, it’s highly probable that  you’ve wanted to scream, pull your own hair out, or hide in your bedroom from the adolescent drama and ridiculousness. However, there are times when conflict with your teen can escalate to extremes that appear “beyond the norm.” This is when conflict begins to overtake your household. There is no joking about it with other parents anymore! Your household begins to feel like a crisis center with no hope of repair or resolution.

Have you considered counseling with your teen?

If you are a parent who falls into the category of “high conflict” with your teen, then it comes to no surprise that you are here reading about possible solutions. It is beneficial for parents and adolescents to utilize a therapist to help navigate through these conflicts. From these sessions, the hope is that there will be better communication and resolution for the core issues that brought you into our office. A therapist can also provide different parenting methods that may be more effective with your teen, and teach everyone new skills.  

We have qualified therapists here that are able to help.

Parenting adolescents is tough, and we know how helpful it can be to have a third party help navigate the conflict. At mental wellness, we have experience working with core teen issues, various parenting conflicts that can arise, and methods to help hurdle through adolescence. If you are interested in more information, please call our office or fill out our contact information page! 

Joe Sanok

Are you looking for Divorce Counseling?

DIVORCE- Are you looking for a divorce counselor? 

Talking about divorce isn’t easy. It can be messy and heartbreaking, and it can stir up emotions of  anger, resentment, guilt, sadness, amongst many others. Divorce usually eludes to the idea that there is a broken relationship that is unsalvageable. Many couples agree to therapy, hoping to prevent divorce when they start seeing signs of dysfunction, and others decide to utilize therapy during a divorce to help navigate it’s messy waters.  In either circumstance, the individuals have made a conscious choice to improve their mental health in the process and seek alternative answers.

There are many reasons why couples consider divorce.

It’s no joke that marriage can be one of the hardest relationships you will ever have to maintain. There are many things in life that cause thorns in your marriage. Is it poor communication, addiction, infidelity, boredom, life transitions, differences in parenting styles, finances, excessive control? The list can keep going… but I am sure that it is easy for you to identify the biggest thorns in your marriage. This leads us to the big question; Would you rather let the thorns fester, or would you rather pull out those thorns and allow the healing to finally begin?

What does a divorce counseling session look like?

If you haven’t pursued therapy before, you may not know what to expect. In general, the couple will begin by attending an intake session together. Here, both parties will give their own background information, and have a chance to communicate their perceived, core issues. From here, the couple and the therapist will create a plan to work through these issues and navigate, one step at a time. Because each couple is unique, the duration of therapy is going to be individualized, and not necessarily a set length of time.

What can we gain from divorce counseling?

Have you considered how therapy can prevent your potential divorce? The hope is that through therapy, you and your significant other can learn new ways of handling messy emotions. The right therapist will help navigate, and create a safe environment for healthy conflict resolution. Perhaps, a third party will be beneficial for your marriage because an “outside perspective” will help create balance and direction. There is also the benefit of learning new methods of communication and rekindling friendship with each other. Ask yourself, what does your ideal marriage look like? Once you have created that vision within, the next step is getting the courage (and the right therapist) to make it happen!

Changing the stereotype: Casey Kiley
Joe Sanok

Changing the stereotype: Casey Kiley

How do you really feel about counseling and coaching?

I want to change the stereotype of “Mental Wellness.” I want people to look forward to a good individual therapy session, as opposed to feeling strain and angst because they are coming to therapy to “work on their issues.” To put things in a different perspective, this is similar to the difference between taking a yoga or workout class once a week to maintain a healthy lifestyle  versus going to the hospital because your health spiraled downward to the point of needing immediate attention.

Get it?

In simple terms, Don’t treat your mental health therapy session like a hospital visit. Treat it like your favorite workout class. Do you ever notice that during a really good workout, your muscles are getting pushed to their limits and there is a bit of fatigue. In the moment, it sucks a little bit, but afterward you feel good about yourself, a little more empowered, and energetic. Other days, your workouts are a little less strenuous and you barely notice the exercise; Like a good paddleboard session on the water or hike through the sand dunes.

This is exactly how I want you to view mental health!

Sometimes, you come to your session to enjoy some mental release, and other times, you have to work on things a bit to see progress in the long run. For many of us, it’s easy to view the logic of preventive care when we are talking about physical health, but it takes a bit of coaxing and convincing to apply the same concept to your mental health.

Taking care of your mental health can be a great experience for yourself, and it can be a positive outlet throughout your week. Essentially, it’s uninterrupted time to focus on you! Some weeks, you might have some frustrating issues to work on that cause a little bit of strain, but other times, you have the opportunity to talk about the future and what you want to get out of this life. We all have goals that we wish we would put more time into, and one of the most beneficial and time effective tactics for yourself is to pencil in a set, uninterrupted time to  focus on your growth!

Enjoy the process and embrace the growth! 

Taking this uninterrupted, focused time provides preventative care for future chaos. Mental Wellness should be challenging, but it should also be positive and productive. Your Mental Wellness is worth investing your time into; like your physical health. Changing the stereotype, starts with changing your perspective and viewing Mental Wellness in a different light.