These posts revolve around things that help couples in a lot of ways. They don’t just pertain to folks in the Traverse City area or those seeking counseling, instead, they seek to help those inside and outside of the Traverse City area that want to learn to help families beyond just counseling.
Are our smartphones the new mistress? In a number of ways, our brains don’t understand where our body ends and our phones begin. We see them as an extension of our personality, experience, and life. Staying up-to-date on Facebook, posting pictures, and having our businesses more streamlined, makes it difficult to know where we end …
Read more “How do I get my spouse to stop using their smartphone?”
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 …
Our teens live in a world that is full of screens. It can sometimes be difficult to know what is normal for digital addiction, video game addiction, social media addiction, internet addiction and what is not screen addiction? Signs of Internet Addiction The Center for Internet Addiction published the following: Meeting 5 of the criteria …
Read more “Does my teen have a digital or internet addiction?”
Have you ever had a ridiculous fight with your partner? I remember one about mayonnaise that was really a fight about budgeting. Or one about dishes that was really about time management and fairness. Or another that was about snow pants, but it was really about parental roles. What if I told you that 95% …
My wife and I recently got in a fight about pajamas. There weren’t pajamas for my daughter in her drawer. But it wasn’t about pajamas. It was about roles, household duties, and fairness. Have you ever had the pajama fight? You know it’s ridiculous, but it really matters to you. It’s tapped into something beyond …
Read more “One Thing Couples Can Do to Improve Their Relationship in 5 Minutes”
It seems some people are able to find success like a dog sniffing out bacon, whereas success to others is like looking for your lost keys. In one situation, success and goal achievement is just following the scent and in another it is a haphazard and frustrating experience. When we hear “success” we often think …
The Mental Wellness Counseling “Meet the Counselors” series offers a deeper look into each counselor’s background, experiences, motivations, values, and philosophies. In this series, I put counselors on the couch to learn why and how they do what they do. Survival of the Sickest As a 21-year-old undergrad, Anndrea Terry’s life was changed forever at …
The Mental Wellness Counseling “Meet the Counselors” series offers a deeper look into each counselor’s background, experiences, motivations, values, and philosophies. In this series, I put counselors on the couch to learn why and how they do what they do. Q: What has been your most impactful work experience? A: I worked on a crisis …
The Mental Wellness Counseling “Meet the Counselors” series offers a deeper look into each counselor’s background, experiences, motivations, values, and philosophies. In this series, I put counselors on the couch to learn why and how they do what they do. Q: What influenced you to become a counselor? A: As an undergraduate, I studied abroad …
The Mental Wellness Counseling “Meet the Counselors” series offers a deeper look into each counselor’s background, experiences, motivations, values, and philosophies. In this series, I put counselors on the couch to learn why and how they do what they do. Nine Joyless Months Pregnancy according to Nicole Ball is not always the glowing complexion, framed sonogram …
The Mental Wellness Counseling “Meet the Counselors” series offers a deeper look into each counselor’s background, experiences, motivations, values, and philosophies. In this series, I put counselors on the couch to learn why and how they do what they do. A New Start The 2008 economic recession catalyzed a life-changing series of events for Steve …
Download the Green Smoothie Infographic You want to lose weight, stop smoking, or save more for retirement. Every year we do this and every year, 92% of us fail at New Year’s Resolutions. A University of Scranton study found that only 8% of people will succeed in their resolutions. So maybe you should resolve to …
By: Steve Greenman, MA, LPC, NCC “No” is a complete sentence.” Anne Lamott When I was working at an in-patient recovery center as a therapist, we would discuss boundaries in group. Many of the men in my group were between the ages of 18-30 and had issues relative to their addictive behaviors such as dual …
By: Steve Greenman, MA, LPC, NCC I remember the ice hitting the glass. After working all day and sitting down in the living room, I would hear the noise of the ice from ice maker entering the glass. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. My mind raced to what may …
Photo Provided by Tela Chhe on flickr A wedding is an important life experience that takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for. With all of the preparation comes stress that can lead to various consequences. Some partners lose their connection and question their proposal or acceptance of a proposal. Others become overwhelmed …
Photo Provided by slightly-less-random on flickr Let’s face it, some couples go through a phase where they lose interest in each other. For some, this leads to one partner giving up hope and walking away from the relationship. For others, the wedding just seems like the next step in the relationship. It is essential for …
Read more “Emotional Connectivity Checklist: 10 Things Couples Should Do Before their Wedding”
Photo Provided by April Killingsworth on flickr You are a very important part of your son or daughter’s wedding. Your opinion on certain parts of the wedding will be taken into consideration, but you have to remember that this is not your wedding. There is a reason that the stereotypical relationship between the bride or …
There are lots of events that allow you to find someone to hook up with, but you should NOT choose to do so at a wedding reception. A wedding is an event with lots of people from two different families and groups of friends. Yes, this is an event where singles meet up to have …
Read more “3 Reasons Not to Hook Up With Anyone at a Wedding”
By Tarah Elhardan, MA, LLPC Act in the Moment– Do one thing at a time. During the holidays there is so much to get done and it can feel very overwhelming. By putting all of your energy into one task it is more likely that you will complete it. Tackling the tasks one by one …
We were visiting our recently married friends, I asked the wife, “What didn’t you expect in marriage?” She said, “I thought the wow would end.” “That’s great that it has continued,” thinking it was a weird way of saying that there was still a spark or flame in the marriage. “No, I thought the World …
5 Tips for Distant Couples Traverse City Marriage Counseling | Tip #1 Focus on the big goal of marriage: Why did you get married? Probably to spend your life with someone, have a level of intimacy, and grow with them. If you keep focused on the big goal of marriage, feeling that intimacy, then you’ll have …
That phrase, “I just felt it in my gut,” might be true after all. Researchers are now finding that what we eat actually has a profound biological effect on our mood. It’s because we’re feeding a bunch of microbe in our body. They react to what we eat. In fact, they out number our cells …
Read more “Microbes, Your Gut, and Your Brain | How new research is changing the face of anxiety”
Parents rap about maintaining their household by videosonlytube I just saw this video. I don’t have much insight regarding counseling or therapeutic issues to write about. More that I just love how this couple seems to work together. It is so easy to get caught up in life’s tasks, but when a couple fires on …
In July I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Fairly soon I will be having a bunch of additional tests and have a treatment plan. I will soon have my thyroid removed, have a scar on my neck, and be on medicine for the rest of my life. I feel too young for all of this. …
Originally featured in the Record Eagle July 14, 2012. Available at: http://record-eagle.com/features/x748660390/Mental-Wellness-Opposite-sex-friends I have seen many a friendship and marriage fail because of opposite gender friends. What happens when you have a great opposite gender friend and you get married? What about friends that you make after marriage that are opposite of your gender? A marriage …
You never really appreciate a life of normality until crisis hits. Our family has been through a number of things lately: a death, a major medical issue, and close friends having their own crisis. It is amazing how it seems that high profile events bring out people’s true social skills. I learned through experience what …
It all started when we were shopping for mayonnaise. I mean, we didn’t go to the store just for mayo, it’s not like we have an all mayo diet, but it is now known as the “Mayo Incident.” I would say that it started years before that incident, but it was the catalyst. We …