When Depression Can’t Be Cured
Depression doesn’t go away for everyone. For most people, depression is temporary and passes naturally or passes once the person has expressed the feelings and resolved the thoughts causing the depression. But there are a small percentage of people who can talk about their issues, express their feelings, take very good care of themselves emotionally, even take medication and have a great life and still be depressed throughout their entire lives. They may have periods of feeling good, periods of feeling less bad, and periods of feeling horrible, but the depression never goes away permanently.
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People who are discriminated against can suffer significant negative consequences. General well-being, self-esteem, self-worth, and social relations can be severely impacted as a result of discrimination. But recognizing exactly how perceived discrimination affects an individual is much less understood. Previous research has suggested that perceived discrimination can lead to mental health problems such as increased stress, depression, and 
All too often, women and some men (in my experience, mostly women) experience the fatigue of “having it all.” More and more women, by choice or necessity, work a full-time job in addition to family and home responsibilities, leaving little, if any, time for them. Likewise, many of us in the helping professions struggle or have struggled with the balance of giving so much emotionally to not only clients, but also family and friends, and find ourselves depleted. In both cases, it is very easy to face burnout.
When discussing work, we often hear the term job burnout, but how often have you... 
Quick, would you prefer 100 million dollars right now or a penny that that doubles every day for a year? Next question, would you like to be cured of your depression, relationship problems, eating disorder, or addiction immediately or would you like to work on it?
On first glance, the answer to both questions seems obvious. I'll take the $100 million and I want to be cured of my mental illness, marital discord, and alcohol abuse, thank you.
Now do the math. If you take a penny and double it every day you'll have 5 million dollars in the first month. You'll have a billion dollars before the... 
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an approach that is used to treat many mental health challenges, including 
Not long ago, a friend of mine suggested that the greatest fear humans experience is the fear of death. I disagreed, saying that I believed their greatest fear is fear of loss. Death is something that is very abstract to most people, in my opinion, unless they have recently tended to a dying loved one or been otherwise exposed to the actual end of life. However, most people, in my experience, live in fear of loss, to a greater or lesser degree.
Loss can take many forms. It can mean loss of youth (or even middle age for those of us who are now elders). That translates into less energy, more facial... 
Traumatic experiences along with the mending process can expose the shrapnel from what feels like perpetually open wounds. Time lost to history and recovery, missed opportunities, broken relationships, and a delay in building life’s foundation are side effects of these experiences.
Therapists and clients are able to identify, with ease, what may seem like irreversible damage or pain. However, it is simple to overlook the pieces of our clients’ stories that are peppered with traces of hope and with a certain innocence that runs counter to what many of them have survived. This article will... 
Love is one of the most elemental of emotions—it is a building block to some of our deepest relationships and a component in many of our happiest days. Yet the ability to freely give and receive love is a fragile skill, which traumatic experiences can all too easily dent or damage. Learning how to be loved is a vital part of your healing, and here are a few tips on how to regain your ability to accept someone’s care, concern, and nurture.
The first set of tips have to do with the person who is expressing kindness, care, concern, nurture, attention, aka love to you. Because you have experienced... 
A death, divorce, illness, sudden unemployment, or any major loss, creates chaos in your life. This emotional fracturing, as well as the practical aftershocks of dealing with estates, lawyers, housing, finances, doctors, etc., often yields intense feelings that can be overwhelming.
When you think you simply can’t assimilate another thing, it’s crucial to just stop. Even if you have never meditated, simply sitting or lying down and paying attention to your breath will calm your nervous system and give you the literal breather you need.
Sometimes, it’s too hard to stay still, so take... 
A strong 
Men, in general, are far less likely than women to seek professional help for mental health problems. But a new study, led by Joseph H. Hammer and David L. Vogel of the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University, suggests that men from rural communities are even more resistant than urban-dwelling men when it comes to getting 
After having worked in a residential treatment facility for abused and neglected girls for 8 years, I observed that the phenomenon of learned helplessness had become an all-to-common denominator for these children. It was very rare that an abused child was placed with us for a single incident of abuse. By the time these children reached our facility, many of them had already been physically or sexually abused numerous times throughout their childhood and adolescence.
Many times these children had been abused not by a single perpetrator but by several different people, including members of their... 
As you would with any client, be sure to conduct a complete and comprehensive interview. Be sure to ask about what they thought life would be like, versus what reality is. Is there a loss of a dream? Any traumas? Are they ‘out’ or in process of coming out? It is wise to remember and even educate folks that ‘coming out’ is a lifetime process and not a discreet event. People may ‘come out’ at different levels in different settings (e.g. family, friends, work, etc). Be prepared to ask questions over time, as answers will change as clients feel more comfortable and safe.
LGBTQ clients... 
Socioeconomic status (SES) influences many facets of a person’s life. Researchers have theorized that low SES is associated with poor physical and mental health throughout life, but few studies have examined the long-term effects. Even fewer studies have examined how positive or 
