GentleWave

     Buzzfeed posted an article a few months ago that pulled together the responses given by the community when asked what they wish they knew before starting therapy. It is likely that many of us held/hold some untrue or misleading beliefs about what therapy was actually going to be like before going. Those of us in the field may take it for granted that others know what to expect and may forget our own past confusion. As you may also be aware, media does not always have the best representations of what counseling is and is not, either. How are you to know what to expect or not be surprised when it does not look or feel like you were expecting? I will discuss some of the feedback from the article here.      You don't have to have significant trauma or a major diagnosis to go to counseling. That's right! You may have said to yourself, "I'm not having as much difficulty as others" or "It's not that bad" to justify not going to therapy. However, anyone...

Infertility and Grief A little while back I wrote a blog about the stigma of infertility and my own personal journey. I have decided to re-engage this topic by discussing the grief associated with infertility as the focus. I read an article in Counseling Today (CT) magazine by Tristan D. McBain, that shared information on this unique grieving process. Because infertility can look very different in various individual experiences, it is important to remember that these are some general things to consider or think about but may not be applicable to every case. In some cases of infertility, both partners may have issues leading to inability to conceive and in some cases, only one of the partners has the issue. This can play itself out in many ways. In addition, some individuals will go through costly and exhausting medical procedures aimed at increasing the likelihood of conception. Others may begin the process of adoption. There may be others who have been able to conceive in th...

Saying “No” Means Saying “Yes” to Self-Care Recently I attended an annual convention that had a theme of self-care. When I had first heard the theme following last year’s convention, I remember thinking, “how can we do an entire convention on self-care?” I wondered how we would be able to have 30-40 sessions all on self-care that didn’t completely overlap each other. Over the course of the last year, I worked to put together my presentation for the convention. I realized that there are so many facets of self-care, especially in our field, that I hadn’t initially thought of. One of the biggest things I walked away from the convention and my own research with is that saying “no” is necessary for self-care. So often, we feel an obligation to say “yes” to the requests of others. We may feel compelled to always be ready to lend a helping hand, even when it means that our own needs fall to the wayside. This is particularly true of those in helping professions, parents, and educator...

Re-Entering the Workforce After Kids Sometimes individuals may leave the workforce to raise families. The amount of time that we may leave the workforce varies from person to person. I personally had some time “off” while having babies and raising them. In my case, it wasn’t necessarily my choice to take the time off that I did, it was due more to life circumstances (relocation, school, etc.). This may be the case for others as well. Whatever the reason, coming back to the workforce can be overwhelming and scary. This tends to increase with time away. It is important to start early. As soon as you decide or need to return to the workforce, begin preparing. You must decide if you want to do the same type of work you did before. In my case, I returned to my previous employer after my first child was born and I chose to return to school for an advanced degree after my second child was born. Social media platforms, such as LinkedIn can be helpful to get your name out there and be...

Yes, I said it. Probably more times than I would like to admit. I am currently the mother of a 6 (“6 and a half” as she likes to say) and a 5-year-old. Kids are a handful, especially when it comes to young ones who still need some assistance and aren’t as much help around the house as they will be when they are older. In addition to being a working mother, I was a doctoral student for the last 4 years. If you quickly did the math in your head – that means I started as a full-time doc student with a 1 and almost 3-year-old. Am I crazy? Some would say “yes”. I said “no!” I am simply demonstrating to my children the importance of education, never giving up on your dreams, and hard work pays off. Right? With all of that said, I am also no spring chicken. I am about to turn 39 (The 10 th anniversary of my 29 th birthday, if you ask my closest friends). This was not an easy trek for my spouse either. Not only did he carry the burden of financially supporting the family and shared hous...

(Originally published here: https://www.counseling.org/news/aca-blogs/aca-member-blogs/aca-member-blogs/2019/07/25/will-masturbation-hurt-your-relationship?fbclid=IwAR1KGOnm7r51e4eM6a9DVnPBzt8JyH4vr0Zuy1LgPI9zY3DRyNwjZylvtcU) Double clicking the mouse, spanking the monkey, wanking, petting the kitty, choking the chicken, flicking the bean… whatever you may call it, there seems to be a level of embarrassment surrounding the topic of masturbation and discussing personal engagement in solo sexual activity. When clients are asked about their engagement in masturbation, there is often a response of discomfort or refusal to discuss the topic, even with clients who had previously been open and forthcoming with their sexual histories and behaviors. This level of discomfort and evasion to discuss masturbatory activity may be present in their romantic relationships as well. According to one study, 38 percent of women and 61 percent of men said they'd masturbated during the past year (Das,...