GUIDANCE

Abuse

The effects of abuse, whether it is emotional, physical, or sexual, can be both severe and long-lasting. There can be both physical and emotional pain inflicted on the victim that can take years to heal. It can also affect brain development in a young child, leaving them with a lack of trust that can follow them through their future relationships.

Treating the effects of abuse often requires a multifaceted approach. Every case is different and requires individual consideration. Learning more about the signs and symptoms of abuse can be helpful for everyone including those in seemingly healthy relationships.

ADHD

ADHD is a term that has grown in popularity over the past two decades. Sometimes children are labeled as having “ADHD” when they exhibit poor focus or attention. Knowing the true signs and symptoms can help you better understand if further treatment or diagnosis is warranted. Having a clear understanding of what research, studies, and real-life experiences tell us about ADHD is what will enable each individual to make informed decisions on how to treat this mental health and behavioral concern. Behavior therapy is an effective treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that can improve a child’s behavior, self-control, and self-esteem. It is most effective in young children when it is delivered by parents.

Adolescence

Your teenage years can be the best years of your life, and at the same time, they can be the most difficult. Although we see the physical changes that are occurring on the outside, your brain is also growing and changing. During adolescence, you are constantly learning new skills and developing a sense of who you are as an individual. Counseling can help one learn more about what’s going on with their bodies. For parents, you can learn how to help your child make it through the tumultuous teenage years.

Anger

Managing anger is a skill that can be learned, much like effective communication or dealing with difficult people. Learning to control extreme emotions can be very important, preventing you from saying something you’ll later regret or making poor decisions in the heat of the moment. Many times anger is the symptom of deeper feelings such as rejection, regret, or disappointment.

Everybody gets angry from time to time, but letting your emotions control you is largely a matter of choice. Anger management techniques can be adopted by anyone in order to live a happier, better-regulated life. Through counseling, one may learn to help themselves stay calm and handle tense situations in a constructive, positive way.

Anxiety

Your body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension about what’s to come. Intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. When feelings become excessive, all-consuming, and interfere with daily living, it can become an indicator of underlying disease. Fast heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, and feeling tired may occur. Counseling can help you uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears. Learn how to relax and look at situations in new, less frightening way, while developing better coping and problem-solving skills.

Bipolar

No one feels the same from day to day or even hour to hour, but the shifts in mood and energy caused by bipolar disorder can have a significant impact on a person’s ability to function. It is A disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. Manic episodes may include symptoms such as high energy, reduced need for sleep, and loss of touch with reality. Depressive episodes may include symptoms such as low energy, low motivation, and loss of interest in daily activities. Mood episodes last days to months at a time and may also be associated with suicidal thoughts.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder is when someone believes that they have flaws or defects in the way that they look. They are preoccupied with their appearance and convinced that even minor imperfections make them unattractive and undesirable. Sometimes this can result in the avoidance of social activities and public places like pools or locker rooms where their body can be observed. People with BDD have a distorted concept of how they appear to others.

People with BDD obsess over how they look and are preoccupied with body image to an unreasonable extent. They often look in mirrors and ask other people to reassure them that they are attractive many times. They engage in repetitive behaviors to make sure that they are covering what they perceive to be a flaw that makes them “ugly.”

Bullying

Bullying is a type of behavior that is used by a person or group of people to intimidate others. It appears that there is an imbalance in power between the two parties. Bullying is persistent and has the potential to cause serious psychological damage to the afflicted person or group of people. Bullying can occur among school-aged children or among adults. The long-term effects are the same: low self-esteem, depression and even the potential for death by suicide.

The articles in this section will help you learn about how bullying affects seriously affects people, gain a better understanding of the victim’s perspective as well as the bully’s, and learn positive coping strategies to fight back against a bully. This section will help you to become more confident in how to handle a bully and what to do to support someone who is being bullied.

Careers

Far too many people are stuck on a career path that makes them unhappy. Many times people feel like they have invested too much in their training and experience to quit and start over. If you aren’t satisfied with your career choice, taking the time for professional career counseling can avoid costly mistakes that can affect the rest of your life.

Not all personality types are suited to every kind of work. A qualified counselor can help you find out what jobs are suited to your skills and personal characteristics. That can help you be more productive at your current job or help you to find something new. We typically spend a quarter of our lives at work, so make sure it is something you love to do.

Childhood

Childhood is a special time where we learn a lot about the world, people, friends, family, and ourselves. Children learn from their parents and often model after them. Whether you have children or you’re considering having them, learning about child development is important. You will gain insight into how the mind of a child works, and how your own childhood experiences may have impacted your life. Childhood can be idyllic or traumatic or possibly a mixture of both. Learning about this period of our lives can be enlightening and even surprising.

Dementia

Seeing a loved one with dementia can be horrifying. The parent, sibling, or relative used to remember who you were, but now they don’t. They may have trouble getting around the house, they may mix up names, and they may forget what happened a few minutes ago. It’s tough to watch someone you love struggle during their golden years.

Depression

A mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. Symptoms include changes in sleep, appetite, energy level, concentration, daily behavior, or self-esteem. Individuals may experience changes such as: Mood: anxiety, general discontent, guilt, hopelessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, mood swings. Behavioral: agitation, excessive crying, irritability, restlessness, or social isolation. Whole body: excessive hunger, fatigue, or loss of appetite. Cognitive: lack of concentration, slowness in activity, or thoughts of suicide.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is commonly associated with spousal abuse, but it can apply to anyone in your household. Not only that, but you don’t need to lay a finger on someone in order to be violent with them. Domestic violence ruins relationships and can end up in disaster if not checked. It’s a silent crime, with many cases going unreported due to their private nature.

Eating Disorders

A reported 10 million women and 1 million men struggle with eating disorders according to the National Eating Disorder Foundation estimates. It is common that these disorders negatively impact a person’s mental or physical health, but the cause of many eating disorders is not clear. In some instances, biological and environmental components may play a part. 

Family

Family life can either be a source of great joy or feel like a terrible burden. Maintaining relationships can take a great deal of work, and if the people nearest us are facing challenges, the whole family can end up suffering. 

Family counseling is a specialized field within psychotherapy, and family counselors typically help families weather all kinds of storms. While we’d like to think that love can overcome all obstacles, a little knowledge can certainly help smooth the way to achieving true familial happiness.

Grief

The feeling of mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret. It is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, dimensions.

Paranoia

Paranoia is a mental health issue where individuals suffer from delusions and intrusive thoughts. They may believe that people are targeting them, stalking them, or trying to steal things from them. Sometimes people who have paranoia have an inflated sense of self, and in extreme instances, they lose touch with reality. Paranoia can manifest in someone who has schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, but it’s not limited to these mental illnesses. It’s a mental health issue that causes individuals severe distress and could result in hospitalization if left untreated. It’s essential to recognize the signs and symptoms to get help. In counseling, individuals typically work on building life skills, including: Communication skills, to express fears in a more relatable manner. Relaxation skills, to reduce the anxiety caused by paranoid thoughts. Mindfulness skills, to identify and avoid triggers that may provoke paranoia.

Parenting

Parenting is largely an amateur sport. Nobody gets to practice beforehand, and while there is plenty of advice available in the form of books and online resources, much of this is contradictory and some of it is simply wrong. There is a credible source of suggestions on parenting, though, in the form of discussing your child’s development with a qualified mental health counselor. Counseling will offer unbiased guidance and support; helping one understand and identify the needs of every individual in your family and better look after the well-being of your family unit.

Personality Disorders

Numerous kinds of personality disorders exist, ranging from paranoia to narcissism to obsession. Any of these can make functioning in society, at work, and in relationships very difficult. However, most personality disorders are treatable. While medication has a role to play, talk therapy is usually the only way of really addressing the fundamental issues. Counselors deal with the clients by encouraging them to talk about their condition, feelings, thoughts, mood and behavior.

Phobias

Phobia means “fear.” However, a phobia is an extreme version of a fear where the person who is “phobic” is unrealistically terrified of something extremely specific. For example, arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. Someone who is afraid of spiders might be afraid of these creatures attacking them in their sleep and might not be able to stop thinking about this. Someone who is afraid of heights might be afraid of suddenly falling off a building for example or flying on an airplane. People are afraid of all sorts of things, but a phobia develops when the person is extremely afraid to the point where they have difficulty functioning. Cognitive behavioral treatment for phobias involves un-pairing the anxiety response from the feared situation. CBT is able to do this partly by identifying problematic or irrational thinking patterns, and helping people take on new, more adaptive ways of thinking about challenging situations.

Psychosis

Psychosis is a mental state where a person has lost touch with reality. When an individual is in a psychotic state, they may be unsure of what is and isn’t real. People can experience psychosis for many reasons. It may be due to a mental illness such as Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder, or Postpartum Psychosis. When you experience psychosis, you may have delusions, or false beliefs, paranoia, visual or auditory hallucinations.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy refers to the treatment of mental health conditions and disorders. Psychotherapy (commonly referred to as talk therapy) relies on psychological tools like cognitive-behavioral therapy, instead of medication, to treat mental health issues.

PTSD

There are a variety of reasons a person can develop PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), but this mental health concern is one that can be best treated when it’s clearly understood. Our focus at Reign Therapy is to try to provide more information about what exactly PTSD is, some of the signs and symptoms, and how online counseling can help throughout this entire process. There are a variety of reasons a person can develop PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), but this mental health concern is one that can be best treated when it’s clearly understood. It can help the clients restructure their memories and form positive, realistic memories that take the place of the distorted, painful memories of their trauma.

Relationships

Everybody has an opinion, including one in your love life. Unfortunately, all of the advice you get is not equally valid. If your relationship is in trouble, or if you wish to further strengthen one that’s still going strong, you will find the perspective a professional counselor is invaluable. When it comes to learning about what works in a relationship, a professional can help.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a condition that affects that brain and causes an individual to question what is or isn’t real. Individuals with Schizophrenia experience delusions, paranoia, and visual or auditory hallucinations. The onset of Schizophrenia typically happens in a person’s early ’20s, although there are instances where people have been diagnosed in their teens.

Self Esteem

Everyone deserves to recognize their full worth as a person. Unfortunately, many people tend to dwell on their flaws and failures. At the same time, they often de-emphasize their good points, which can lead to low self-esteem. Talking to a qualified therapist can reverse this trend and help a person gain an accurate perspective. This can help them see themselves for who they really are. All people have something to offer the world. Professional help can help someone with low self-esteem to see these points in a new light.

Sleep

Not sleeping well can have a huge impact on our ability to function at peak performance and our general state of mind. Insomnia can enormously degrade a person’s quality of life. While medication can certainly knock a person out, this also means only treating the surface problem without taking care of the root causes of insomnia. Insomnia affects a large number of people. It can be the result of poor habits, issues which are bothering you, or even the environment you sleep in.

Sociopathy

Sociopathy is a colloquial term that refers to behaviors associated with an antisocial personality disorder. Sociopathy best resembles Antisocial Personality Disorder in the DSM-V. The term Sociopath is often used in place of psychopaths, but they are actually two different things. A sociopath is someone who is antisocial in nature and has tremendous difficulty relating to other human beings. They don’t understand emotions and can often have narcissistic traits. Sociopaths have behaviors that have been influenced by their environments. Sociopaths are often influenced by a traumatic violent childhood. Psychopaths, on the other hand, have behaviors that are determined by their brain function and their disorder can be traced to genetics.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people. Whether a person is facing discrimination based on race, religion, age, gender, or sexual orientation, stereotypes can lead to prejudices. People begin to assume that all people of a particular group behave in a specific way or look the same. Stereotypes are dangerous to our society because they don’t account for individuality. Each human being has an identity that doesn’t relate exclusively to being a member of a group. One may actively participate in stereotyping people without realizing it. If you’ve experienced racism, religious discrimination, or any other marginalization, it can be painful and make you feel like you’re not a part of society. Learn to deal with being stereotyped in various settings and how you can cope.

Stress

Stress is one of the common reasons that people feel pressure in their day to day activities. In some instances, a small amount of stress may be normal, healthy, and even useful. On the other hand, excessive amounts can lead to both physical and mental disorders that can cause things like depression, anxiety, and other issues. As well as helping with identifying the causes of stress, counseling can also help to understand the role that your thoughts play in increasing your stress level.

Temperament

A person’s temperament describes their behavior. Some people have a calm demeanor, and others are excited and bubbly. It starts as early as infancy and goes into the teenage years followed by adulthood. Counselors help clients identify goals and potential solutions to problems which cause emotional turmoil; seek to improve communication and coping skills, strengthen self-esteem, and promote behavior change and optimal mental health.

Trauma

Experiencing a traumatic life event can have lasting consequences. Not addressing them with timely therapy can cause these effects to be much more severe than they need to be. While effective therapy won’t make your problems go away overnight, consulting a counselor can be the first step towards dealing with whatever issues you may be facing. Psychological trauma, if left untreated, can easily lead to additional problems such as insomnia and depression. Counseling can help with discovering skills and improve coping strategies to better respond to reminders and emotions associated with the traumatic event. Some of these skills include anxiety management and relaxation strategies that are taught in youth friendly ways.