MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELNG BLOG
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Our Pleasanton counselors at Therapy2Thrive® provide compassionate, practical, and evidenced based practices to assist you in the therapeutic process to meet your goals and find hope to heal the challenges you are facing.
Read our blog articles below. Contact our marriage and family counselors in Pleasanton for private consultation.
Tips for Returning Your Children To School
Returning your children to school can be stressful for both parents/caregivers and children. It can be a stressful time especially now that the summer breaks are shorter. It seems that the days of children going back to school after Labor Day are long gone.
Understanding Childhood PTSD
Childhood is often seen as a time of innocence, joy, and discovery. However, for some children, this period is marred by trauma, leading to what is known as Childhood Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The Power of Imagination
Within the safety of one type of play, imaginative or fantasy play, kids can see beyond what exists in front of them and explore the unknown with general freedom.
Understanding and Preventing Teen Dating Violence
Teen dating violence refers to abusive behavior within romantic relationships involving teenagers. It occurs when one exerts power and control over their partner through various means. Recognizing signs of dating abuse is crucial for parents and caregivers to help support teenagers who may be experiencing such situations.
Boundaries-Honoring Yourself
Boundaries-Honoring Yourself Therapy2Thrive® Pleasanton 925.426.1575 Boundaries-Honoring Yourself“The right person will just know me.” How often have you heard this statement? While it may have some bits of truth to it, the...
Key Benefits of Couple Therapy
Almost all couples have encountered a certain type of issue in their relationship. Some are very tense, even hard to bear; some are moderate and might be tolerable. But they all lead to stressful and negative interpersonal experiences. A good relationship between couples is essential for lifelong interpersonal happiness. What benefits can people get from couple therapy?
The Importance of Mental Health as Adolescents Transition into Young Adulthood
Good mental health is key for a healthy and joyful life for children, teens and adults. Mental well-being primarily includes three crucial aspects of a healthy life: emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing.
Quick Tips To Smoothly Transition Into School
The new school year will bring a big change to your child’s schedule. They might have to wake up earlier, go to bed earlier, eat at different time, be ready to leave the house earlier than they have all summer.
Does Mental Health Affects Relationships
Generally, when relationships fail people blame either individuals or situations or both. For the most part, they totally miss the acknowledged role of unhealthy mental health as a possible factor of a broken relationship and symptoms get ignored until it starts affecting the relationship adversely.
What’s the value in play? Is it just play?
Play is a powerful tool that is not always given the space to be seen or understood for all its glory and worth. As we enter National Play Therapy Week, here are some valuable pieces of play and Play Therapy to be mindful of.
Forgiveness, should we do it?
As human beings, we are bound to hurt and be hurt. It’s part of life and can’t be avoided. So, why can it be so difficult to forgive ourselves and others? And why should we?
Hurdling the Barrier of Saving Face
When it comes to talking about mental health concerns, the Asian community faces many cultural barriers that prevent this open and much needed discussion. One strong cultural force is the idea of “saving face”
The Secret of a Good Relationship
What if I told you that the goal of a good relationship is not to avoid conflict but rather to become a master at managing it? Most likely, this is not what you want to hear but it is true.
NOT just another Self Care Blog
This is not another blog telling you to make time for self-care, adding another thing to your already long to do list. This is a blog about changing the way you think to make the things you are already doing more relaxing.
How to Change
It’s that time of the year when people make resolutions. Whether the goal is to lose weight, drink less alcohol or be more patient, change is hard. And to make change last is even harder. But there is a lot of hope that lasting change can be achieved
A Call to Action of Self
The increase in time spent at home and/or limited to your small social “bubble” has led to much more time for self-reflection. So the self-reflective question becomes, in your moments of solitude, how do you show up for yourself?
Changing your Thoughts for the Holidays
It’s the happiest time of the year. The holidays are wonderful. Getting to see your family and spend quality time with them is so magical. Everyone is happy. These statements don’t often apply to everyone. In fact the holidays can be the most difficult time of the year.
10 Tips to Get Over Heartbreak
Getting your heart broken is painful at any age. Probably one of the worst feelings we can have. Heartbreak can make us feel depressed, anxious, frustrated and lethargic. It can be impossible to conjure up even the tiniest bit of optimism about the future.
Gathering Around the Dinner Table
Mental health can be a common topic for some but not for all families or communities. Mental health affects everyone, all cultures, all ethnicities, all shapes, and all sizes. As a Hispanic/Latinx woman, I never quite understood the importance of mental health. Growing up in a Mexican household, we never really spoke about mental health or even what mental health was about.
Ten Tips on How to deal with Touch Deprivation
Lack of social connection can negatively impact a person’s health and even shorten their live expectancy. An aspect that is frequently neglected in this context is the fact that touch deprivation – a lack of human touch – can further negatively impact health on a psychological and physical level
LGBTQ History Month: 5 Ways to be an Ally
LGBTQ History Month: 5 Ways to be an Ally. According to the 2017 National School Climate Survey, more than half of LGBTQ youth experienced verbal harassment and about a quarter were physically bullied.
Here 5 Ideas of Things YOU can do to support societal change towards LGBTQ people:
Shelter-in-Place: An Emotional Rollercoaster
Have you been surprised by your child’s behaviors since the beginning of shelter-in-place? Are they thriving and loving the new methods for distance learning? Looking forward to meeting with their classmates and friends on zoom? Or are they starting to act differently in other ways?
Homeschool! Homeschool! Homeschool!
It feels like everywhere you look everyone is talking about homeschool. Since the shelter in place was mandated parents are feeling the pressure of homeschooling their own children. We are told homeschooling is the only way that our children will learn. Is it really? Is it really the only way that they will learn?
Grieving During This Difficult Time: If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it
For most people, sheltering-in-place has its challenges. I am one of them.
My daily routine has been turned upside down, including (1) I am no longer going to the office, (2) I can’t go to the yoga studio for my workout routine, and (3) I am unable to socialize with my friends. Without a doubt, you have your own list of things you can no longer do or that have changed.
Anxiety and Coronavirus
We are in uncharted territories. A state of emergency has been declared. Everything seems unknown. Those are all statements that are sure to breed anxiety. Here are some tips on how to manage your Coronavirus anxiety
National Play Therapy Week
What Actually Happens in Play Therapy? “Will my kid really just play?” A fair question, considering a parent carries the burden of bringing their child to therapy, possibly also participating in the session or patiently waiting. Play seems to be indulgent and something kids do all the time already. How can it be therapeutic?
Fuel Your Holidays With Kindness
During this season of gratitude and giving, take notice of the small kindnesses that others show and become a piece of that kindness chain reaction.
Bullying Prevention for Youth and their Caregivers
Bullying remains an enduring problem that youth face both in school and in the cyber world. What’s more, the anonymity of the cyberbullying can make that form of bullying especially brutal and constant as it has the ability to effect youth 24/7 with no breaks from the cruelty.
What Communication Really Is
What Communication Really Is. First, communication is not just talking. Second, communication is sharing wisely. Finally, communication involves sharing your whole self.
Talking to Teens About Suicide So They Will Come to You
According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 15-29. The stigma around suicide can make it scary to bring the topic of suicide up to a teen, just like talking about sex and drugs.
Why Is Love Hurting Me So Much?
Am I Crazy? Recently, a friend alerted me to "National Love is Kind Day" which happens in July. It is a day to celebrate independence from domestic abuse (DA). This prompted me to think about DA and its many forms. Within the DA spectrum, there is one particular...
Real Friendships Last a Lifetime or Do They?
In honor of National Friendship Day, Sunday, August 4, 2019, let us talk about friendships and Taylor Swift’s essay for ELLE’s April 2019 issue, where, she wrote about friendships versus situationships. While I understand what Taylor was trying to say about how some...
Therapy and Religion
Being sensitive to culture is an important ethical issue for therapists. Typically, when people think of culture, they usually think of ethnicity. Religion, which is a guiding force in many people’s lives, is usually overlooked.
Culture, My Family and Mental Wellness
Mental health affects everyone regardless of identity, yet identity can greatly influence one’s access to mental health care.
What do I tell my child about therapy?
As a parent, once you’ve decided that you want your child to participate in therapy, the next questions that tend to come to mind are: What do I tell my kids? What do I say about what will happen? What do I say about why we are going? Will the therapist tell me...
Break the Silence, Break the Stigma
“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation about illnesses that affect not only individuals, but their families as well.” -Glenn Close I don’t remember having conversations about mental health when I was in...
One Simple Tool For Stress Relief
April is Stress Awareness Month. Most of us know that stress can be a problem that affects our health in so many ways: our physical health, of course, but also our mental health, relational health, and spiritual health. One of the things that we are learning more and...
Nourish Your Mind, Body and Soul!
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, sometimes we get easily caught up in the thoughts and acts of doing rather than the precious moments of being. We pile things onto our never-ending to-do lists partly because it feels productive to check things off. I admit that...
Ground in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Ground in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 A simple, easy-to-remember sensory awareness grounding technique to help calm and ground you in the present moment when anxious thoughts and feelings arise. It is a technique that I use often as part of my own meditation practice and is...
Parenting and Playtime
Parenting and Playtime One of the joys of childhood is play. One of the joys at any age, actually, is play. For children, play is key to learning of all kinds. Parents who make time to play with their children are benefiting both their relationship with their child...
Discipline as Punishment or Praise?
Discipline as Punishment or Praise?It’s a sunny, crisp Sunday afternoon and you’re standing in the kitchen preparing a delicious crust-free sandwich lunch. Samantha and Ellie are sitting at the kitchen table coloring together. There have been moments of...
5 Ideas for Fun Family Activities to Get You Through the Holiday Break
For most kids, the excitement of the holiday break is a sense of eager anticipation that starts at the beginning of the school year. For parents and caregivers, the second longest break from school can bring on both a sense of excitement and a sense of overwhelm at the thought of having to keep the kids busy on their days off.
Discover 3 Major Stages of Stress
Have you ever had one of those mornings, where the alarm didn’t go off and you woke up late? As you rush around getting ready, you spill coffee on your only clean white blouse that matches your black and white poke-a-dot skirt. Now you are even more stressed….
Housework is Sexy!
Therapy2Thrive™ BLOG 925.426.1575 Housework is Sexy!I once saw a fun book in the bookstore that was titled, Porn for Women and had pictures of hunky men in aprons doing various household chores. I smiled, and had my husband been with me I would have shared it...
Develop an Attitude of Gratitude
With the holidays and end of the year quickly approaching, this is a great time to reflect on and develop our feelings of thankfulness. This may seem like a simple and maybe even cliché concept, but in reality it is something that can truly affect our sense of well-being from the inside out.
Transforming Holiday Blues
With the holidays coming up, I think it is worth taking a look at the way we experience them. Holidays are rituals of connection in our life, ways that we come together and spend meaningful time around values we want to honor, cherish, or have fun with.
Breath In Peace
I paused and I looked up and in that moment I saw the beauty that surrounded me– I took in the crisp scents of the evening air and listened to the rustling of the bushes in the breeze. It was a feeling of total peace—a moment of clarity in the fog.
Earning A Black Belt In Relationships
Aikido is often translated as, “the way of unifying spirit” and was originally developed to provide folks with self-defense without causing injury to others. One signature of Aikido is moving with an opponent while staying balanced – yielding to win. This is a powerful concept for relationships!
4 Tips To Be Successful When Faced With Back-To-School Blues
In kids, anxiety responses to the thought of going back to school can manifest in the form of stomachaches, headaches or even excessive clinginess. Often the nerves and worries of being back into the routine of the regular school year will fade within the first month.
A Shift In Thinking Will Shift Your Mood
People who pay attention to what they did wrong, or what they could have done, are at risk for prolonged periods of sadness, feelings of helplessness and anxiety. Thankfully, deepening our understanding, and awareness, of how we explain adverse life events will lead to shifts in our thinking and ease our anxiety.