Mental Health Topics

I entered my first real relationship in the seventh grade (I know—young) and stayed in this relationship until my freshman year of college. I’ll do the math for you: This relationship took up roughly six years of my life. In other words, at the age of 18, I’d spent one…

You’re comparing antidepressants, and the options feel overwhelming. Celexa and Zoloft are both first-choice medications for depression, but they have different FDA approvals, side effect profiles, and drug interactions that could make one a better fit for you than the other. Here’s what you need to know to have an…

You’ve booked your first therapy session. Now you’re wondering what you actually signed up for. Will you have to share your deepest trauma right away? Lie on a couch? Have topics prepared? The reality is that your first session is mostly about gathering information and getting to know each other….

Most families who come to therapy have already tried fixing the problem. Someone went to individual therapy. Everyone read articles about better communication. You promised to try harder. But somehow, you keep ending up in the same patterns. That’s because individual change often can’t shift family dynamics. Family systems therapy…

The alarm goes off. You silence it without opening your eyes. Fifteen minutes later, it goes off again. The third time, you don’t even reach for it, just let it blare until it stops on its own. Sunlight filters through the curtains, but turning away from it takes less energy…

You’ve decided you want to talk to a therapist, but now you’re staring at a dozen browser tabs wondering where to even start. It’s completely understandable. Finding the right therapist involves both practical considerations (like insurance coverage and logistics) and something harder to define: that sense of connection and safety…

You’re Googling “couples therapy vs marriage counseling” at 11 p.m. because you and your partner just had the same fight you’ve had five times this month, and you’re finally ready to get help. But now you’re stuck: Do you need couples therapy or marriage counseling? Does it even matter? Short…

Trying to figure out mental health care can be confusing. Therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners—they all treat anxiety and depression, but the titles seem interchangeable. Then there are the licensing abbreviations (LPC, LMFT, Psy.D) that vary by state, making it even harder to know where to start. Understanding…

Therapy is supposed to help you feel better, right? So why do some people walk out of sessions feeling more emotional, more exhausted, more weighed down than when they arrived? This is actually incredibly common. In my practice, I see it happen for a few very human reasons: Therapy exposes…

Mental disorders are health conditions that impact a person’s thinking, emotions, or behavior—or some combination of the three. They can cause distress and/or impair one’s ability to function, whether that be socially, occupationally, or in some other dimension of life. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about…

You finally start a medication that helps quiet your anxiety or makes it easier to get through the day and then notice your body doing things you didn’t expect. Maybe your appetite feels different. Maybe your jeans fit a little tighter. Suddenly, you’re wondering whether the medication that’s supporting your…

The holidays are over, the credit card bill just hit, and the sun sets at 4:47 p.m. If you’re feeling more drained than motivated right now, there’s a biological reason: Research shows that mood-regulating serotonin activity drops during darker months, while melatonin production increases. In other words, your body is…