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Debunking the Top Misconceptions About Teen Mental Health
Let’s talk about why Addressing misconceptions about teen mental health matters. In recent years, teen mental health has become a growing concern. But despite increased

Create to Recover: Art and Eating Disorders
Let’s explore how art and eating disorder recovery goes together. Eating disorders try to silence you. They disconnect you from your body, drown out your

Media Literacy: Do We Need This Skill?
Media Literacy is defined as “the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via media and synthesize, analyze and produce mediated messages.”* To simplify,

Can you do EMDR on yourself?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidenced-based model of effective therapeutic technique and full psychotherapy. It helps individuals to process and to heal

Positive Internet Spaces: The Power on Online Community
Our daily life is filled with digital interactions and the power of positive internet spaces is not to be underestimated. We are exposed to unwanted

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: How and Why
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a technique that alleviates stress and anxiety. It can be used during a stressful experience and is also described as

Overcoming Test Anxiety
Test anxiety is experienced by students of all ages. Students often feel the pressure to perform well in order to reach their goals and please

The ACE study – The Importance of Help
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE study) looks at how abuse experienced as a child or the environment a person grew up in can impact

How Long Does Therapy Take for Anxiety?
One question we often get asked during consultation call with perspective clients is: How long does therapy take for anxiety? Let’s first talk about some

New Year, New You – Redefined
We have been doing some reflecting on the idea of new year, new me as January is coming to a close. January is often accompanied

Seasonal Depression – Romanticizing the Dreary
Feeling symptoms of seasonal depression as we transition back to colder days is actually called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. With shorter days and less

Escapism…what the heck is that?
Let’s start with figuring out what escapism is! Escapism is the act of mentally separating from something unpleasant by focusing on something entertaining or getting

What are my favorite things about EMDR therapy?
6 Favorite Things About EMDR Therapy Before getting into my favorite things about EMDR therapy, if you are interested in learning more about what EMDR

Elizabeth’s Therapy Style
Elizabeth’s therapy style is rooted in the application of her expertise to help clients reach their goals. I met Elizabeth as a therapist first and

Moriah O’Barr
How I met Moriah Moriah and I met under unusual circumstances. I was hired as the Assistant Clinical Director at Monte Nido in March 2020,

Locus of Control… and Why it Matters
Locus of control (LOC) is a theory coined by Julian B. Rotter in 1954. The need for this construct came about when Rotter wanted to

EMDR Certified
EMDR Certified Therapist – What does that mean? EMDR trained and EMDR certified therapists require hours of training and commitment. They are passionate about working

Advertising Literacy and Diet Culture
You are constantly bombarded with advertising trying to sell you on something, especially diets. A popular and ever-growing subset of advertising is taken up by

Worry Thoughts Eclipsing Joy
With the solar eclipse fast approaching, I could not resist using it as a metaphor for worry thoughts! And who doesn’t love a pun?! NASA

Playing for Personal Growth
Playing is one of the first ways we engage in learning and personal growth. Infants and toddlers allow their curiosity to abound, which results in

Self-Care and Our Best Selves
I was recently asked to give a presentation at an activity in the community on the topic of self-care. I wanted to focus more on

Compassion, is there room for that?
Is there room for compassion? This is a question I often ask clients. It’s important to weave self-compassion into your routine. The world can be

7 Different Ways We Can Validate Others
By definition, validation is recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid. But, why is it so important? Because everyone

Are we too critical about how we look?
We are our own worst critics. This is a saying you have probably come across before. An important follow-up question to ask yourself is, how

I Highly Recommend This Book
I “warn” most of my clients, before I begin working with them, that I am a book nerd and it is very likely that they

Does your body need to EARN love and acceptance?
Let’s talk about body love and acceptance. An article was published years ago that brought truth to light about how messages about a body’s worth

Family, the Holidays, and Your Relationship with Food
We have entered the time of year where holiday gatherings are happening frequently and having a healthy relationship with food an be challenging. Spending time

Mindfulness
I have been contemplating mindfulness this week. One reason is that I practice Iyengar Yoga with local community members once a week. On the last

Scarsdale Self-care Day Ideas
Taking a day or even a moment to prioritize your needs and re-energize is great for your mental health. In and near Scarsdale, there are

Taking breaks
This blog post on taking breaks was inspired by feeling stuck writing a blog post! Taking a Break Last week, I sat at my computer

Masking and the Impact on Authentic Self
I love watching art restoration videos as a form of self-care. I also find these videos can be an accurate metaphor for therapy. Just as

How can I prepare for EMDR therapy?
EMDR is a therapeutic model we use in our practice to treat trauma. Interestingly, many of the inquiries we receive about EMDR come from individuals who

What To Expect In Starting Therapy With Us
Have you decided to reach out for help? It is a big and important step. You might feel overwhelmed and anxious about starting therapy. Therapy

How to Manage Burnout
Drs. Emily and Amelia Nagowski explore the topic of how to manage burnout in their book, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Before

Levels of Care for Eating Disorder Treatment
Often I find that talking about higher levels of care for eating disorder treatment with a client can evoke fear. Consequently, most of that fear

15 Self-Care Ideas
Hard day? In a stressful and time-constrained world, self-care is essential. But, it doesn’t need to be just another thing on your to-do list. In

“Why?” and “What if…?”: The Anxious Mind Wants to Know
A lot of situations and experiences can lead to you feeling anxious. However, what you do with the anxious thoughts is what breaks the cycle

Community’s Importance
COMMUNITY “Being around people who loved me and whom I loved healed me.” – Dr. Marisa G. Franco Social Connection Quite simply, you are wired

Body Neutrality and How To Achieve It
Body neutrality is a waypoint between body negativity and body positivity. Sometimes, body neutrality is the end goal; however, it can be a nice middle

Can I do EMDR online?
A question I am frequently asked is, “Can EMDR be done online?” The answer is yes, it can! Over recent years various online EMDR platforms

Anxiety and Avoidance: The Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Anxiety and avoidance are best friends when it comes to keeping someone stuck. First, let’s talk about ANXIETY. Anxiety lives in the body and the

What is an empathy miss?
Defining an empathy miss is important question, but first, it’s important that you know the different parts of empathy. If you didn’t get a chance

Improve your mood right now with these 5 things
Are you looking to improve your mood? Have you had a hard day? Maybe you are stressed or feeling down? Here are five things you

Empathy
What is Empathy? Empathy is “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.”

Social Media and Self-perception
Engagement in social media use is a prevalent part of how we spend our time. A way to fill time, to “decompress,” to avoid, to

Eating Disorder Table Behaviors
Those little behaviors… Let’s talk about some lesser known eating disorder symptoms that actually have a big impact. Oftentimes eating disorder thoughts, urges and behaviors

Self-Compassion
“Self-compassion is a way of emotionally recharging our batteries. Rather than becoming drained by helping others, self-compassion allows us to fill up our internal reserves, so

What is Normal Eating?
Normal eating can be a difficult concept to grasp if you or a loved one are struggling with an eating disorder or a problematic relationship

Connection, Break and Repair: Where We Get Stuck
Connection, break and repair are part of a natural cycle we go through in every relationship, even with ourselves! In his research, John Gottman found

Body Image Tips and Tricks
Stay away from the scale – as a matter of fact, get rid of it! If your weight needs to be monitored, leave that up