mood and feelings

Have You Diagnosed Yourself Lately?

Posted: September 25, 2015 by Nani Waddoups

New clients in my practice often introduce themselves by including their self-diagnoses: “I’m OCD,” “I have Anxiety Disorder,” “I think I’m Bi-Polar.”  I understand the temptation to label our thoughts and moods and behaviors as a way to simplify our understanding of ourselves, but this simplification robs us of celebrating the complexity and nuance of who we are, and can minimize the significance of these diagnoses for people who really have them.

Tags: mood and feelings, anxiety

Helping Children Deal with Grief and Loss

Posted: August 04, 2015 by Kaleigh Doncheck

One of the most common questions I’ve received is how to help children and teens deal with grief and loss. Often parents and caregivers understandably feel overwhelmed by their own emotions and struggle to support their child through the grieving process. Sometimes parents don’t want to upset their child and are unsure of how to explain death in a way that will make sense, especially when children are younger.

Tags: mood and feelings, relationship and family, life transition

Never Enough Time: Allowing for Unstructured Unfolding

Posted: July 25, 2015 by Nani Waddoups

Right now, in this moment, I am writing about time.  It is somewhat difficult to stay present as I write.  My mind can easily “future trip” into imagining you, the reader, reading what I am currently writing.  I can also find my focus interrupted by voices: the voice of an editor, the voice of the critic – “Sure has been a while since you’ve done a newsletter!”  Most disruptive to my efforts to stay here, right now, writing about time, is a low-grade anxious hum emanating from deep within me, and the message of that hum is that I really don’t have time to be sitting here writing about time.

Tags: mood and feelings, anxiety

Choosing Happiness: 6 Steps

Posted: May 15, 2015 by info@uncommonlovepdx.com

Happiness is a choice.

All too often the distraction and hustle of our life stops us from making choices that support our happiness.  We can miss opportunities to make beneficial choices even when they are right in front of us.

Tags: mood and feelings

Your Brain

Posted: April 20, 2015 by Amanda Feaver, MA, LPC

Since our brain drives us, it’s important to understand it. If you're interested in your brain and you haven't read Mindsight by Dr. Daniel Siegel, you should. (Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute.)

Tags: mood and feelings, relationship and family, anxiety, addiction and behavior