7 Tips to Get Through the Holidays
It’s December. It’s not my favorite time of the year. Here in Northeast Ohio, the days are shorter, leaving us in darkness more often. It’s cold. And, of course, there
Read More
OCD & Coming Out of the Pandemic
A recent CNN article caught my attention: OCD isn’t just about being a neat freak. And for those with it, this next stage of the pandemic may be hard. I’ve
Read More
How to Support Someone With OCD
I think it’s probably fair to say that many of us have some level of fear around the holidays and Covid. Is being vaccinated enough? Will we unknowingly expose or
Read More
Let’s Talk About Health Anxiety
In treating health anxiety, we talk about the same process we do for all anxiety disorders. We work on becoming mindful of our experience: acknowledging how we’re feeling physical and emotionally. Rather than try to get it to go away, we become...
Read More
How to Experience Anxiety without Resisting It
By experiencing anxiety, I mean ride out the fear-filled thoughts and feelings, allowing them to be there without trying to make them go away. The spirit of this is really
Read More
As We Slowly Reopen, What’s Next?
It’s been one year since the shelter-at-home was issued here in Ohio. With the vaccine well underway, it seems that “normal” is coming or at least it’s in our sights.
Read More
7 Tips to Get Through 2020’s Holiday Season: A Therapist’s Advice
I have to be honest. My general feeling about the holidays usually leaves me wanting to go to sleep around Thanksgiving and wake up after New Year’s. Thanks to the
Read More
Stop the Chatter in Your Head
Well, this has been a pretty shitty year, hasn’t it? I’m hard-pressed to find a silver lining, but I do feel moved when my clients say things like “having worked
Read More
What Do I Say When My Child Asks When Coronavirus Will Go Away?
If you haven’t gotten this question yet as a parent, I’d bet it’s coming. Parents are more anxious, and so are kids. Remember that you can’t control your own anxious
Read More
Positive Growth from Negative Experiences
Most of us have heard of Post-Traumatic Stress, but not as many of us are aware of Post-Traumatic Growth. It’s a theory that explains a transformation that can happen after
Read More
5 Steps to Get Better at Being Anxious
I really don’t get people whose temperament isn’t naturally anxious — who now call me and say things like “Wow, Joanna. I now know what you’ve been talking about all
Read More
The 5 Psychological Stages of Isolation
You know that feeling when you read something at just the right time, and everything makes sense? I love those moments. This is exactly what happened to me the other
Read More