Creative Counseling

At some point, almost everyone in a relationship asks the question: “What does a healthy relationship actually look like?” Not the social media version. Not the curated date nights. Not the “perfect couple” people swear they are. The real version. Because if we’re honest, healthy relationships are often far more complex than fantasy ever prepared us for. Many of us grow up believing that a good relationship should feel natural, safe, validating, and easy more often than not.

Pain does not always come from what happens directly to us. Sometimes it comes from what we witness. What we hold. What we absorb while trying to love, support, protect, or help someone else survive. For many people, this kind of pain builds quietly. It can come from sitting beside a loved one in crisis, parenting a child through hardship, supporting a struggling partner, caring for family members, or working in professions where trauma is regularly witnessed. Over time, bein

Relationships are hard. Marriage is hard. Loving someone for a long time does not mean that it always feels easy. Even strong couples go through periods where they feel disconnected. Life gets busy. Stress takes over. Communication changes. Resentment builds. Small disagreements become bigger ones. Before long, two people who love each other can start to feel like they are living completely separate lives. The truth is that most couples do not fall apart because of one big th

Today is Earth Day, and while people are thinking about taking care of the planet, it feels like a good time to think about taking care of ourselves too. People hear the words self-care and often picture spa days, candles, face masks, and bubble baths. While there is nothing wrong with any of those things, self-care is usually much less glamorous than that. Self-care is going to bed earlier because you are exhausted. It is drinking water when you have been surviving on coffee

As a therapist-in-training, I hear this a lot. Someone has heard about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, more commonly known as EMDR, and they are curious about it. They may have read about it online, heard about it from a friend, or had another therapist recommend it. But right alongside the curiosity is fear. “What if it makes things worse?” “What if I open something I can’t close?” “What if I fall apart?” “What if I am not ready?” Those fears make sense. EMDR

There is something wildly humbling and exciting about registering for your final semester of graduate school at 50 years old. At 22, people expect you to still be figuring things out. At 50, people sometimes assume you already have. But life has a funny way of reminding us that growth does not have an expiration date. For many people, there is a quiet dream that gets pushed to the side. Maybe it is going back to school. Maybe it is changing careers, starting therapy, writing

When people talk about marriage, they often talk about the highlights — the wedding, the honeymoon, the idea of finding your “person.” But very few people talk honestly about what happens after the photos are framed and real life settles in. The truth is, marriage can be incredibly meaningful… and incredibly hard at the same time. Not because you married the wrong person.Not because something is broken.But because marriage requires two imperfect people to grow, change, and n

There’s a subtle shift that happens in relationships—often without either person realizing it. A question starts to feel like criticism.A comment sounds like blame.A tone gets interpreted as disrespect. And before long, two people who genuinely care about each other are no longer talking—they’re defending. In couples counseling, this shows up all the time. One partner says something relatively neutral, and the other hears it through a lens of protection rather than connection