Creative Counseling

When we ask clients about coping, we may hear about exercise, journaling, breathing techniques, or support from others. It is also worth asking about music. A client may have relied on songs for comfort, expression, connection, or companionship long before entering therapy, without ever describing that relationship as a coping resource. For someone who grew up with frequent moves, financial insecurity, or family disruption, music may have offered something familiar. For anoth

As a kid, I didn’t have much, but we always had music. We moved a lot growing up in an Army family. There were periods when we didn’t have a couch or a bed, but my dad always had stereo equipment. Looking back, that detail says a lot about the place music held in our lives. Even when we were still getting settled and the house was missing furniture, there was something to listen to. When you move often, you spend a lot of time adjusting. Different homes, different schools, di

A client says she needs to stop answering work emails at night, but each evening she reaches for her phone. Another feels overwhelmed by extra assignments yet continues to say yes. Someone else rehearses a conversation with a supervisor for weeks without having it. These clients may already know they need boundaries. The work in counseling is understanding what makes those boundaries difficult to establish and maintain. For a therapist, it helps to approach the pattern with c

You answer an email after dinner because it will “only take a minute.” You agree to another assignment even though your calendar is already full. A coworker needs to vent, and you listen despite having a deadline of your own. Each moment may seem small, but together they can leave you feeling that your time belongs to everyone else. Setting boundaries at work begins with recognizing what you need to do your job while also caring for yourself. You can be committed, dependable,

As fall arrives, clients may begin describing subtle changes before they identify depression: “I’m tired all the time,” “I haven’t wanted to see anyone,” or “Everything feels harder lately.” These statements offer an opportunity to explore a possible seasonal pattern and begin planning before functioning declines further. A useful opening is, “What do you notice about your mood and routines as the days get shorter?” Follow with curiosity about previous fall and winter experie

Fall brings cooler mornings, changing leaves, and earlier sunsets. For some people, it also brings a familiar heaviness. Getting out of bed feels harder, plans become easier to cancel, and activities that once felt enjoyable start to feel like work. If you recognize this shift in yourself, you deserve support—not pressure to simply push through. Seasonal affective disorder, often called seasonal depression or SAD, is depression that follows a recurring seasonal pattern. The m