Coping Ahead: Working with Clients to Prepare for Disaster Anniversaries

The anniversary of a hurricane or other disaster can provide an important opportunity to review a client’s gains as well as process reactions to the disaster, continue to work through grief responses, and collaborate to cope with unhelpful reactions ahead of time. Anniversary reactions that are more intense may require more targeted treatments for trauma, anxiety, or other significant symptoms.

You’ll Never Say You Had a Bad Day Again

As I write this, the truth is that I am tired. The truth is also that I am having a lovely day. Yes, there have been some hard moments, but there have also been some beautiful moments. I am not failing today; I am living. It is not a bad day. It is a nuanced day.

Pandemic Theme Hints: Who else forgot that Groundhog Day has a happy ending?

Since the pandemic started earlier this year, I’ve found myself in the interesting position of not only using theme hints to establish common language between myself and my individual clients, but in using the SAME themes across different clients in order to navigate what seem to be very common concerns among the majority, if not the entirety, of my caseload: coping with an increased sense of isolation, anxiety related to the uncertainty of the future, an increasing sense of powerlessness regarding one’s circumstances, and the mind-numbing sameness of the day-to-day in this “new normal.”

Should I Coordinate with a Sex Therapist? The Answer is YES!

When I introduce myself as a sex therapist to other mental health providers and professionals in the medical field, I get a mixed bag of reactions. Some respond with enthusiastic curiosity about the strangest cases I’ve worked with in the past. More often; however, I encounter providers who give me a sideways glance and mutter an uneasy, “Oh, that’s interesting.”