by Shannon McLaughlin | May 26, 2015 | Addiction Treatment, Anger Management Counseling, Counseling, Grief and Loss Counseling, Harm Reduction Treatment
People wonder what therapy is like. The Hollywood image of therapy is a troubled person sitting and talking with a quirky therapist in a cluttered office until “the epiphany.” The client has such a realization he or she breaks down crying, gets a hug from the...
by Shannon McLaughlin | May 2, 2015 | Anger Management Counseling
Most of us think of anger as explosive, the hothead who blows off steam quickly without much provocation. This stereotype is not the only person with problematic anger. This blog post will shed light on some of the other styles of problematic anger. It is not always...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Apr 14, 2015 | Anger Management Counseling
A big surprise to many people when first beginning to study anger is to discover how often anger is rooted in shame. Anger is often called a “secondary emotion,” a cover for a deeper more primary emotion – often fear or shame. One of the goals in anger management...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Mar 24, 2015 | Grief and Loss Counseling
The experience and expression of grief is very individual. With the groundbreaking five stages of grief model Americans began to examine the process of grief, but it pigeonholed the grief process. The grief process is much more complex than the model. The model...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Mar 15, 2015 | Grief and Loss Counseling
There are several situations your grief may not be honored or acknowledged. Your best friend dies and you cannot get time off at work approved. A family member dies from suicide and people are uncomfortable to talk with you about your loss. Your miscarriage is...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Mar 15, 2015 | Counseling, Grief and Loss Counseling
There are several situations your grief may not be honored or acknowledged. Your best friend dies and you cannot get time off at work approved. A family member dies from suicide and people are uncomfortable to talk with you about your loss. Your miscarriage is treated...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Feb 9, 2015 | Addiction Treatment
If you are questioning if you need treatment or not, you probably need treatment. It is true that the majority of people who used substances and then stopped, never needed treatment. They were able to quit on their own. Addiction is complex for many people though. Due...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Feb 9, 2015 | Addiction Treatment, Harm Reduction Treatment
Tips to reduce alcohol and cannabis consumption follow. If you discover these tips are too difficult to start and stick with, might be worth considering your use is more problematic than you suspected. Tips to Reduce Alcohol Use For one week honestly count how many...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Feb 2, 2015 | Grief and Loss Counseling
There are many reactions to loss, many types of losses and expressions of grief. The type of loss may impact your grief response. Grief is always messy. It is not helpful to impose your expectations of grief on others, or even yourself. This list is intended to give a...
by Shannon McLaughlin | Feb 2, 2015 | Grief and Loss Counseling
We do not always know what to say to those grieving, this is a short guide to how to keep your foot out of your mouth. The article in the L.A. Times ‘Ring Theory’ of kvetching by Susan Silk and Barry Goldman simplified how to talk to others about the crises in their...
Shannon McLaughlin, LCSW