Behavioral Health Blog

While anger can be a perfectly normal, useful and healthy emotion for children, it can also become a problem if it gets out of control and turns into aggression. If your children are experiencing a lot of angry emotions, there could be a multitude of reasons for this, and several different ways in which you can help them to tackle their anger in a…

Mind altering drinks (and plants and fungi!) have been in existence for centuries, and of course there’s a reason why some enjoy them so much. When enjoying a drink or two, it can sometimes be hard to know whether your drinking is within healthy boundaries, or whether you may have an alcohol dependency:   If you start drinking and find it hard to stop,…

Episodes of anger are perfectly normal for all of us, and they may be in response to a certain situation, or may arise due to an argument over something in which we feel passionate about. However, frequent bouts of anger or episodes in which the anger is uncontrollable, may may indicate that we need to analyze our feelings better and work towards reducing the…

The term ‘comfort food’ exists for a reason, and there is no shame in finding comfort in certain foods, in fact, it’s completely normal. Problems can arise, however, when we take this too far and forget that food is meant as fuel (and joy) for our bodies, not a substitute for heartfelt love or comfort. A destructive love of food can come about when…

Anxiety and fear are two very common emotions, and there is certainly no harm in experiencing either, or both, frequently. Feeling anxious or fearful is a perfectly normal emotional response to trouble or danger, but problems can arise when our brains begin to alert us to trouble even when there is no threat. This is also a perfectly common and normal way for our…

While it may sound hard to believe, one of the biggest challenges of my recovery has been learning to relax and just breathe. Having CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) means that I’m often on high alert, stressed out, anxious, and hyper-vigilant. My nervous system is highly activated and just getting through a normal day can feel exhausting for me. The first step to learning…

Most of us will have some painful memories from our past, including tragedies and experienced loss. However, for some, dealing with the hurt, grief and anger caused by events in the past can be a daily struggle, and may even be shaping the way they live and the way they interact with others. Past pain and hurt can be mentally and physically exhausting, and…

Do you know someone who has been affected by the opioid crisis? Maybe you know someone who has unfortunately lost the battle of addiction. You may know a few souls who have struggled with substance abuse and have waited for their drug trials in jail. Maybe you can’t even remember the times you have talked to friends or strangers who share similar stories. I…

I recently ran across a quote that said, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” (C. Swindoll) What you do with that 90% may take you in the direction you want to go, keep you exactly where you are or, perhaps, cause you to digress. It’s easy to look at this and say this is an easy…

Everyone has a backstory. It’s the personal mythology that we weave around our lives, from the beginning to the present. You see, a backstory is more than just a personal history. These origin stories often form the narrative that we use to explain who we are, where we came from, and how we got here. Problems arise when these stories become devices that we…