Tips for Communicating with Family During the Holiday Season
The holiday season can be a stressful time for many reasons, including increased obligations to spend time with family members. You may not get along with family members or the political climate may be increasing family tension. Communicating with family members during the holiday season can be challenging. In this article, we aim to highlight […]
What is Meditation, and Why Does It Help?
We are currently in a highly stressed time, with disruptions to our expectations and routines, a future full of uncertainty, and genuine fear for our physical and economic well being. It can feel almost silly to think that quiet reflective listening and sitting could be helpful right now, when it feels like there are so […]
Maintaining Mental Health in a Crisis
We are currently in a crisis, including threat to our health and well being, economic insecurities, and major disruptions to our routine. This crisis state increases our chances of depression, anxiety, and physical health complaints, and those who have a mental health condition, including ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, or mood disruptions are particularly vulnerable to […]
Resilience, and Why It Matters Now
Things are pretty stressful right now – and likely, that is an understatement. Worries about health, the economy, logistics related to school and work, adapting to a brand new work style and environment, and major routine disruptions have rapidly become our new normal, and coping is probably at the very bottom of everyone’s to-do list. […]
How To Help Kids Deal With Bullying
Bullying continues to be a major factor in schools and child environments. While policy makers, schools, and parents have increased efforts to prevent bullying and respond quickly, the increase in technology and the ever present power dynamics and hierarchies that exist within social structures means that bullying will continue to be a factor for children’s […]
Talking To Teenagers
Parents often feel that they’ve entered a new planet, or at least a foreign country, when their sweet innocent children become teenagers. Adolescence is a developmental period where identity, responsibility, maturity, and hormones can bring about changes, heightened emotions, and a whole new set of tools for parents to master. Teenagers get a bad reputation, […]
Welcome Jessy Coleman, LPC-Intern!
It is with great pleasure that Upside Therapy and Evaluation Center welcomes our new therapist, Jessica “Jessy” Coleman, LPC-Intern. Jessy is supervised by Nichole Lecznar, MS, LPC-S. Jessy received her Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Oklahoma State University, and she is currently in the process of obtaining her second Master’s degree in Applied […]
Parenting A Child With A Disability
Parenting is hard, bringing risks and rewards, struggles and highlights. This is no different for a parent who has a child with a disability. Yet parents of special needs children also experience increased isolation and loneliness, additional roles of warrior and advocate, and increased fears about the future, and ones’ own mortality. The experiences of […]
Coping With The Holidays
In this time of year, much is made of the excitement for the holidays. However, there are many reasons why the holiday season may be difficult, and we are here to offer extra support if you need. Holidays are often a deviation from the routine. This is particularly troublesome for individuals who rely on predictability, […]
Dr. Oppenheimer’s Favorite Reads in 2018
Our founder, and one of our psychologists, Dr. Rachel Oppenheimer, loves to read. She wanted to share some of her favorite reads from the past year: Braving The Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown: “It is very hard to identify a favorite Brene Brown book. Her writing is […]