A Therapy & Mental Wellness Blog

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT You mustn't live your life with hate in your heart. Hatred causes you more pain and grief than the people you focus your hate on. Forgiveness is in NO way, saying, "What you did to me is acceptable or alright." It acknowledges and says, "I am in NO way, allowing what occurred to disrupt my happiness forever." The answer to happiness lies in forgiving others by allowing yourself to let go, seek peace, and free yourself from th

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT Well-known business tycoons, successful athletic individuals, and all achievers in life do one thing in common; they all set goals for themselves, their businesses, and the things they wish to achieve in life. Goal setting allows us to have both long-term vision and short-term motivation. It concentrates knowledge acquisition, and will enable you to become organized and focused with your time and resources so that you can mak

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT Decision making can be hard. Whether it is picking out what to wear or which college to choose, most find it difficult to make decisions. Although making a decision can be hard, we make decisions every day. It is important to identify, is it a big or small decision. An example of a big decision would be buying a house, while buying a new shirt may be a small decision. Have you overanalyzed the situation or have you given

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT People typically think of the holiday season as a joyous occasion spent with family and friends. While many are spending time with their families and loved ones, others may be struggling to find happiness during the holidays. These people may be people who may have people to celebrate with, or they may have feelings of being overwhelmed with being with their family or friends during the holidays. This holiday season; take

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. It also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement. A person's speech may become soft of slurred in the early stages and then worsen as the condition progresses. Parkinson's disease cannot be cured, but medications have been shown to im

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT “The things you own end up owning you” – Tyler Durden in Fight Club Owning things may become important if you have an internal void that you are trying to fill. However, this can be equated to filling a sieve with sand. It may work temporarily, but the sand may soon sift through the holes and leave a person feeling empty again. Wouldn’t it be nice to fill these voids with relationships, passionate work, service to others

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT If you’re anything like me, the mere mention of the term midlife crisis conjures the familiar image of the balding man in the brand new sports car, top down, with the obligatory young blonde sitting front passenger. There was a time that middle aged men had that market cornered when it came to this topic. Be not fooled, women experience it too and in actuality, signs of a midlife crisis are more vast than this age-old scena

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT People often say “Mother knows best”. Is that true? Do mothers have a certain intuition when it comes to their children? Someone I know gave birth to a little baby many years ago. She knew something wasn't right with his eyes immediately, because this was her third child. Doctors told her she was "crazy." Three months later, her son was diagnosed with aniridia (the absence of the iris). She frequently said, "She knew imme

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT Relationships are hard work and are often not easy. When issues arise and things start to fizzle, it’s human nature to blame ourselves or the other person. We tend to blame ourselves privately and in conversation blame the other person to save face. But before you start blaming your partner (or ex-partner) you may want to: 1. Think and take a break. Will blaming your ex-partner for not being responsible with the bills, ge

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT Say what you mean, and mean what you say but don't be mean when you say it; is a mantra many people live by, or at least a genuine statement of ethics that many teach. Today people feel that to get anything done or to get their point heard they have to be assertive, or are they being aggressive? What is the difference between being assertive and being aggressive? People who are assertive want his or her opinion heard, but sa