A Therapy & Mental Wellness Blog

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 Sunday, September 13th is National Grandparents Day. Is it just a Hallmark holiday, giving the industry a reason to make a little money to produce cards for you to send to your grandparents? No, it's actually a real holiday established in 1970 to honor grandparents. It is always celebrated the Sunday after Labor Day. Grandparents are very special people. Some children have never met his or her grandparents, while others h

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT Is your child having the Back to School Blues? Is the curriculum too hard or was summer too much fun? Or both? Can you make the transition back to school easier? Of course you can! Here are some ways that you can make the transition as smooth as possible for your child (and yourself). Do a trial run. Visit the school; map out where the classroom is and where your child's classroom(s) are located. Do a little shopping. A ne

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 By now, we know that birth order does matter. It can affect your personality in both negative and positive ways. While other factors play into who you are and why, birth order has a strong influence. We have no control over it, so how can we embrace it? Let’s begin by identifying birth order and the characteristics associated with it. If you are the first born: You are known as the high achiever, go getter, and are ex

Written by: Amanda Levison , M.S., LMHC, LPC, CCBT In the "olden" days children were supposed to be seen and not heard. Now in the year 2015 things are much different. Many parents are afraid to discipline their children and they want to be their friends with their kids. Parents have fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram to follow their children, because they are too afraid to ask them what they are doing. Discipline is not the same as punishment. Keeping a positive attit

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 The calendar says that April is Autism Awareness Month, but for parents that have a child with autism, every month is Autism Awareness Month. Children with autism have a plethora of people who work with them from therapists, teachers, and therapeutic support staff (TSS), and the list could go on. But who is the best person for a child with autism? You guessed it, mom and dad (or whoever the people are that are raising this c

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