Resources and Thoughts from Marilyn Halls, M.A.
While I cannot share experiences that happen in the privacy of my counseling sessions, there is so much information available to us to freely share in this resource blog. I write from my experience drawing on other professional resources to educate and guide you in ways that can help you both before and beyond the counseling conversation.
Here are the topic categories that help keep this blog organized for search.
Relationships and Communication
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Featured Posts
How Can We Improve Our Communication? Part 1
From an initial group of 130 newlyweds, 17 couples were divorced at the six-year point in their marriages. Gottman divided them into what he called “masters and disasters.” What set them apart? The most significant finding was that it was not arguments about key issues, such as money or sex but rather the presence or lack of emotional connection in their communication. READ MORE
Positivity in Communication Part 2
Many couples struggle with communication issues. In my practice, I hear comments such as “When we try to address a serious topic such as in-laws, disciplining our children or getting them to finish their homework our arguments escalate into a fight” or “my partner does not listen to what I am saying, he/she interrupts and tells me I am wrong”. Positivity and soft startups are missing. Harsh startups are common and there is a great deal of criticism and complaining. READ MORE
Relationships and Communication
Can your relationship heal after an affair?
It might seem impossible to heal after an affair, but believe it or not, your relationship can improve. What do I mean by the word affair? At one time the commonly held definition involved sexual activity. This of course can still be true but today many affairs fall...
Are You in a Long Distance Relationship?
Couples in a long distance relationship have always had their own unique stressors. However, during this Covid-19 pandemic many of us are feeling added anxiety and are fearful of the future. Many couples are dealing with the added stressors of working from home and...
Tips to Improve Mental and Emotional Health
Improve Self Care Self-care encompasses many aspects of life. Here are a few suggestions: Mindfulness and Meditation - learning more about these practices helps to relieve stress and improves relationships. There are many useful apps. I would suggest Calm, Headspace...
The Many Benefits of Assisted Living
Despite the many benefits of assisted living many seniors dread moving into these communities. They fear it means an end to independence, but all it means is that you are getting more support for the things you need. Assisted living can be one of the best ways to live...
Improve Your Relationship with 8 Steps
The desire to improve your relationship is important for the mental health of couples. Hardly a human being alive couldn't benefit from these helpful tips for healthy and happy relationships based on the research of John Gottman Ph,D. Let's start, shall we? NUMBER...
Anxiety and Stress
Beating Coronavirus Blues
Is beating Coronavirus blues a struggle for you? I'd be surprised if it wasn't. We all are dealing with one thing or another brought on by these strange times. I would like to share a few thoughts and good ideas I’ve come across recently as we are all handling a very...
COVID-19 Anxiety
COVID-19 anxiety has upended our lives in such a short space of time. As humans, we like to feel that we have control over our lives and that we can see the future with some certainty. So how do we address this huge shift? As the...
Tips to Improve Mental and Emotional Health
Improve Self Care Self-care encompasses many aspects of life. Here are a few suggestions: Mindfulness and Meditation - learning more about these practices helps to relieve stress and improves relationships. There are many useful apps. I would suggest Calm, Headspace...
Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
Many Americans are not getting enough sleep. They are sleep deprived. It has become a badge of honor for some to let you know that they sleep 3 or 4 hours a night and do not care to waste hours asleep. DO YOU FEEL TIRED AND GRUMPY WHEN YOU GET UP? IN SPITE OF BEING...
A Health Transition Needs Support
A health transition could be learning to cope with the diagnosis of an auto-immune disorder, heart disease, diabetes or the fighting cancer with radiation and chemo. Whether you are adjusting to an amputation or the progress of a neurological disorder, you are...
Depression Therapy
Tips to Improve Mental and Emotional Health
Improve Self Care Self-care encompasses many aspects of life. Here are a few suggestions: Mindfulness and Meditation - learning more about these practices helps to relieve stress and improves relationships. There are many useful apps. I would suggest Calm, Headspace...
Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
Many Americans are not getting enough sleep. They are sleep deprived. It has become a badge of honor for some to let you know that they sleep 3 or 4 hours a night and do not care to waste hours asleep. DO YOU FEEL TIRED AND GRUMPY WHEN YOU GET UP? IN SPITE OF BEING...
Negative Thoughts are Often Part of Depression
Are Self Defeating and Negative Thoughts Contributing to Your Feelings of Depression? When you meet a new situation you will have a variety of thoughts about it. We tend to believe our own thoughts, including negative thoughts or self-defeating thoughts, rarely...
Suicide Risk and Prevention
Suicide Risk This past week, two people with familiar names to us, have apparently taken their lives by suicide. These sad events shock and confuse us. Questions such as "How could she leave her daughter?" in Kate Spade's case or "How could there be anything wrong in...
Mental Health and Stigma
May is mental health awareness month. The stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness illness can result in people being critical, fearful, judgmental and generally dismissive of those suffering from a mental disorder. Such stigma causes many people to attempt...
Grief and Loss
Grief – how can I help a loved one?
When someone we love experiences the death of a loved one, a divorce or any other major life event we often do not know how to help them in this period of grief and loss. In our efforts to alleviate pain we often fall back on platitudes such as: You are lucky to have...
Transitions
The Ultimate Guide to Downsizing Your Home and Living Simpler in Your Golden Years
Downsizing your home and seeking ways to live more simply and safely as we grow older is considered a smart thing to do. Yet most people need to warm up to the idea. Whether you’re thinking of moving into a smaller, single-story home or a senior living community,...