Empowering Connections, LLC

Newsflash: humans are fallible! It's okay to do things the messy way, the different way, the way that feels good to you. Just don't let any one way conquer your life!

Say it with me: "B O U N D A R I E S!" Let's reflect on when saying no is the right choice, and also when saying yes might be the better choice. Which choice will serve our mental health in the long term vs. the instant gratification of the short term?

Does anyone else experience the "Sunday Scaries"? That lingering feeling of anxiety about the responsibilities and pressures of the upcoming week? Let's try to approach these feelings with mindfulness. Observe them instead trying to outrun them. Take care this week!

Almost through this week! What if today you chose to live in the present and not fixate on the upcoming weekend? Could you potentially unlock some mid-week peace and joy?

Living in either the past or future opens up the possibility of feeling anxiety. Anxiety occurs when we lack a sense of control over situations. The only place we have control is the NOW!

There is always room for growing, healing, learning, teaching, and supporting others.

Check out this article in Simply Local Magazine written by the wonderful Kelly McCandless, in which our very own Samantha Larson is interviewed. Great tips for supporting your young ones!

Tween Coping Skills “There’s a lot more anxiety for kids because of the unknown and unpredictability present in today’s world.” -Amber Ault, school counselor at Ben Steele Middle School

You have power to make change in your life. When you change your life, you open up space to support others in this journey as well.

Stabilizing your mental health requires much more than talk-therapy (although that's an important part of the puzzle!). Are you working toward making your WHOLE self well?

It's the weekend! Here is your reminder that it is OKAY to do nothing but rest this weekend. Reject the hustle! Your worth is not based on your productivity. There is so much joy to discover when we aren't sprinting through life.

Today, remember that not all feelings are pathological. The pursuit of finding reason/cause for our thoughts and feelings can often make us feel worse than if we were to mindfully acknowledge the emotion in the first place. Take these steps:

1. Notice where you feel the emotion in your body.

2. Name the emotion.

3. Sit with the emotion (without judgement or creating a narrative around it)

4. Engage in a self-care task.

Here is your mental health tidbit for the day.

It is so easy to fall into a pattern of passive communication. We may do this due to lack of mental energy, fear of confrontation, self-preservation, or avoidance of expressing our emotions. Reflect on what is at the core of what you are trying to communicate, and say that! Are you saying what you mean? Are you asking for what you need or are you assuming the other person knows? Assertive and direct communication are the seeds of healthy relationships and assuring our needs are met. You got this!

It's been awhile!

Things have been busy at Empowering Connections over the past few months. We have been focusing on supporting our clients and building our community connections. Samantha is beginning to see clients in the office again after maternity leave. The office has felt busy and full of life! We have a few limited openings available, so please feel free to contact Chelsey at 4066610961 or Samantha at 4062747623 if you are looking for a spot.

Keep your eyes open for exciting things on the horizon!

Here is a little mental health reminder for the remainder of your week:

For any of you who need to put faces to our names, here we are! Chelsey has some immediate openings currently, and Samantha just welcomed her baby boy, but will be accepting clients early next year. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. We are hoping to soon offer some group therapy as well!

The holidays are one of the most important and most difficult time to hold strong boundaries. When your boundaries are met with resistance, ask yourself: "has this person taken advantage of my _____ (time, kindness, generosity, availability, etc.?)" Does their resistance point to an unhealthy pattern in your relationship with them?

Emotions are anything but black and white. The 'all or nothing' mentality is harmful and limiting. We are so complex, and our experiences are so nuanced. You're allowed to feel many things all at once.

Therapy and mental health care: the continual dance between learning and unlearning. Replacing the harmful with the healing.

It has been awhile since we've checked in. This week was the first full week of seeing clients in our office. It has been so exciting to begin building connections with these individuals and discussing plans filled with hope.

I love this image from . I tell my clients that the goal of therapy is never to "fix" your emotions. We want to teach you to listen to them, decipher them, cope with them and allow them! What are the emotions you tend to "stuff" or avoid?

What is it that you're really seeking/needing? It is especially important for us to consider this when interacting with children. They are less skilled in expressing and identifying complex emotions. But don't sell yourself short-- there is often more to our emotional reactions than what appears at the surface.

It's okay if all you did today was survive. I think we often forget just how much we each face every day, even when things seem to be going well on the surface. Chaos and fear and overload are the baseline state of the world right now, so we feel the expectation to be okay, when in our natural state, we aren't meant to withstand the input we're receiving.

You are not required to say yes. You are allowed set boundaries and not explain yourself. Consider the importance of the quality of your relationships and experiences verses the quantity.

We're here to meet you where you are, validate you, hold you accountable, and help you realize your own strength and power.

Thank you for your support, we greatly appreciate every like and follow! Even if you're not someone seeking therapy or referring someone for therapy, we will be sharing tidbits that can be helpful to anyone's mental health via our social media. Stay tuned!

Empowering Connections, LLC updated their business hours.

Empowering Connections, LLC updated their phone number.