A social atom is comprised of the most important and significant people in our lives at a given point in time.  These people can include family members, friends, colleagues, and noteworthy acquaintances.  This is often shown through concentric circles representing how close each person is within your social network.  Therapists can use this information as...Read More

Assessing Risk with Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide Thomas Joiner, author of ‘Why People Die By Suicide’, is well-known for his Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide.  This model has been a great tool at assessing risk for those considering suicide.  The theory behind Joiner’s model is that those who kill themselves must not only have...Read More

Richard Bartle, a professor and game researcher in the multi-player online game industry, has broken down player motivation into four categories in the Bartle Test of Psychology.  These include achievers, explorers, socializers and killers.  The theory is that most video gamers fall into one of these categories.  Through careful player research using Bartle’s model, you...Read More

An intimacy disorder is when you are constantly struggling to establish a healthy bond with your partner, with past trauma often getting in the way.  Those struggling with intimacy disorders often have a fear of getting too close emotionally or physically to another person.  This fear can make it difficult, if not impossible, to move...Read More

In this blog post, we discuss identifying different communication styles. Your communication style can say a lot about who you are and how you connect to other people.  While no two people communicate exactly alike, there are four main categories of communication styles.  These include passive communication, aggressive communication, passive aggressive communication, and assertive communication. ...Read More

There are many strong and overwhelming feelings that go along with addiction recovery.  Intense feelings of grief and loss over lost time, damaged relationships, and missed opportunities during active addiction are a normal part of the healing and recovery process.  While these feelings of grief are different from what we often think of when we...Read More

Conflict for those is a relationship is unavoidable and can actually be healthy when processed properly.  The key is to practice healthy conflict resolution that will make you closer in your relationship.  It is important when engaged in a disagreement with your partner that you directly express your thoughts and feelings, doing so without blaming...Read More

During the process of recovery, it isn’t uncommon to trade one addiction for another.  This type of cross addiction, also known as substitute addiction, can lead to its own set of problems.  While it may seem like trading in drugs or alcohol for another less destructive addiction is innocent, the behavior can be a problem. ...Read More

For many generations society has seen therapy as a sign of weakness.  This stigma couldn’t be further from the truth.  Recognizing when it is needed and seeking therapy actually takes an incredible amount of courage and strength.  To realize that you need therapy requires self-awareness and the willingness to confront challenges to better yourself as...Read More

One of the best ways to prevent children from abusing drugs and alcohol in the future is by talking to them about addiction from an early age.  The level of detail and information will depend on the age of the child.  Young elementary-aged children may benefit from appropriately aged books.  From here, this may follow...Read More