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FAQ’S: Living with Anxiety
A lot of the time in my work with clients, anxiety is a new topic for them. Everyone at some point has heard the term, or has known people personally who experience it, but anxiety can go unrecognized in themselves for a long time. Many clients will start the therapy...
Lost in Translation: Understanding Why Your Partner Doesn’t Listen
One of the most common complaints I hear from couples in my office is: “I just don’t feel like my partner is listening to me!” After this statement, I’ll usually hear a list of reasons why this...
Bridging Two Worlds: A Therapist’s Guide to Thriving in Intercultural Relationships
Intercultural relationships bring together different perspectives, traditions, and ways of expressing emotions. But sometimes, these differences can lead to misunderstandings that neither partner...
The Modern Dating Survival Guide: Master Boundary Setting & Transform Your Relationship Health
What Defines a Toxic Relationship? A toxic relationship is one where negativity overshadows positivity, creating an unhealthy dynamic that drains emotional and mental well-being. Toxic relationships...
The Complete Guide to Premarital Counseling
Marriage is one of the biggest commitments you’ll ever make. Premarital counseling helps couples prepare for the realities of married life, ensuring a solid foundation before saying “I do.” It’s not...
Finding Freedom from Trauma: Reclaiming Your Life and Relationship
Understanding Trauma Did you know that an estimated 70% of people in the world will experience at least one potentially traumatic event in their lifetime? These events can range from unexpected...
How Premarital Counseling Prepares You for a Stronger Future Together
Laying the Foundation for a Thriving Marriage Imagine embarking on a cross-country road trip without a map. You might make it to your destination, but not without stressful detours and wrong turns....
How to Talk So Your Partner Will Listen (and Vice Versa) A Guide
Some Common Questions Addressed In This Guide To Communication 1. How can I communicate better with my partner? We will help you learn to express how you feel without blaming, practice active...
Breaking Free from Mom Guilt: How to Embrace Imperfection in Motherhood
“Mom guilt”— every mother has encountered this at one point or another. That nagging voice in the back of your mind that patronizes you for “not doing enough, not being present enough, or somehow...
How Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) Can Help Your Relationship
Do you ever get into an argument with your partner and you can already tell how it is going to end? You’ve gone through the same cycle over and over again. Every time you fight it feels like you are...
“It’s not you, it’s my attachment!” Attachment in Dating and Relationships
I think it’s safe to say that many of us have experienced an argument in a relationship–be it a small disagreement over what brand to buy at the grocery store, or a full blown conflict that’s been...
Rejection Sensitivity: The Unknown Symptom of ADHD
Rejection sensitivity and ADHD are closely related, but this fact isn’t often known. Those with ADHD are more likely to struggle with maintaining interpersonal relationships, jobs, and school. This...
Breaking the Stigma of Mental Health within the African American Culture
Mental health plays as big of a role as physical health in the overall being, yet it is often overlooked. Within the African American community, issues with mental health are frequently accompanied...
10 Benefits of Premarital Counseling
It is likely that you found this post because you are recently engaged or considering marriage with your current partner. First of all, congratulations! As with any major life transition, this...
Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety with CBT
Everyone has experienced anxiety or knows someone who has dealt with anxiety at some point in their lives. It’s an extremely common reaction to things, situations, or events that we’re anticipating...
What is Executive Functioning, and what does it have to do with ADHD?
Have you ever noticed your mind being pulled in several different directions at one time, but somehow you’re able to reign it all in? I think we need to thank a little system called executive...
Unlearning Unhelpful Thinking: How to Challenge Cognitive Distortions via CBT Approach
You’ve just finished a performance review with your boss where you received the comment, “Needs improvement.” As you stare at the comment, thoughts begin to swirl through your head. I can never get...
What is Mindfulness and Can it Help with Anxiety?
Mindfulness has become quite the buzz word as of late. But what is it really? And can it really help us reduce our anxiety symptoms? Let’s dig into this question, and start by clarifying our terms....
Working with an Intern Therapist: What you need to know before working with a graduate student therapist
At Fava Counseling Associates of Atlanta, we sometimes have intern therapists as a part of our team. Working with a therapy intern can be a unique experience for clients. It offers its own set of...
ADHD: Breaking Down a Complex Diagnosis
Does trying to wash your dog, take out the trash, load the dishwasher, fold your clothes, and re-organize your fridge in between the original task of running upstairs for a charger sound familiar to...
How to Find a Good Therapist: 9 Questions to Ask Before Your First Appointment
Research has shown that approximately one in 25 adults in the United States struggle with a serious mental illness. These include major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and schizophrenia....
Gottman Method of Couples Therapy: A Guide
If you’ve been looking around for a couple’s therapist in Atlanta, you might have stumbled upon something called the Gottman Method for couples therapy. If you’re wondering what it’s all about,...
Ambiguous Loss
I was first introduced to the term “ambiguous loss” in my Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program. When I learned about this theory, things started to click in my mind, and it has become an...
What is Brainspotting?
What is Brainspotting?: An Introduction To Brainspotting Brainspotting is a rapid, effective therapy that works with trauma as well as a wide range of other issues. It is one of a few types of newer...
When All is Not Merry and Bright
The holiday season begs us to be filled with cheer, joy, and merriness. Houses have been decorated with lights and wreaths, there are parties, school plays, gifts to buy, and Christmas music...
The Holidays are Here! How to Handle the Stress of Family, Planning, and More
A few years back, my family started a yearly GoogleDoc to share our Christmas wish lists. We each add some items we’d like, and family members then send texts and emails claiming what they intend...
Marriage Counseling Tips: How to Bring Your A-Game and Make It Count
The divorce rate has been on a slow decline for the past few years. While that may sound like good news, 39% of marriages still end in divorce. If you think your marriage is quickly heading towards...
The Benefits of Therapy: Why Is Therapy Important?
In today's world, it's not uncommon for people to visit a therapist at some point. In fact, it's advisable to schedule an appointment at least once. In particular, be willing to do so when times get...
Do We Need Marriage Counseling? Top Signs Your Relationship Needs a Couples Counselor
The U.S. divorce rate has gone down in recent years. But that certainly doesn't mean that every married couple out there is happy right now. One study suggested that about 60% of people are in...
Prepare Enrich Premarital Counseling: A Detailed Look
Are you researching premarital counseling? Have you seen Prepare Enrich Premarital Counseling mentioned and wonder what that’s..
Family of Origin – Choosing Love That Lasts
Do you ever wonder where you got the idea that the husband is supposed to take out the trash, or that the wife is supposed to clean the bathroom? Though gender roles and stereotypes are furthered by...
Choosing Love that Lasts: Believing the Best?
Do you believe the best about your spouse, or believe the worst? If I were to ask you if you generally believe that your future spouse (or current spouse/significant other if you are already in a...
Non-Negotiables in a Relationship: Choosing Love That Lasts
As we continue with our blog series, Choosing Love that Lasts, I want to encourage you on the importance of the work that you are doing related to your own personal identity. I truly believe that it...
Choosing Love that Lasts: Core Values
Returning again to our series Choosing a Love that Lasts, I would like us to examine the concept of core values. In the last post, I encouraged you to take on the everlasting task of self-discovery....
The Process of Owning our Potential
“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as "rootless and stemless." We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a...
Choosing Love that Lasts: Know Yourself
One of the most important aspects of choosing love that lasts is knowing yourself and what you are bringing into a relationship: both the good and the bad.
Relationships: Choosing Love that Lasts
You choose to make love work, and you create the foundation for your relationship, either consciously or unconsciously. This blog series will focus on ways to build a strong foundation for a lasting relationship.
Improving Boundaries in Relationships: The Analogy of Fences, Walls and Gates
We have a choice concerning the boundaries we set in our lives and relationships. Will you put up a fence, a wall, or have a gate that you can choose who enters and leaves?
Maintaining Change & Keeping New Years Resolutions
It's February now, and for many people, that means that the resolutions or goals they have set for the new year have already long been forgotten. So what do you do if you are prone to not following...
What to Expect When Starting Therapy
People who have not experienced first-hand the counseling process often have lots of questions about what it entails. Hollywood images of laying out on leather couches while someone with a tight bun...
Welcoming 2013 with Open Arms
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! Did you put any of the holiday tips into practice? If so how did they work? I'd love to hear from you. I know I enjoyed the break from...
Thriving Through the Holidays: Simplify
Many people feel over-commited during the holidays, but these few simple tips can help you simplify and enjoy this busy but meaningful time of year.
Thriving Through the Holidays: 7 Tips for Maintaining Health
Welcome to the next post in our series "Thriving Through the Holidays". One of the challenges of the holiday season is the loss of a regular routine. Our body likes our regular patterns, and too...
Thriving Through the Holidays: Conscious Choosing
One of the things I often notice when talking with people about the holidays is an overall attitude that the holidays happen to us. We feel that it is just a natural part of the holidays to feel...
Thriving Through the Holidays: Reaping a Field of Gratitude
In light of the upcoming holiday season, this blog post is a continuation of the series Thriving Through the Holidays. Quick: What do you think of when you hear/read the word Thanksgiving?...
Thriving Through the Holidays: Raising Expectations
The countdown is on. We have only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, and 47 shopping days left until Christmas. I've seen Christmas decorations in stores for weeks now, and I'm starting to see all the...
Season of Woe or Wonder: Transitioning to Fall
Fall is certainly in the air in Atlanta, and all the many ideas it carries with it are in full swing: pumpkin flavored everything, leaves changing, cooler weather, and the days growing shorter. I...
5 Tips for Relaxation You Can Do Today!
We've all been there. The day starts promptly at 6:00am, and we are out of the gate running. Getting kids ready, traffic jams, meetings and presentations, homework, after work appointments, dinner,...
Our Recent Event: “Finding Center”
I am privileged to work with a talented group of practitioners who specialize in all different areas related to holistic health care and wellness. We decided to begin a monthly event series at our...
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