June 2024
You Can’t “Snap Out of It” and That’s Okay
By: Kayli Beaty, LMFT Associate Supervised by Dr. Mark White “I just need to snap out of it.” “I don’t know why I can’t get over myself.” “Will I ever get out of this funk?” If the human heart were capable of “just snapping out of it,” you would have done it by now. We were not designed to switch our brains on and off, as circumstances and emotions are far more complex than that. Many are familiar with the term “fight or flight,” which describes an emotional state where an individual is often overwhelmed and anxious, blood pressure is
December 2023
You Are Someone You Need To Love, Too.
By: Kayli Beaty, LMFT Associate, Supervised By Dr. Mark White, LMFT-S Has the hand you’ve been dealt in life started to feel heavy? Have you found yourself working to please those around you even if it means constantly keeping your emotions and thoughts harbored? Here is a gentle reminder: You are someone you need to love, too. Deriving from Mark 12:31, people are called to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” What would it look like if you truly loved those around you as you loved yourself? Would they feel safe, connected, and satisfied, or would they feel ridiculed, judged, and
July 2023
Rearing Emotionally Healthy Children in the World Today
By: Kayli Beaty, LMFT Associate, Supervised By Dr. Mark White, LMFT-S Perhaps you are a new parent striving to set firm foundations in place to ensure you are prepared to rear a strong, healthy child. Maybe you have been a parent for a long time and are seeking a different way to help your children grow in their emotional intelligence. Wherever you stand, it is not too late, or too early, to review and alter the narrative around emotions in your home. One of the foundational concepts attributable to emotionally healthy children comes from a sense of emotional safety and
May 2023
Therapy for Children and Adolescents: The Language of Play
By: Kayli Beaty, LMFT Associate As adults discuss the contents of their heart through conversation from one side of the room to the other, children tend to have greater difficulty expressing their needs in the same way. Play is the native language of children, so why are we attempting to speak to them in a way that is more difficult for them to conceptualize? Incorporating play into the therapy room alleviates the pressure children might feel when sharing their difficulties, as it is something familiar and a way to connect that feels organic to them. Similar to an adult in
December 2021
The Ever-Present Calculator: A Message on Eating Disorders
By: Kayli Spears, MFT-Intern A 2020 research article on body shape ideals in the United States yielded that women “reported conflicting pressures to be thin while also having the desire to have curvier and fuller bodies” (Hunter et al., 2020, pp. 240). There has been yet another shift in the perception of the “perfect body” in the United States over the last couple of years. Similar to the changing of the seasons and the trends that come and go, society’s ideal body fluctuates as well. How can anyone win with what is “in” or “popular” when standards are constantly shifting?
October 2021
The Reality of Chronic Illness: An Invitation to Leave the Mask at Home
By: Kayli Spears, MFT-Intern “You look normal.” “Why don’t you ever want to do anything?” “You are so flakey.” “Why are you always tired?” “Can’t you just take some medicine?” If you are an individual with autoimmune conditions or chronic pain, you will likely find the first few statements all too familiar. God has designed our minds and bodies to have open and intricate lines of communication with one another. When an individual experiences chronic stress, fear, anxiety, or depression, those emotions have the potential to manifest into physical ailments in the body. When autoimmune conditions are present, the mind
September 2021
Caring For the Caretaker: Pouring from an Empty Cup
By: Kayli Spears, LMFT Associate When was the last time you checked in on yourself? Being in the position of taking care of a loved one with an illness, dementia, and other memory-loss diseases, in particular, is a unique space accompanied by responsibility, loss, frustration, setbacks, and victories. The caretaker tends to their loved one hand and foot, but who is there to tend to them? An individual's caretaker position allows them to walk alongside a loved one, receiving the privilege of peering through the darkest corners of their journey along with the cracks of light and progress that make its
