October 2024
10 Calming Techniques for Children and Adolescents
By: Kayli Beaty, LMFT-Associate Supervised by Dr. Mark White What is the first trick tech experts ask you when you bring in a phone or laptop that is slow or glitching? “Have you updated and reset the software?” Our nervous systems often require a hard reset, or an update to adapt to current circumstances more efficiently. The God-given reset button to our nervous system is through breath. While not every breathing technique fits every kiddo, here are ten options to try as you aid your child in navigating life's difficulties. A child’s difficult behaviors, when met with a connected adult
To the Person on Fire: A Letter from one Chronic Pain Patient to the Other
By: Kayli Beaty, LMFT Associate Supervised by Dr. Mark White To the person on fire, I see you. I see how you flow through your days with both grit and grace just hoping to muster enough energy to complete your tasks. I see you. I see the frustration you experience with your body, as it feels like a friend who has betrayed you day after day-working against you. I see you. I see the little muscles in your face gathering together to force a smile through the pain in hopes that you will pass as “normal,” just to heave a
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
