Everything You Need to Know Before Starting Marriage Counseling

0 comments Colorado Counseling Center, Couples Communication & Conflict, Marriage Counseling
Everything You Need to Know Before Starting Marriage Counseling

What do you need to know before starting marriage counseling? In this post, we’ll answer the common questions that couples have before starting marriage counseling. We’ll also share essential insights that marriage counselors wish their clients knew from the beginning of couples therapy. 

It’s normal to feel anxious about couples counseling

In my 20+ years as a therapist who specializes in helping couples, I’ve never met a couple that didn’t feel anxious about getting started with marriage therapy. This is your most important relationship after all, and so much of your happiness and your future depends on it! It’s only natural that you need some reassurance and guidance before starting marriage counseling.

Here’s an outline of the topics we’ll cover in this post:

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Generosity, Abundance, & Thanksgiving

0 comments Colorado Counseling Center, Inspiration, Wholehearted Living

Where Does Abundance Come From?

Abundance in our relationships, our communities, and our world comes from generosity.

What do you have to give? How could your relationships change if you generously gave others the benefit of the doubt? What would happen if you authentically and generously gave kindness and compassion to those around you? How could giving your courage, your humor, or your understanding make the world a better place?

As we each give from a place of generosity, our relationships become more full and more fulfilling. At Colorado Counseling Center, we help couples and individuals rediscover the abundance that comes through generously sharing with each other.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How to Achieve Genuine Forgiveness

0 comments Couples Communication & Conflict, Forgiveness, Marriage Counseling
https://youtu.be/s2jlTpqUqFo?rel=0
How to Achieve Genuine Forgiveness (Forgiveness Series Video 5)

When Is Genuine Forgiveness Possible?

We all desire the best options for our relationships—which leads us ask, “When is genuine forgiveness possible?”

As discussed in my previous videos, cheap forgiveness doesn’t work, perpetually refusing to forgive keeps us imprisoned, and acceptance may be the best option when it isn’t safe to continue the relationship.

But what if we want to restore love and trust in our relationship? To answer this question, watch the video above or keep reading!

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Forgiveness When the Other Person Isn’t Sorry

0 comments Couples Communication & Conflict, Forgiveness, Marriage Counseling
How to Approach Forgiveness When They’re Not Sorry (Forgiveness Series Video 4)

Our counseling and therapy clients can struggle with how to approach forgiveness when the other person isn’t sorry. What do you do if the other person feels no remorse? What if having contact with them puts you at risk of further harm? How about when the other person isn’t available? These situations present considerable challenges to those wishing to move forward in life.

Drawing from the work of forgiveness expert Janis Abrahms-Spring, I previously shared about other approaches to forgiveness that end up causing more harm. If you haven’t seen them yet, you can check them out here!

In this fourth video of our forgiveness series, I share about acceptance. As taught by Abrahms-Spring, acceptance is a healthy approach to forgiveness when the other person isn’t willing or available to help you heal. When it’s not safe to continue a relationship, moving toward acceptance can also be a life-affirming approach that keeps you safe. Acceptance can restore you to a sense of freedom, wholeness, empowerment, and possibility.

To learn more about this vital topic, watch our 8-minute video above, or keep reading!

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When We Refuse to Forgive

0 comments Couples Communication & Conflict, Forgiveness
When We Refuse to Forgive (Forgiveness Series Video 3)

What Is Refusing to Forgive?

When we refuse to forgive, we hold on to our hurt, our anger, and our bitterness. We stew in our feelings of hostility and resentment. But this comes at a great cost. In her book How Can I Forgive You? Janis Abrahms-Spring identifies refusing to forgive as a second approach to forgiveness.

To learn more about refusing to forgive, watch the video above or keep reading!

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Why Cheap Forgiveness Doesn’t Work

0 comments Couples Communication & Conflict, Forgiveness, Marriage Counseling
Why Cheap Forgiveness Doesn’t Work (Forgiveness Series Video 2)

In this second video of our forgiveness series, we define “cheap forgiveness,” identify where it comes from, explain why cheap forgiveness doesn’t work, and describe how it can actually end up hurting you and your relationship. Watch the video above or keep reading to learn more! (If you missed it, here’s our first video introducing our series on how to forgive.)

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How to Forgive

0 comments Couples Communication & Conflict, Forgiveness, Marriage Counseling
How To Forgive (Forgiveness Series Video 1)

How to Forgive: Introducing Our Forgiveness Video Series

After painful experiences, we often wonder, “How do I move on? How do I heal from all that has happened?” In my experience as a couples therapist, people sometimes tell me, “I don’t know how to forgive.”

How Can I Forgive You? by Janis Abrahms-Spring

In this 5-part video series on how to forgive, I summarize some excellent counsel from Janis Abrahms-Spring’s book How Can I Forgive You? Also, I share some of my own observations from nearly 20 years as a Marriage & Family Therapist. In the coming four videos and blog post summaries, I’ll first share some ideas about what doesn’t work. I will then share some observations about how to navigate forgiveness and relational healing in a healthy way. We need ways to approach forgiveness that allow for safety, dignity, self-respect, and authentic growth. To learn more, watch our 2-minute video above or keep reading!

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When Anxiety Trips You Up

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tips for managing anxiety

I remember it like it was yesterday; my high school graduation. Hundreds of eyes were watching as each student received his or her diploma. My heart raced. I felt nervous about just walking in front of such a large crowd. I joked about tripping during the ceremony, hoping that would assure that it would NOT happen. The walking up part was successful.  However, as fate would have it, the climb down the stairs from the stage proved to be my “moment.” I stumbled and fell—right into the sure hands of my principal.  

Normally, I know how to walk and use stairs, but the anxious part of my brain switched “on,” causing me to feel a sense of alarm and panic just long enough to forever mark me as “the girl who tripped during graduation.” And, here I am years later, just fine and even able to laugh about it (mostly).

Most of us function with some amount of anxiety.  In specific situations, a feeling of panic may even be necessary for survival.  For example, if you were to see a bear while on a walk, the “flight or fight” response that bypasses rational thought to avoid any further exchange with that bear can be a very good thing!    

Anxiety as an Inhibitory Emotion

Anxiety can be vital to survival, but many times it is just uncomfortable and miserable and prevents us from participating in life the way that we want.  Continue reading →

3 Steps to Banishing Your Inner Critic

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Banishing Your Inner Critic - Centennial Counseling Denver Therapy

When it comes to attaining our biggest dreams, we often tend to stand in our own way. Many of us lack the confidence that we believe we need in order to even begin taking steps to reach a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. 

The Imposter Syndrome

And even when we do begin to take risks and obtain our goals, many of us have what is called “imposter syndrome”—the feeling that we are somehow incompetent at what we do and have managed to fool everyone into getting to the position or role we are in; that we are basically a fraud. 

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How Do You Cope?

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Coping Strategies Counseling Denver Centennial

Do Other People Bug You?

Have you ever been angry at someone because it seemed like they were spending WAAYYY too much time with a particular thing or situation? We’re so easily frustrated by other’s coping strategies. Here are some examples: a wife who’s angry with her husband for spending too much time at work. A husband who is angry with his wife because she’s on her phone ALL the time. A son who plays video games every waking moment of the day? Or how about a daughter who hangs out with friends as much as possible, rarely spending time around the house and family?  Perhaps your husband is spending A LOT of time watching sports on TV. Or maybe your wife seems to be spending way too much time exercising and going to the gym.

It’s easy to get judgmental about the behavior of others—but judging others rarely results in change, and often results in damaging our relationships.

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