Therapy Sketches
Reflections from the members of our clinical team on connections and insights made in psychotherapy about the lives we live and how it impacts our mental health.
Older sketches
Understanding Grief: A Journey of Adaptation
January 2025
Grief is a natural process that occurs after the death of a loved one and involves emotional reactions. During the mourning period, a person may feel shock or disbelief at the death or loss of a loved one. Feelings of loss, pain, sadness, grief, sorrow, longing, longing, anger, guilt, […]
What Happens When Setting Boundaries Isn’t Enough?
December 2024
Boundaries are personal limits we deliberately establish to help us manage relationships more effectively and safeguard our well-being. They serve as protective barriers in our lives, such as our time, emotional well-being, psychological health, and physical space. By setting clear boundaries, we can better create our personal space, […]
Holiday Harmony: Setting Healthy Emotional Boundaries During Holidays
December 2024
Holidays are unique times of the year for reflection, celebration, and relaxation. The holidays can be categorized as secular, religious, ethnic, or cultural. Regardless of the category, the meanings of holidays can actually differ from person to person. Many view holidays as joyful experiences that include connection […]
What is Identity?
November 2024
Finding Who We Are: Exploring Identity in Therapy Identity is how we understand and define ourselves. It includes our values, beliefs, personality, culture, relationships, and societal roles. Identity is not fixed; it can change over time as we grow and experience different things. According to psychologists like Crocetti and colleagues, identity is shaped by our […]
Navigating Cultural Dynamics vs. Dysfunctional Relationship Patterns
November 2024
Culture is always changing, shaped by the social and historical environments around it. It develops through groups of people who share ideas, values, and ways of speaking. These communities are not isolated; they interact with the larger world and evolve as society and history change. Through ongoing exchanges, […]
Unpacking the Religious Trauma: A Journey Through Understanding
November 2024
Religion is a set of beliefs and practices that involve worshipping a divine power. It includes rituals, teachings, and moral guidelines for people to understand the world and universe. Religion means different to everyone. However, one common theme is that religion is known for its role in […]
Feeling of Surprise: Embracing the Uncertainty
October 2024
According to Paul Ekman’s research, surprise is one of our fundamental emotions. As surprising as it is, we feel surprised when we come across something we do not expect. This can be unexpected sounds, movements, and behaviors. For example, you can feel surprised when […]
Making Sense of Emotions: Experiencing and Identifying Feelings
October 2024
In our daily lives, we encounter many events and situations, both expected and unexpected, that trigger various responses in us. These responses encompass physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions. The reactions we give are often shaped by the emotions we feel. Therefore, emotions hold a critical place […]
Insights into Sadness: How does it affect us?
October 2024
We often hear the phrase, “Everyone feels sad from time to time.” We often hear that when trying to find solace. Although we understand that, it doesn’t take away the sensation of sadness that can be experienced as deep and painful. We get tiny signals of sadness […]
What do we fear?
September 2024
Fear’s Purpose: From Threat to Safety Fear is an emotional reaction to a stimulus that implies a real or perceived threat. Even though we highly despise feelings of fear and aim to avoid it as much as possible, fear has a robust adaptive value that contributes to our survival rate. Due to its adaptive nature, […]
Finding Joy: How to Build a Lasting Happiness
September 2024
Happiness is a positive emotional state characterized by feelings of joy and life satisfaction. It is one of humans’ primary and universal emotions, alongside anger, fear, contempt, disgust, sadness, and surprise. Happiness has significantly positive value among the other primary emotions since it arises from well-being, contentment, […]
Exploring Anxiety: Understanding Anxiety as a Complex Emotion
August 2024
Anxiety is an emotion that is experienced due to thoughts of future outcomes that could happen at some time in the future. Anxiety is classified as a secondary emotion, which means to feel anxious, we process information in accordance with our previous […]