Our Blog - Restoration Hope

Parenting Preteens and Social Media- Woof

Preteens and social media- Woof. This is a big topic. If you are feeling lost about how to approach this and what boundaries to set, know that you are not alone! This is the most common point of tension that I see between preteens and their parents and is genuinely very difficult to navigate. So […]

Using Music To Regulate

With music being as popular as it is for a source of regulating or supporting us in coping through emotions, I wanted to highlight a few ways that it can be helpful for us. Often we can feel the difference that playing a song has on us, such as giving us a release of emotion […]

The Power of A Simple Word to Change the Trajectory of a Day

When was the last time you told a friend how much you appreciated them? …A child what you enjoy about spending time with them? …Or what you admire about your partner? Our words are powerful! We know how good it feels to hear something positive about ourselves, yet so often we forget or do not […]

Divorce, Alienation, and Estrangement

Divorce can be a difficult, ugly, and complicated situation. Divorce can come with intense emotions and that means it can also come with a lot of conflict. With conflict can come alienation and in the mast several years, family courts have become far more aware of this family dynamic. Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is “defined […]

Sublimation: Is it a Cognitive Distortion, or an Adaptable Strength?

In our series of cognitive distortions, sublimation is one type of distortion that at first appearance does not seem like a negative ‘distortion’. Sublimation is, in essence, turning something that is perceived as a weakness or inappropriate to the society/culture, into something that is good and acceptable. It is adaptable as somewhat of a strength, […]

Defense Mechanisms: An Introduction to When/Why We Use Them

We are starting a blog series that talks about defense mechanisms, or the ways in which we try to protect ourselves from fear or pain. However, before we dive into the different defense mechanisms, it is important to look at how we get there in the first place. This is where the nervous system comes […]

Parental Resources

It is not unusual for parents to experience challenging behaviors that their child has and not know how to communicate to meet that need or resolve the conflict without finding it turns into a power struggle. Often we know it is a power struggle because it’s coming across that either your child is ‘winning’ or […]

Transitions

Transitioning into a new year tends to bring desire for change. While culturally some of those transitions are defined by New Years Resolutions, some of those changes might include a move, redefining boundaries with friendships or family, a job change, etc. Transitions can bring up a mixture of emotions and thoughts. During these transitions, we […]

Limitations

I cringe as I say and write the word, LIMITATIONS. We live in a culture that frowns upon boundaries, saying no, and “weakness”. We continue to add more to our to-do lists and fear not measuring up or failure, so we say “yes”, we keep busy. Many of us growing up were told we could […]

The New Year: Reflection Before Resolution

New Years has become known as a time for resolutions, which is great (when they actually happen). So often, however, life gets in the way. This year instead of shaming yourself into change, I want to invite you into a different approach: reflection. Let me be clear, reflection is not about judgement. When we are […]

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