Author name: Mary Joan Brinson

Pet loss grief can be substantial when a family has to say goodbye to their much-loved friend. Experiencing the loss of a pet, whether you’re feeling the grief alone or there are others involved, can hurt a lot deeper than we expect. This is all the truer if your pet dies unexpectedly or tragically. Your […]

Could bringing home a pet be a good anxiety and stress relief strategy for you and your family? When most of us think of adding a new family pet, we first consider the responsibility involved. And some of us never get any further than that because the combined time, energy and money investment seems too

Is it possible that you or a loved one is struggling with situational depression? As the name suggests, situational depression is brought on by one’s circumstances. That may seem like an obvious observation until considering that major depression (the type most think of when they hear the word “depression”) can exist with no identifiable cause.

We tend to view depression and anxiety as separate from each other, and rightfully so. After all, anxiety and depressive disorders can have some profound and fundamental differences. In his “Psychology Today” article entitled Anxiety and Depression—First Cousins, At Least (Pt 1 of 5), Leon F. Seltzer Ph.D. shares the following: “Depressed individuals frequently report

Is overcoming perfectionism something you should consider? Plenty of people view ‘perfectionism’ as a positive trait to possess. And, if not taken to extremes, a little extra attention to detail can help you be successful or even safe in life. But sometimes, that over-attention to detail becomes too strong, which causes all sorts of problems.

Parental burnout can be uniquely challenging to navigate. Sometimes when you’re burned out, the best thing you can do is change things up. If what’s contributing to your burnout can be cut out of your schedule, that’s a no-brainer. For instance, activities like too much news consumption or social media use sap our energy and

It’s easy to imagine that symptoms of depression in men look relatively similar to how they do for women. We naturally tend to lump the two together, thinking ongoing clinical sadness is what it is regardless of gender. While there certainly are some similarities between the two, depression in men vs women is different in

With high-functioning anxiety, things often aren’t what they appear to be. You may be super driven and used to completing tasks at super high standards. On the outside, everything seems fine to those who see you from a distance. Many would never suspect that underneath the surface, your mind and body churn from stress and

Are you a couple going through challenges with your in-law relationships? If so, the experience is not all that uncommon. Yes, some couples have relatively harmonious in-law relationships with only occasional ups and downs. However, other couples go through significant in-law conflict to the point that it damages their primary relationship or even breaks it

Whether you have contented in-law relationships or not, there are always ways you can make those interactions better. If you’ve been in a committed relationship for a long time, you now know that it isn’t just your spouse or partner you need to get along with — it’s also your in-laws! That can initially be