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The Helpful Benefits of Therapy for Addiction Treatment

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therapy for addiction treatment

Medically reviewed by Mark Hrymoc MD Are you struggling to maintain sobriety? If so, you may be interested in exploring the benefits of exploring therapy for addiction treatment. Addiction is a brain disorder for which a person has overwhelming urges to repeat specific actions, even though doing so leads to negative consequences personally, professionally, academically, or socially. Having an addiction means your brain has been altered by alcohol or drug misuse to the point that it cannot function appropriately. Your brain is convinced it needs substances to survive, which keeps you in the cycle of seeking, misusing, and recovering. Currently, over 21 million Americans have a substance use disorder. Unfortunately, less than 15% seek treatment. Therapy is one of the most effective forms of therapy for addiction treatment. What is Therapy for Addiction Treatment? Psychotherapy or therapy for addiction helps you stop misusing alcohol or drugs. It teaches you how …

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Celebrating Black History Month 2023

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black history month

By Ashley Barnes   About Black History Month. Black History Month celebrates and honors Black communities’ contributions to American culture. February is National Black History Month. This year’s theme, “Black Resistance,” focuses on “Black Americans’ efforts to advocate for dignified, self-determined lives within our democratic society, while bringing attention to their achievements” (Postell, 2023). However, we also want to emphasize the importance of celebrating and honoring Black communities daily, not just during the month of February.  Celebrating Black Mental Health Professionals. The following individuals are merely some Black mental health professionals who’ve made profoundly positive impacts on the mental health field: Bebe Moore Campbell – an American author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate who “worked tirelessly to shed light on the mental health needs of the Black community and other underrepresented communities. She founded NAMI-Inglewood in a predominantly Black neighborhood to create a space that was safe for Black …

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Supporting Transgender Youth Mental Health

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black history month

By Ashley Barnes, M.S.   Transgender identity. Transgender individuals are those whose sex assigned at birth does not completely align with their current gender identity; it is important to note that the identities of transgender and nonbinary are not always mutually exclusive (Price-Feeney et al., 2020). People who identify outside of the gender binary and who may or may not also identify as transgender are non-binary individuals. Non-binary gender identity can include identifying as neither male nor female, both male and female or as different genders at different times. (Richards et al., 2016). Risk Factors. While the LGBTQ+ community is often lumped together as one large unifying group, it incorporates sub-communities and identities with vastly different experiences; one such sub-community with its own unique experience is the trans-community. Though the larger LGBTQ+ community experiences stigmatization and discrimination on social and political levels, research has identified solemn truths about some of …

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The Importance of Setting Boundaries

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black history month

By Ashley Barnes   What are boundaries? One of the most important forms of self-care is setting boundaries. Boundaries are limits people set with the intention of creating a healthy sense of personal space; they can be emotional or physical in nature, aiding us in distinguishing our desires, preferences, and needs from one another. Like a fence, it protects our space from factors that could negatively impact our mental health.  When to set boundaries. A good sign that we need to set a boundary could be when we start to feel agitated with that which is infringing on our well being. This may look like feeling exhausted and resentful towards someone in our lives who keeps asking for favors, feeling frustrated with our professional life if we aren’t getting adequate work-life balance, or feeling anxious regarding a romantic partner who is making us feel uncomfortable. Without setting clear boundaries, we …

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The Daily Challenges of Depression in Day to Day Life

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The daily challenges of depression in day to day life

Dealing with the daily challenges of depression comes in different forms. When the alarm clock wakes you up, do you get a knot in your stomach and pray for a reason to stay in bed all day? When your best friend asks you to hang out the upcoming weekend, do you get excited and accept the invitation? Closer to the outing, do you begin dreading it and looking for excuses to cancel? Do you have moments at work, school, or socially where you cannot control your emotions? Like when you lash out at a coworker or get road rage? But then, when you get home to your spouse, do you feel emotionless, and no matter what you try, you don’t feel romantic or loving? These are just a few examples of how depression can challenge your day-to-day life. You Are Not Alone Data shows more than 17 million Americans have at …

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