As summer comes to an end, you've started to buy all the latest school supplies, and your kids are gearing up for a busy school year. The lake days and beach trips will soon be a distant memory. First, congratulations on getting through the summer! That is a significant accomplishment in itself.

The idea of story has long been one that has fascinated me. It is what originally drew me into this field to start with. Both my own personal story of pain and growth and having others share their stories with me. Recently I attended a conference led by Dan Allendar focused solely on StoryWork. He taught the tenants of this work and described what makes narrative therapy or storywork unique. It is the idea that what has happened to us or has occurred in our family members' lives that helps shape our lives and our personhood.

With the temperatures going up, we reach for the clothes in our closets that help us breathe, yet often this time of year can bring up thoughts like…

“I don’t have any needs.” That would have been my go-to reply twenty years ago if someone had asked me what my needs were. I was programmed to believe that I had all I needed, and if I didn’t have it, I could figure out a way to provide it for myself. It was a lonely place to live, and I knew that something was off, but I didn’t realize that my loneliness was directly related to my inability to acknowledge that I did, in fact, have needs.

You’re a rising senior and it’s summer! Time to relax, go to the lake, and not think about school – right? Well, yes and no ☺

Anxiety and Summer Camp- what parents can do and say (and not do/say) to prepare their kids for a great camp experience

The dating experience can so quickly turn from an exciting rush to a discouraging source of pain. What can initially seem fun, freeing and rewarding can often become a huge source of insecurity. Sometimes it is the amount of time it takes. "What if I am the problem?" Other times, the dating pool can be…less than desirable. "Maybe my standards are too high and I just need to deal with it." These thoughts are not uncommon but I do believe they are mistaken. I often hear that dating in our modern culture results in people either compromising their standards or becoming jaded and hurt over and over. What if there was an approach that could result in feeling confident, healthy, and valued, despite the outcome of your next match or date? What if your overall dating experience was more based on your decisions rather than the 'yes or no' of someone else?

You’ve dreamed of taking your new baby to the beach or pool, both of you dressed in cute swimsuits, or of strolling around your town with friends and iced coffee. But now that your first summer is approaching with your baby, you feel… scared? Isolated? All of a sudden aware of the risks of heat exhaustion or dehydration and of your postpartum body?