Bringing baby home is an exciting and joyful time… right? What if it's not? While most new moms will experience some level of baby blues, 1 in 10 women will experience a postpartum mood disorder that impacts their experience during this time. The question though, is how to know the difference. What are "baby blues" and what is a potential postpartum mood disorder?

Your brain’s job is to protect your life.

Before Milo, I was emotionally safe and sound in my own self-absorbed pursuits, but the truth is, being in relationship with others puts us at risk for loss. Isn’t that one of life’s most confounding realities? In relationship with others, we are walking a tightrope across a deep canyon of human emotion with love on one side of the tension and loss on the other.

As a new(er) member of the Ignite team, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and provide an overview of my experience, background and specialties that fuel my passion for being a therapist, so that you, dear reader, can see if we may be a match!

With an ERP-trained clinician (Exposure and Response Prevention), P-OCD clients work towards engaging with their fears and tolerating distress without performing ritualized, compulsive behaviors.

For some, a traumatic experience could be the catalyst for professional help, while for others, the pain and intrusive disruption associated with a traumatic event can create a need to escape, avoid and numb. In these instances, drugs and alcohol provide a very convenient means to “cope” with the emotional pain the sufferer is experiencing.

However, the irony in this cycle is that rather than working to heal, repair and move forward, the individual that turns to drugs and alcohol to cope is merely prolonging the agony of what the trauma created by avoiding, compartmentalizing and checking out.

There is Hope

Therapy that is focused on getting to – and healing – the underlying drivers of the problematic behaviors results in a high level of success.

In today’s article, we are delving in to some of the most frequently asked questions about love and sex addiction from our talented therapist on the team, Mike Lyons, Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Candidate. Let’s destigmatize this important topic!

The thing about stress is....it hits at the absolute worst time without any warning. I didn't wake up that morning prepared to untangle a giant mess. One of the biggest barriers to utilizing mindfulness skills is practicing them enough so that we can draw on them quickly without thinking about how, what do I need to remember, what order does it go in, and on and on and on. It's a mindfulness PRACTICE.

Recognizing the signs of secondary trauma are vital towards processing the feelings of being close to or adjacent to a trauma. When we recognize our own signs of secondary trauma, we can make steps to alleviate the grief and emotional payload so that we can in turn, free up useful time and energy towards effective support to those we care about, that were directly impacted.

There won’t be a significant life event that passes without an echo of the loss. Maybe it’s a momentary awareness of a loved one’s absence and maybe it’s a full-blown panic attack accompanied by a grown-up temper tantrum. Sounds awful, doesn’t it?

The American culture (with puritanical roots) tends to create a lot of shame and blame around addiction.

What did I do wrong as a parent or spouse? Am I somehow enabling?

Are there any medications that I can take to stop this?

I’m embarrassed and don’t want anyone to know how bad it is. Are there options for treatment that are discreet?

My loved one has a high-profile job...how will their treatment impact our family life?

OCD is presented in many different ways in pop culture and media portrayals. This 3-part mini series aims to shed light on some of the common beliefs about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and provide a more accurate representation of what the condition looks and feels like.

OCD is presented in many different ways in pop culture and media portrayals. This 3-part mini series aims to shed light on some of the common beliefs about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and provide a more accurate representation of what the condition looks and feels like.

OCD is presented in many different ways in pop culture and media portrayals. This 3-part mini series aims to shed light on some of the common beliefs about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and provide a more accurate representation of what the condition looks and feels like.

I had Covid-19 in December of 2020. My partner came down with symptoms, received positive test results, and my physical symptoms emerged a few days later. Sore throat, fever and chills on the first three days, followed by sneezing and a runny nose, all accompanied by a persistent fatigue that could not be alleviated. By the seventh day of my symptoms, all upper respiratory symptoms had subsided, except that I was left without my senses of taste and smell. Once the novelty wore off, I faced the reality of losing 40% of one’s sensory input.

This was the beginning of a new chapter in my experience with Covid-19.

Whew, what a year it’s been, and continues to be. Maybe you’ve noticed some new behaviors in the stress of the times. Or perhaps some unwanted habits are exacerbated or getting out of control. In times of uncertainty, struggle and fear, the body/mind can get out of balance and look for comfort and relief in any way it can: overeating, drinking, drugs, binge watching tv, running on coffee, or avoiding responsibilities.

If you feel like your thoughts, habits and behaviors are getting out of control, here are five steps you can take today that can bring you back into balance, create calm, increase energy and improve your mood and outlook.

The migration to the online Telehealth platform has made it necessary for practitioners to implement countless policy and procedural changes to the daily functions of operation. From securing HIPAA-compliant document-managing systems and video conferencing, contact-less billing and payment options, to updating WIFI connections and hard-wired Internet, we are seeing the technological capabilities in this field. Online, you don’t have to wear a mask, you don’t have to divulge your body temperature, and we can continue our appointment schedules without limitation.

After exploring the Ignite website, you feel ready to contact us. You might be wondering: What’s going to happen after I call? We understand that making this first contact isn’t always easy, and that’s why we wanted to give you a snapshot of what takes place after you reach out to us.

Can you allow yourself to grieve?

We often don’t realize that what we’re experiencing is grief; the package of thoughts, feelings, and sensations that are the natural response to loss. Our society mistakenly approves of grief only after the death of a loved one, and even then, society tells you to make your grief quiet, short, and tidy; nicely tied up in a bow after your four-day bereavement leave.

Yet, without recognizing and validating the losses other than death and the accompanying grief, we run the risk of languishing in a swamp of unsettling emotions that seem to have no cause or reason. That’s a recipe for deep depression and resignation; the very opposite of a rich, fulfilling, hope-filled life.