We often hear about the fight or flight system but the thing we less frequently hear about is the relaxation system. Yes! The body has a system for relaxing! The relaxation system is also called the parasympathetic nervous system. And the same way that fight or flight plays a crucial role in the body, the relaxation also plays an important role.

You have probably heard of the fight or flight response before. But really what is it, what’s its purpose, and how can understanding it help us?

We have an average of 4,000 thoughts a day. That is a lot of thoughts! And they each have an impact on our mood and our behavior.

We tend to trust our thoughts. But should we? Is it possible that our thoughts are not always correct or helpful?

Have you ever wondered how two people can have the exact same experience and be affected differently? How does this make sense? We can’t control what happens to us so how can we stay in the driver’s seat of our own lives?

Sometimes we have thoughts that are not helpful and sometimes we have behaviors that are not helpful. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at both of these things and seeks to change them. And in turn we change our feelings.

We all say we want more time. What would you do if you had an extra three hours a day? Maybe you say you would work out more, eat healthier, start a new hobby, take a part time job, or spend it with the ones you love.

Living with anxiety is frustrating enough but even more frustrating when we feel like it is interfering in our professional lives. We work so hard on trainings and education that the last thing we want is for anxiety to sabotage all of our hard work. So when the going gets tough at work, here are five tips for managing anxiety at work.

Are you someone who suffers from panic attacks? Ready for some relief but not sure how to get it? Here are six ways to reduce panic attacks.

Individuals with an anxiety disorder may also experience panic attacks. So what is a panic attack?

Vicarious trauma is when an individual was not present for a traumatic event but has heard details and aspects of a traumatic event, and these details impact the functioning of the individual. Friends, family, and official supports are all at risk following a traumatic event. Vicarious Trauma has similar symptoms to survivors of first hand trauma.

Trauma is a broad term and often a term we don’t tend to use for ourselves. We like to think of trauma as something that happens to “other people”, but the reality is most people have been through events in our life that would likely qualify as trauma.

Sometimes our loved ones are struggling and we want so badly to be able to support them in anyway we can, but don’t know the best way to do that.

Our fear about not supporting the “right way” can lead to no action at all. I have compiled a list of eight ways you can support loved ones with depression to help remove some of the fear and uncertainty.

Everyone feels down sometimes. So how do you know if this is simply a case of the passing blues or if it is depression?

Suicide is likely more common than you realize. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. Every single day there are about 123 suicides. And about twenty five times that number are attempting.

Anxiety is a feeling we all experience. Let me say that again, we all have anxiety. Just like we all feel happy, mad, and sad at times. We all feel all the feelings. So if anxiety is a feeling everyone has what does it mean to have an anxiety diagnosis?

What is the reason and purpose of a diagnosis? And does it matter?

So much of the time we go out in the world and as our day goes on things come up that were not planned. Which means having those routines that center us and re-ground us when things gets crazy can be so helpful for coping.

What are one to three things you would want to incorporate more into your self-care routine?