Therapy

Society talks a lot about parenting being “hard.” But they don’t talk about how to address that. Parenting IS a challenge. Early on, it’s a lot of sleepless nights and managing the needs of a fragile creature that can’t take care of itself. Later, it’s a lot of errands, homework, fights over food, and so much more. We know that caregivers – people that take care of someone that is unable to take care of…

Pregnancy is supposed to be one of the most joyful times of a person’s life. And for many people, it is. But it can also be one of the most emotionally complicated, anxiety-producing, and mentally exhausting experiences a person goes through — and that part doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. The reality is that mental health during pregnancy is just as important as physical health, and the two are more connected than most people…

Everyone has stressful periods at work. A deadline that piles everything onto one week, a difficult manager, a stretch where the workload is unreasonable and you’re running on too little sleep. That kind of stress is unpleasant, but it has an edge — it ends, you recover, and life goes back to normal. The problem is when it doesn’t. When the stressful stretch stretches into months, and the months add up, and the recovery that…

When most people think about OCD, they picture someone washing their hands repeatedly or checking the stove ten times before leaving the house. Those are real types of OCD, and they’re debilitating for the people who experience them. But there are other forms of OCD that get far less attention. These lesser-known types of OCD are just as distressing, just as disruptive, and just as deserving of treatment. The problem is that many people who…

Vacations are supposed to be relaxing. You plan a trip, look forward to time away from work, imagine yourself unwinding on a beach or exploring a new city. The reality for many people is very different. Some people find themselves more stressed on vacation than they are in their normal routine. They struggle to relax. They feel guilty about not working. They obsess over small travel details or get overwhelmed by unexpected changes to plans.…

One of the first questions people ask when they’re considering EMDR therapy is how long it’s going to take. You want to know if you’re signing up for three sessions or thirty. You want to understand whether this is a quick process or a long-term commitment. You want some sense of what to expect before you invest time, money, and emotional energy into treatment. The frustrating answer is that it depends. EMDR can work remarkably…

The more we learn about the brain, the more we can understand and address mental health issues. One of the most important findings of the last few decades was that, when a person experiences a traumatic event, the stress of the event fragments across other parts of the brain, and so treating it often means helping it get processed effectively. One way to do that is with EMDR. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) was…

Many mental health challenges are caused, in part, by life experiences. If a person experiences stresses, or traumas, or other types of difficulties, they can develop mental health issues that affect their lives. Working with a therapist, they can work through these issues and, eventually, put their life back on track. Yet we also know that some people seem to develop mental health issues with no clear cause: no clear trauma, no clear stresses. They…

Stacy Pellettieri, LCSW-R Co-Founder at Long Island Counseling Calling all parents and educators! Let’s get real about “back to school!” For years I’ve seen well thought out posts and articles outlining advice that tells us that preparing for September means we must create a routine together, start going to bed early and getting up early and get supplies beforehand. This is not bad advice at all, but preparing to go back to school needs to…

Over the past several years, “good parenting” has been redefined. Sometimes for the better, but also sometimes for the worse. For example, these days, many parents do not feel like they are truly “Good Parents” unless their children are in extra curricular activities. Often, they’re expected to be in sports, dance, tutoring, and on and on. The idea of a child just coming home and sitting on the couch is frowned upon. It is objectively…