If you are one of the people who grew up with social media in your younger years, you are likely being reminded of some of the past events and posts that occurred on your social media sites. Things like TimeHop had their debut before fizzling out, only to be replaced by Facebook “On This Day”. Being only a click away from some of your old pictures and past experiences can bring up lots of emotions, one of them being a complex feeling of nostalgia. 

Perhaps part of why suicide is such a heavy topic is that so many of us have been affected by it in some way. In 2017, my close friend experienced a heartbreaking tragedy when his brother died by suicide. In addition to feeling the weight of the loss being experienced by my friend and his family, I distinctly remember this devastating event being part of what inspired me to pursue counseling as a career.

How often do you use your phone or Google calendar to schedule meetings, appointments, hanging out with loved ones, etc? We stay on track of these time commitments because we prioritize them. In that same vein, when was the last time you scheduled time for yourself?

Have you ever been in a therapy session and your therapist casually drops a phrase you’ve never heard before? “Hold space”? “Sit with a feeling”? You’re sitting there smiling and nodding politely, but you’re probably thinking, “What does that even mean? Who says that?” Being a therapist, these phrases make sense, are easy to say, and have become second nature over my years of practice, so sometimes it’s easy to forget that not everyone speaks “therapist.”

A teenager I used to mentor, who for privacy purposes will be referred to as Jason, was at the time a seventeen-year-old male in a transitional stage of life. He was in the process of earning both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree when I met him, which is one example of maturity that seems well-above average for his age. At the same time, Jason was yearning for direction and was longing to pursue his dream of professional theater

Individuals have many needs- both physical, emotional, and spiritual. The focus of this series will take a quick dive into the nine different emotional needs. When someone is suffering, we can often take a glance at their emotional needs, and work toward fulfilling those that might not be satisfied. Thankfully there is a way to examine the needs and see which ones may need nourishing, so that you can begin taking the steps toward more emotional contentment. 

Reflective intelligence sharpens your perceptions and responses to any event or any issue. You can discover and examine complex patterns of thinking that could derail your resilience and rewire them if you wish to. You can teach yourself to pause and become present. At that moment, notice, accept, and observe increasingly complex objects of awareness such as sensations, emotions, patterns of thought, beliefs, assumptions, values, and points of view.

What kind of relationship do you have with your body? How do you speak to yourself? How do you nourish and rest?

I remember the first time I encountered it. I was young, maybe 8 or 9, and it happened shortly after an uncle of mine had a sudden explosive outburst during a family get-together. I remember hearing shouting and the sound of dishes shattering from the next room, then seeing glimpses of other family members shushing and steering my uncle away, shutting the door behind them.