Orlando’s Counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy and Life Coach Professionals

Aug 19 2010

COUNTER-DEPENDENCY, CO-DEPENDENCY’S “OTHER HALF”

Published by Kim under Cut off from feelings, Free Phone Consultations, Kim Murphy, Repair relationships, The Flight from Intimacy, Unconsciously seek out adult partners who reinact child, avoids intimacy, co-dependency, counter-dependency, critical parent, heal childhood wounds, power of counseling, wounded child

Kim Murphy, MS, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern

Everyone’s heard of co-dependency, a term originally used to describe the behavior of a person in a relationship with an addict. Today co-dependency is defined by Wikipedia as “having a tendency to behave in overly passive or excessively care taking ways that negatively impact one’s relationships and quality of life… [it] may also be characterized by denial, low self-esteem, excessive compliance, and/or control patterns.” Sounds familiar, right? We all seem to know someone who behaves like this at times. Well, how familiar are you with the other half of this equation, counter-dependency? In their book entitled The Flight from Intimacy, Psychologists Janae and Barry Weinhold (2008) describe a person exhibiting counter-dependency as one who “pushes others away; acts strong and invulnerable; is cut off from his/her feelings; is self-centered; is addicted to activities or substances; blames others; avoids intimacy; acts grandiose; tries to victimize others; and is a people controller” among other things (p. 5). So, you’re probably thinking you know someone like this as well. Unfortunately, in America this kind of behavior is considered somewhat within our social norm. Being in any kind of relationship (professional or personal) with someone who is appears counter-dependent can be extremely frustrating and exhausting. As a therapist at Life Skills Resource Group in Orlando, I do not find myself working with the counter-dependent person. However, I often find myself working with someone who happens to be in a close relationship with a counter-dependent person.

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Aug 07 2010

MOVING IS LIKE COUNSELING

Published by Amysmith under Amy Smith, Counseling helps take a life inventory, Create positive self statements that resonate with you, Eliminate negative self talk, Free Phone Consultations, Heal past losses, Looking at your life from a new perspective, Making choice to see counselor is courageous, Move your life in a new direction, Moving is like counseling, Overcome worries and anxiety, Role of the counselor, Take a life inventory, Therapy helps self understanding, Therapy is a co-creative process, Therapy that resolves Anxiety, Therapy that resolves Low Self Esteem, Tools for a better life, Use life's difficulties to create growth and change, change can happen through counseling, counseling is a confidential environment, gain new perspectives, life changing experience, power of counseling, share thoughts and feelings, unconditional positive regard

Amy Smith, MS, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern

I am currently in the middle of a move and as I have been packing I have noticed some of the similarities between packing and counseling. Moving is about closing old doors to make way to open new ones. It is a time to clear out old items in your closet that you no longer need or want. You may clean areas of your home that you have not seen in a while. Moving also affords you the opportunity to donate items to others who may need them more than you. It’s a time to buy new things and create new spaces. For me, it is also a time to reflect on the memories attached to the home and each item as I pack them. I also vision new memories that I will be making in my new home. Like moving counseling offers the opportunity to clean out and make changes to different areas of your life.

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Aug 01 2010

Garrett Fabico

Everyone is struggling. Love and relationship, life and its purpose, depression and a need for direction; the list could continue indefinitely, populated by concerns inherent to existence as a human being. There is not a mature face on Earth that doesn’t know the conflict of dissatisfaction in solitude, disguised with a smile for the sake of sociability or ease. Still, these issues have ways of making us feel alienated from the world, isolated by the secrets we keep locked behind our eyes. It is our response to these feelings though, our methods of coping with uncertainty and fleeting happiness, which really set us apart from one another. Some people seek shelter in religion, some in art and music, some in wealth, some in possessions. But no man can truly say who is rich and who is poor. These things we do to make ourselves feel significant and worthwhile are often only thinly veiled distractions from the constant struggle with our selves that manifests in times of loneliness, despair, or doubt. Sometimes, it seems that truly finding lasting calm is a peace reserved only for the enlightened or the feeble-minded

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Jun 15 2010

WHEN PARENTS DIVORCE

Published by Amysmith under Amy Smith, Become a more effective parent, Children and Divorce, Classes, Divorce and Grief, Free Phone Consultations, Groups, Guiding families through divorce, Parenting Classes, Strengthen family bonds, Support Groups, power of counseling

Amy Smith, MS, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern

Nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce these days and according to the Associated Press, Florida has one of the higher rates in the country. Parents invariably divorce for a multitude of reasons, but their ultimate goal is to create a happier, healthier life for themselves and their children. What parents often overlook is that their actions during this difficult time can facilitate a smooth, informed, supportive transition for the children involved. The counselors and life coaches at Life Skills Resource Group Orlando can help guide families through this difficult time of transition.

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May 31 2010

MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS

Published by Jes under EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, Free Phone Consultations, Grief and Loss, Jessica Stage, PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Rapid Trauma Resolution using Clinical Hypnosis, Self Care, Self medicating with drugs and alcohol, Survivors Guilt, Therapy that resolves grief, power of counseling, share thoughts and feelings

Jessica Stage, MSW, Registered Clinical Social Work Intern

Memorial Day weekend is upon us. For some of us it means a weekend at the beach. Going to barbeque and picnics with friends and families. Unfortunately, for many American families Memorial Day can bring on the grief of the loss of a loved one who was in the military. These men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind parents, spouses and children whose lives will forever be changed. Soldiers are usually in the prime of life, with new families and parents who never wanted to outlive their children. The loss of a soldier may have been recent or many years ago, but family members may have a harder time around holidays such as Memorial Day where much of the news coverage and even advertisements mention soldiers and the armed forces.

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May 17 2010

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

Published by Garrett under Find joy in living, Find peace of mind, Free Phone Consultations, Fully develop your life potential, Garrett Fabico, Looking at your life from a new perspective, Therapy helps self understanding, Therapy that resolves Depression, Therapy that resolves Pain, benefits of community, community of friendship and acceptance., creating the life you want, power of counseling, share thoughts and feelings

Garrett Fabico

One valuable lesson that I have learned in my life is that people often carry burdens that are comfortingly similar to the struggles that other people have survived. Deep and indescribable discontent; disconnectedness with the people around you; love and lovelessness; lack of direction and desire for meaning; these feelings, along with their inverses, are themes of the human condition. But when the moment and the feeling are consuming you, the life you live and the pain you know can feel like something that no soul on Earth has ever borne witness to. The truth is, though, it is far from uncommon to feel hopelessly alone, betrayed, maladjusted, or disconnected. There have been countless numbers of humans before you that have known similar pains, and there will be countless others ahead of you for whom life’s burdens that you have already experienced yet await.

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Apr 24 2010