This isn't one of those stock Thanksgiving blogicles where I waste 500 words tossing around washed-up phrases about how "gratitude is an attitude." It's much worse than that. I'm going to try to challenge your notion of gratitude altogether. I said early on in my HealthyPlace journey that I wasn't going to try to convince anyone of anything, but we all knew I was lying. So let me be explicit about this: I want you to leave this post believing that gratitude isn't just for the things in your life that are working. I want you to walk away feeling grateful for the challenges in your life that aren't. 

I'm writing this just a few minutes removed from a morning run, which I hated almost every second. I'm not like the runners you see in the movies who gracefully jog with their camera-ready smiles; my face is usually fixed in a mask of focused despair, disguising not at all how distasteful I find the whole situation. This run was no different—my feet hurt, my heart pounded quicker than it wanted to, and my respiration struggled to keep pace. In short, the run absolutely, unmistakably, irrevocably sucked. It was exactly what I'd hoped for. I was hoping to increase my distress tolerance.

Death is coming for us all. I don't mean that to be threatening; I mean it to be relieving. Encouraging. Enlightening.

It's critical we understand our most important tool. I'm talking about your brain, of course, the very organ that mental wellbeing—and its antithesis, mental illness—originate from. Now, plenty of ink more knowledgeable than mine has been spilled on this subject; a quick Google search will tell you almost anything you want to know about the flesh wad in your head. What I want to do today isn't give you a lesson that Wikipedia could deliver better. Instead, I want to offer you a perspective you'd be hard-pressed to find amidst the citations. I want to help you understand your brain.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us feel insecure, frustrated, and scared. With so many question marks on the horizon, we can't plan for the future. Uncertainty runs rampant as long-term decisionmaking becomes a thing of the past. However, we can learn from these uncertain times, emerging stronger than we were before. 

Dealing with COVID-19 as a therapist is dual-fold. We must comfort our clients, but we must also deal with the stress of the pandemic for ourselves and families just like everyone else. 

Fear of public speaking is one of the most common phobias. Even those who experience mild forms of public speaking anxiety can feel debilitated by their fear. I fall into this category, and a recent opportunity to be a keynote speaker for a large event forced me to face my fear of public speaking in a creative way. Read on to learn how you too can tackle your fear of public speaking.

Can a pet help with depression? Although emotional support animals are well known for supporting mental health, having a house pet also helps with mental illnesses like depression.

Start to live your purpose and choose your destiny now. Don't let life just happen to you. When you truly believe that you control your life rather than life controlling you, then you are free to choose your destiny. But, many of us spend years living as if life just happens to us. We live on autopilot, going through the motions without examining if how we live is truly how we want to live, if who we are is who we want to be. Let's talk about how to start to live your purpose

What do you do when the bumpy road to bliss seems too difficult? After all, even as you work to cultivate happiness in your life, that doesn’t mean unfortunate circumstances automatically become fortunate ones. Difficulties don’t disappear. Instead, life continues as it did before, with its ups and downs. Yes, it is a bumpy road to bliss, but you can rely on your internal compass to guide you there.