Could a Psychological Assessment Help You?
Sitting in class, you may feel confused, bored, or constantly on edge. Work can feel much the same. At home, everyday responsibilities—cleaning, organizing, or caring for the kids—may feel overwhelming, and you aren’t sure where to start. Sometimes, the overwhelm is...
Adulting: Doing the hard thing because it’s the right thing.
Into Act III of my life, and I still struggle with adulting. Not kidding. It sucks. I tell myself I should be better than this, but I’m not. I’m like a lot, maybe most, human beings, I think. When the going gets tough, I want a blankie and something silly on TV to...
Negative self-talk: Would you be that mean to a friend?
It’s deep winter in the deep north. We’ve been going through the longest below 30F streak in years. The days are getting longer but somehow Western New York missed the memo. I like getting up early, I really do, but that means getting up in the dark. So I get out of...
Welcome to Explore What’s Next
Yesterday I was forced to take a pause in the middle of the day. Outside my Explore What's Next office in Elmwood Village, just off Gates Circle, the winds howled, the snow blew, the windows rattled. Kids stayed home from school, snow plows moved methodically...
Life Candy Journaling
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes When I was six years old I wrote a story about a rabbit.That’s all I remember about it. My mom thought it was genius and rewarded me with lots of hugs and smiles. That was my first memory of the power of writing. Most of my life I’ve...
Let’s Talk about Living with Chronic Illness
Living with chronic illness affects so many of us. We all have stories to tell. How it first sunk in that something wasn’t right. That the discomfort we were experiencing wasn’t going away. Maybe the fatigue or pain would lift for a few days, bringing hope that maybe...
Living Well With Chronic Illness Talk
How to live a good, meaningful life despite having a chronic illness is a topic dear to my heart. In my mid-twenties I suddenly found myself in the hospital with undiagnosed kidney disease. From that point on my life took a completely unexpected turn. What...
When Hard Times Hit Us
When hard times hit us, it’s natural to freeze. The often overlooked third response to threat, after flight and fight, freezing, keeps us from having to make a decision when making a decision is itself terrifying. Decisions About My Life! I’m talking to myself, of...
Thank you, Miss Ryon, for not crushing me like a bug
The first time a work of art I created garnered any praise, from someone other than my parents, was when I was in the first grade. The challenge Miss Ryon threw down to the class was to draw a garden from the eyes of a bug. Way before A Bug’s Life or Antz, in my own...
Explore What’s Next is Growing — Are You the Right Fit?
Explore What’s Next is Growing — Are You the Right Fit? Are you an LMHC, LMSW, LCSW, or Psychologist who brings skill, heart, and professionalism to your work? As Explore What’s Next continues to grow, we’re thoughtfully expanding our team — and we’re looking for...
Show Up!
rock/hard place. 5”X5”, watercolor & ink. painted by LVG Aletta When it's hard to write I don't write anything which is wrong. I'm learning through developing my visual art, painting, sketching, that the way to be creative is to practice my art every day, even a...
Talk Therapy for Artists: Finding Balance in Creativity
Artists are known for their ability to express emotions, challenge norms, to see and create beauty that resonates with the world. However, the artistic journey often comes with unique challenges. The pressure to produce, the fear of failure, or the isolation of the...
Dr. Aletta’s Response To The ProPublica Insurance Scandal
Fifteen years ago I had had enough. I couldn't take it any more. My life circumstances had changed almost overnight and I had to take matters into my own hands. It was time to get off the insurance panels. The decision to get off insurance panels was not an easy one...
Is it too late to elope?
“Is it too late to elope?” “Baby, we got married three days ago.” “Oh. My. God. We did! We did that!” “Want to get married again?” “Yes, please” Smacky, kissy noises. Fade to white. ***** Two months earlier, our newlyweds were having a rough time. In the throes of...
How to say No when they won’t take no for an answer
How to say No when they won’t take no for an answer – Shows two cell phones and a mother on the the left phone speaking to her adult daughter on the right phone
4 Bad Habits Artists (And We Are All Artists!) Must Break
I’ve recently embraced being an artist. Overall it’s been a mind-blowing journey but, me being me, it doesn’t take long for the path to be filled with rocks covered in anti-affirmation messages like: ‘You failed!’ Or, ‘You call yourself an artist?! Haha!’ Which brings...
The frog in the pot revisited
Over time, the ability to adapt in the face of adversity, resiliency, a quality we assume is a good one, turns into a liability.
Procrastinating the Dreaded Tax Filing
When I start to think about tax preparation, usually New Year’s Day, there’s a chipmunk in my stomach that wakes up to rummage around, causing mild anxiety. Then the sarcastic, critical voice in my head starts in… “Yeah, I told you! The time to begin tax prep is in...
Choose Discomfort
Choose Discomfort Over Resentment Brené Brown This quote (one of my favorites) is all about avoidance and procrastination. Avoidance and procrastination, the twin demons of my psyche, generate anxiety and guilt. Dr. Brown offers the antidote to anxiety driven by guilt...
3 Steps to Being Happier Right Now
“To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections.” ~Dogen Zenji You are not perfect. I am not perfect. We are whole and connected in our imperfection and that is a good thing. I'm just going to cut to the chase here...
Could a Psychological Assessment Help You?
Sitting in class, you may feel confused, bored, or constantly on edge. Work can feel much the same. At home, everyday responsibilities—cleaning, organizing, or caring for the kids—may feel overwhelming, and you aren’t sure where to start. Sometimes, the overwhelm is...
Adulting: Doing the hard thing because it’s the right thing.
Into Act III of my life, and I still struggle with adulting. Not kidding. It sucks. I tell myself I should be better than this, but I’m not. I’m like a lot, maybe most, human beings, I think. When the going gets tough, I want a blankie and something silly on TV to...
Negative self-talk: Would you be that mean to a friend?
It’s deep winter in the deep north. We’ve been going through the longest below 30F streak in years. The days are getting longer but somehow Western New York missed the memo. I like getting up early, I really do, but that means getting up in the dark. So I get out of...
Welcome to Explore What’s Next
Yesterday I was forced to take a pause in the middle of the day. Outside my Explore What's Next office in Elmwood Village, just off Gates Circle, the winds howled, the snow blew, the windows rattled. Kids stayed home from school, snow plows moved methodically...
Life Candy Journaling
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes When I was six years old I wrote a story about a rabbit.That’s all I remember about it. My mom thought it was genius and rewarded me with lots of hugs and smiles. That was my first memory of the power of writing. Most of my life I’ve...
Let’s Talk about Living with Chronic Illness
Living with chronic illness affects so many of us. We all have stories to tell. How it first sunk in that something wasn’t right. That the discomfort we were experiencing wasn’t going away. Maybe the fatigue or pain would lift for a few days, bringing hope that maybe...
Living Well With Chronic Illness Talk
How to live a good, meaningful life despite having a chronic illness is a topic dear to my heart. In my mid-twenties I suddenly found myself in the hospital with undiagnosed kidney disease. From that point on my life took a completely unexpected turn. What...
When Hard Times Hit Us
When hard times hit us, it’s natural to freeze. The often overlooked third response to threat, after flight and fight, freezing, keeps us from having to make a decision when making a decision is itself terrifying. Decisions About My Life! I’m talking to myself, of...
Thank you, Miss Ryon, for not crushing me like a bug
The first time a work of art I created garnered any praise, from someone other than my parents, was when I was in the first grade. The challenge Miss Ryon threw down to the class was to draw a garden from the eyes of a bug. Way before A Bug’s Life or Antz, in my own...
Explore What’s Next is Growing — Are You the Right Fit?
Explore What’s Next is Growing — Are You the Right Fit? Are you an LMHC, LMSW, LCSW, or Psychologist who brings skill, heart, and professionalism to your work? As Explore What’s Next continues to grow, we’re thoughtfully expanding our team — and we’re looking for...