Three Steps To Control Your Anger
Anger is a perfectly OK emotion. A natural reaction to feeling threatened, the expression of anger, especially for women, has been given a bad rap. While growing up, I was encouraged to deny my anger, to feel somehow guilty or apologetic for it. Angry women are called...
Dream Made Manifest: The Studio at Explore What’s Next
The Studio at Explore What's Next is a long hoped for dream made manifest. The dream was to have a place where people, like me, who at some point or other, feel raw and vulnerable, can find a safe haven. In the center of that safe haven, there is the...
The Proposal, The Ring
Four months after I met John I proposed marriage to him. He said, “No. Thank you.” I was twenty-nine when we met. He was the life partner I had been waiting for. He loved me but he didn’t believe in marriage. OK, I thought, I’ll give him a year. ...
Do I have the winter blues or am I depressed?
Ah, the winter blues. As Game of Thrones fans often quote, “Winter is coming.” Most people cherish sunshine and the summer, especially in Buffalo! I know I’m not the only one who is hearing people complain about the colder, darker days that are happening. For many,...
Am I a bad parent for wanting to go back to work?
I’ve been avoiding writing this post because I’m a first-time parent and I’ve been struggling with some guilt for returning back to work myself. My son is almost three months old and I returned to work part-time after seven weeks. I was, am, and will likely continue...
The 5 Love Languages: What are they and how do they impact your relationships?
When my husband does the dishes (my chore since he cooks) or folds my laundry, I feel loved. To return the favor, I would often help him with his chores and remember feeling frustrated that it went pretty unacknowledged, especially because I expressed explicit...
Grand Opening The Studio
The EWN Studio is a place where mind+body+spirit thrives. Celebrate this special place with us at our Grand Opening!This Thursday, September 12, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM. Drop by any time between 5 & 8! Bring the family! It’s totally free!There will be...
The Bringing Baby Home program and what I learned from it (to my surprise)
“Being a parent is hard.” “Your whole life will be turned upside down.” “You have no idea what you’re in for.” “You just have one..wait until you have two.” “You just have two...wait until you have three.” Sometimes this (often unsolicited) feedback can be helpful....
Five Tips to Handle Toxic Food Culture in the Workplace
We have a problem in the modern-American workplace: toxic food culture. Our views around food—what’s acceptable to eat, what’s “good” and what’s “bad,” how people choose to eat their food—have become very distorted. We live in a culture of dieting and “lookism.”...
5 tips that help my recovery from depression and might help you
Recovery from depression isn't easy. Coming out of depression isn't like flipping a light switch, one day you're in the dark pit, the next you're in a room flooded with light. I'm going to try to describe what it's really like here because this is what is happening to...
Embrace the Bumps For Parents Of Tweens and Teen Girls
Embrace the bumps! Some of the therapists at Explore What's Next read the same article in the New York Times. Each therapist tackled one of the points in the article. Read the original article, The Confidence Gap for Girls: 5 Tips for Parents of Tween and Teen Girls,...
How To Break Up With Someone: 10 Tips
You’re with someone who isn’t right for you. You need to break up, but just the thought of doing it makes your anxiety rise to a point where you question everything you ever thought about the relationship. Then you shake your head and tell yourself, no, I have to stop...
New Beginnings Are Not For Wimps – via insidewink
A few months ago, I was approached to produce a guest writer article for insidewink. I was SO excited! Insidewink is an awesome website with the tagline: Share the Good. Founded by Jean Trebeck, Alison Martin and Trish Geiger, their intention is always to be uplifting...
7 Ways Therapy Can Help Relationship Issues
When you choose to go to therapy, you have opened a door to a myriad of possibilities for growth. You get to have control in your therapist’s office; you can talk about whatever you want, and work through the issues that you decide are important. For a lot of people...
Interview With Tacianna Indovina
Tacianna Indovina, Ph.D., has been working at Explore What’s Next, located in the Buffalo region of New York, since October 2018. Her position at Explore What’s Next allows Tacianna to specialize in helping teens, young adults, and couples cope with interpersonal...
Explore Yoga + Meditation @Explore What’s Next
The Studio @Explore What's Next announces *free* yoga classes on Saturdays at 11:00AM-12:00PM starting this Saturday May 18th! Join us for a gentle Vinyasa flow with an introduction to mindful meditation, lead by HEALBflo’s Cheryl Erbacher! ❤️ HEAL...
6 Dark Sides of Mother’s Day
Let's not deny that there can be a dark, bittersweet side to Mothers' Day. As illustrated so simply and beautifully by the artist Mari Andrew, there are often complex stories behind any given person's experience of Mother's Day. Several of the therapists at Explore...
My Day As A Psychologist Lobbyist
The word 'lobbyist' does not stimulate Quixotic images of inspired professionals setting out to protect the citizenry for the greater good. 'Lobbyist' usually brings up quite the opposite reaction, like a bad smell suddenly entering the room. And yet, yesterday I...
Redefining Self-Care via Women’s Health Magazine
Late last January I got an email from a senior editor at Women’s Health magazine, Marissa Gainsburg. Hi, I hope this email finds you well! I'm the senior editor at Women's Health magazine, and I'm hoping to connect with you for a story. I'm working on a personal essay...
A Chat with Nicole Brown About Bringing Home Baby
Having joined Explore What’s Next relatively recently, I’m still getting to know my esteemed colleagues. I had the privilege of meeting Nicole Brown for coffee this past week to get to know her and her path to becoming a specialist in perinatal mental...
9 Steps to Getting Organized for a New Semester of College
New Year! New Semester! Let’s Do This! The start of each semester is an opportunity to collect and reset ourselves on a path towards success. College is tough especially with all the rapid changes in course delivery. Now more so than ever, ORGANIZATION is critical to...
Thriving in Winter with Body-focused Repetitive Behaviors
It's back, winter in Western New York, which means bitter cold winds, dry heat, and hot showers; all a recipe for dry uncomfortable skin, hair, and nails. Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as nail biting, skin picking, and hair pulling can be hard to...
Three Ways to Navigate the Holidays: Pandemic Style
As 2020 comes to a close, it’s okay to let out a long, deep sigh. For most people, this year has been tumultuous, difficult, and exhausting. And as the holidays arrive, we might need to find creative ways to navigate this season as well. While this time of year is...
Tips to Have a Happy Pandemic Thanksgiving
Who doesn’t love Thanksgiving? No worrying about gifts! We get to focus on food, (one our favorite things!) and people, relationships, family, friends (more favorites! And, of course, gratitude. This year it feels all turned upside down. The focus has shifted...
5 Tips to Help Parents Survive Distance Learning
Can Parents Survive Distance Learning? The answer is highlighted in 7 Tips! Kids with Attention Challenges & Remote Learning, your child is the main focus of distance learning, but don’t forget a KEY ingredient to your child’s success: YOU. It might be easy...
Why am I damaging my hair, skin, & nails when I am stressed?
Why am I damaging my hair, skin, and nails when I am stressed?! Do you bite your nails or cuticles until they hurt?Do you pull your hair until you have bald spots?Do you pick at your skin until you have multiple bloody spots on your face? You are not alone! You are...
7 Tips! Kids with Attention Challenges & Remote Learning
Parent's all over the Western New York Region are experiencing the difficulty of connecting children with Attention Challenges to Remote Learning. Having the kids home 24/7 AND for many, also working from home, AND helping them each step of the way with their school...
4 Skills to Adapt to The New College Experience:
Clara Kuntz, Ph.D, discusses four skills college students can use to adapt to the new college experience. Helpful for college age families.
Near Me: 5 Parks to Visit After a Therapy Session
Therapy is great, but homework isn’t. At the end of my last therapy session, my therapist asked “So have you made any more headway in that workbook I recommended?” The smile on my face fell slightly. ‘Shit.’ I, in fact, had not opened that work book in over a...
Depression or Grief: Five ways to give ourselves a break
Here are some things I’ve learned from my experience of crashing and burning and getting back on track again. Five ways we can give ourselves a break You are not crazy. Stop gaslighting yourself. It’s not mental illness if you are reacting to an event in your...