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...
EMDR Helps To Heal A Painful Past
When healing a painful past event requires more than talking it out, EMDR is there to help Intrusive memories: they can happen to all of us. You think that you’re over your parents’ divorce from over 20 years ago, but every now and then, and completely out of...
Daughter is a VSCO Girl, What Does That Mean?
First of all, don’t panic. It is perfectly normal to be a VSCO girl. Second of all, I am 26 years old and I just found out about VSCO girls in October. I went into work and one of my colleagues was playfully teasing the other. He turned to me and laughed “Isn’t...
Chronic Illness in the Time of COVID
In the old movie Broadcast News, the Holly Hunter character, I forget her name, would take time for herself every morning to cry. She just cried. There was no apparent trigger, no reason or justification ever given for why this intelligent, intense, professional woman...
RE-OPENING!
AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR EXPLORE WHAT'S NEXT CLIENTS REGARDING RE-OPENING OFFICES! All of us at Explore What’s Next sincerely hope this finds you well. Thank you so much for your patience, flexibility, and resilience during this time of great change. The transition to...
Will Tele-Therapy Work For Me?
Throughout the United States and around the world, people are connecting with Explore What’s Next for therapy sessions through tele-sessions. Geography is no longer an obstacle to getting the help you need! Tele-sessions are more like office visits than you think....
DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Group Info
Explore What’s Next is now recruiting new participants for virtual Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Skills Groups! In the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic, a lot of people are struggling with increased isolation from their loved ones and friends. Depression,...
COVID-19 Stuck at home? 10 Tips For Parents
Stuck at home?Here are (hopefully) 10 helpful Tips For Parents for you and your family during this time: A snow day (or two) is fun…but more than a few days stuck at home can quickly become overwhelming. Given the current health crisis and closure of schools, many...
3 Ways to be Socially Responsible: Explore What’s Next Responds with Care
News about COVID-19, how to prepare and how to take care of ourselves and our families, changes every day. With every new piece of information, more worry seems to mount. That’s natural. We know how stressful this time can be. To do what we can to lower the stress and...
Explore What’s Next Speaker Series-Mindy Scime
People pleaser is a label I hate. That it is accurate when used to describe me just makes me hate it more. My ability to be a people pleaser was off to an early start when I first impressed my dad with my reading skills. The book was Little Bear by Elsa Holmelund...
Coronavirus Anxiety: 3 Challenges & What to Do About Them
Coronavirus. Just the word causes faster heart rates, shorter breaths and queasy stomachs, hallmark signs of anxiety. There have been many times when I’ve written about our psychological reaction to current affairs on this blog. Game-changing events, natural...
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...
10 Tips to Survive Being the Scapegoat at Home
This article was inspired by your comments on the article Five Steps to Stop Being the Family Scapegoat. “What is your advice for someone who is a scapegoat living with their parents? I recently finished uni and until I get a job, I can’t move out and support myself.”...
Life Candy! Socks, Tarot Cards Plants and Groundhog Day!
This week we review the things that make life a little sweeter. We call it lifecandy.
Sweet Stuff To Go From Week To Weekend
Cheap & Quick lift! New nail color! Pick one up at Wegman’s along with some prepared pulled pork, green beans and mashed potato comfort food on your way home.Elvira G. Aletta, PhD, & CEO Founder, Explore What's NextA Happy surprise Tweet!A shout out from...
4 Ways To Survive Being A Buffalo Bills Fan
Our community is hurting right now. The Buffalo Bills lost an epic, heroic game with the Kansas City Chiefs last night. Anyone who has a pulse in this region is aware of the great disturbance in the Force surrounding Western New York. Yes, it’s just a football game...
Explore Therapy: A New Explore What’s Next Venture
I am so happy to announce the launch of Explore Therapy, a new integrated mental health service with Buffalo Pediatric Associates! Kate Maleski, LCSW-R, a senior associate at Explore What’s Next and I have partnered to create and manage this new venture. Explore...
The Only New Year’s Resolution I Need
My friend asked me if I made any New Year's resolutions. "I made only one resolution: to be nicer... to myself." She laughed. It was almost a spit-take! "I thought you were going to say 'be nicer to other people'," she said. "Nope," I said, "I'm good there. The...
Interview with Chris Sova Ph.D.
An Introduction by Elvira G. Aletta, PhD founder of Explore What's NextI am very excited to introduce Dr. Christopher Sova to you. Dr. Sova is a local son, born and bred in Western New York and proud of it! Not only does he have the education, skills and knowledge of...
The Shame of Seeking Counseling as a Man
There has ever been a voice in my head that whispers to me that I cannot share my pain, my sadness, my mistakes, or my fears. This same voice shouts at me that I must never show weakness. For I have learned that once people get a glimpse behind my armor of masculine...
10 Gifts to Give Yourself When Stress Is Making You Lose Your Shit
Stress can tip from bearable to overbearing in a split second. When you’re buckling under the stress, and who isn’t these days, give yourself these gifts. You have to give them to yourself because the reality is no one else will. Stress can be a gift. Stay with...
Naomi Osaka and Lessons from the Universe
When I heard about Naomi Osaka bravely saying no to the French Open, I was standing on my patio holding a cup of coffee close under my nose, working on closing my own stress cycle. The story wafted out of an open window from the radio in the kitchen. Ms Osaka, all of...