Our Blog

By Anastasiya Rusilka, Mother of Three and a Mental Health Counselor I want to tell you something I wish more people would say out loud: …

Continue reading “No Instructions, Just Love: Parenting When You’re Tired…”

By: Izakun Cruz, LMFT When I read about purposeful parenting, the first word that caught my attention was “purposeful.” As a mother myself, I’ve been …

Continue reading “How to Become a Purposeful Father and Mother”

As a parent, your relationship with your child is one of the most important in your life.  A strong and healthy relationship between parents and …

Continue reading “How to Improve Your Parent-Child Relationship”

Recently, the topic of interest amongst my clients is parenting styles. More specifically, which of the four parenting styles – Authoritarian, Authoritative, Passive, and Neglectful …

Continue reading “Raising Emotionally Intelligent Beings”

Last week I watched my 2-year-old grandson, James, shooting hoops into his Little Tikes basketball hoop repeatedly as he missed over and over again. His …

Continue reading “Coach Thought of the Week: Doing the Uncomfortable”

Summer is over. Well, at least Summer, as in those few months during which “the Purge” happens because the children :coughs: terrors are set loose …

Continue reading “Summer is Over. Now What?”

Summer is coming to an end. School is right around the corner, as students will be going back to in-person learning. This past year school …

Continue reading “Going Back to School”

Our kids’ behavior is the difference between a great day and a “kill me now” day. It can be overwhelming when your kids misbehave more …

Continue reading “What I Do To Help My Kids Behave”

By Katheryne Puentes, LMHC Parenting is NOT an easy job. Being a parent involves 100% attention to how they interact with their children and their …

Continue reading “Parenting”

As a parent of three 30+-year-olds, I want to offer that parenting never ends. Parents of newborns and toddlers are rolling their eyes right about …

Continue reading “Purposeful Parenting from an Empty Nester”

I celebrate you. I celebrate all the men in the world.  Men who are loyal, kind, and true. Men who have protected us and loved …

Continue reading “Men…Beautiful, Beautiful Men!”

Self-talk is the dialogue inside your head. It is your inner voice that tells you what you can and cannot do. It is your inner …

Continue reading “Who do I think I’m talking to like that? ME?”

Eli Bravo https://www.linkedin.com/in/elibravooficial/ As if it was a miracle pill or a magic potion, it is common in books, webinars, and social media posts the …

Continue reading “Living in the Present for a Better Future”

6:30 AM. I am sitting in front of the candle and trying to let the thoughts pass so I can be in the present moment. …

Continue reading “Don’t Get in Your Own Way of Happiness”

What comes to mind when you think of health? For most, it’s the yearly visit to your primary doctor, gynecologist, or dentist. What comes to …

Continue reading “Umbrella of Health”

BY: MERIEM OUCHAKA, LMHC Self-love is often overlooked. We assume it’s a given. Do you love, like, and respect yourself? What is the meaning of …

Continue reading “Self Love”

I’ve always liked working with the younger population (teens and 20s), but never quite knew why. Maybe it’s because I can relate to them pretty …

Continue reading “Teens and 20s – A Time for Self-Improvement”

2020 was a year like no other. Many things happened in 2020. For some, it brought sorrow and loss – disappointment and sadness. For others, …

Continue reading “New Year New You”

2020 is the year that will be known as the year of the Pandemic and THE election. A year of the unknown. A year of …

Continue reading “The Last Month of 2020”

November is easily one of my favorite months of the year. I love that it’s sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas (celebrated in my family). It …

Continue reading “Random Acts of Kindness”

I overheard a teacher say to my daughter on virtual school, “Kids, have your moms upload that later.” Moms. Not parents. Not dads or caretakers. …

Continue reading “Add This To Your Resume”

A few years ago I treated a client with Complex PTSD. She had suffered for the majority of her childhood from physical, psychological, and emotional …

Continue reading “Working with Emotional Support Animals”

I consider myself to be an eternally active learner and a self-improvement/personal growth enthusiast. It’s important to be open to constant learning about yourself, others, …

Continue reading “10 Practical Ways to Stay Motivated on Your Self-Improvement Journey”

When you hear “self-improvement,” what comes to mind?  Self-improvement can mean so many different things for each of us.  One thing all definitions should have in common is “the …

Continue reading “Don’t Leave “Self” Out of Self-Improvement”

To me, September has always marked the beginning of a new year, even more so than January. Maybe it’s because it signals the end of …

Continue reading “Rosh Hashana 2020”

By Remy Gordon, LCSW What does self-improvement mean to you? By definition, self-improvement is “the improvement of one’s knowledge, status, or character by one’s own efforts”. …

Continue reading “Self-Improvement and Homelessness”

Many of us have anxiety levels that are higher than usual on any given day in 2020. Things aren’t where we’d want them to be. …

Continue reading “You Need To Calm Down. You’re Being Too Loud”

I have to admit, I love memes and get a lot of enjoyment from them. Pro-therapy memes? Even better! (By the way, I love that …

Continue reading “Self-Improvement and Mental Health”

By Remy Gordon, LCSW How do we prepare to return back to school when we aren’t really going back to the classroom physically? We are …

Continue reading “Back to School”

The end of summer is here and we are heading into round two of virtual learning. The adjustment of virtual learning has been difficult for …

Continue reading “Round Two of Virtual Learning”

Back to school. A phrase, I’m sure, makes almost every parent shudder these days. These last few weeks, or better yet, months, have been a …

Continue reading “Back to School in a Pandemic”

It seems that every time we turn on the TV or listen to the news, all we hear is negative activities going on in the …

Continue reading “Teaching Respect to Children”

Erika Fernandez De Castro A little over a year ago, I attended a training on the topic of Infant Mental Health. Prior to the training, …

Continue reading “Infant Mental Health – It Starts on Day 1”

I remember almost four years ago, I was making the decision on leaving an agency that I was involved with for over 15-years. I had …

Continue reading “Creating Goals and the Fear of Falling Down”

We live in a time where our children are more exposed to information channels than ever before. With the anxiety and panic created by the …

Continue reading “Talking to Your Child About COVID”

Let’s be smart Let’s be mindful Let’s be calm. Breathe. As we navigate through these unchartered waters with COVID-19, our anxiety is escalating and the …

Continue reading “A Letter From Our Director”

A large number of people arrested in South Florida have a serious mental illness (SMI; e.g., schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder). The typical crimes charged …

Continue reading “Mental Health Treatment Courts: An Alternative to the Traditional Criminal Court System”

Life and Heath Coach Most of us look forward to the future wondering what changes we can make today – to improve what is to …

Continue reading “Improving by 1%”

Wellness is quite the buzz word. Thankfully, we are mindful of needing to improve our overall physical and emotional health to guard against our fast-paced …

Continue reading “Wellness is the Path to Prevention”

The benefits of practicing mindfulness impact every aspect of life including relationships. Relationships come with different levels of stress and anxiety. Practicing mindfulness can actually …

Continue reading “Being in the Here and Now in Relationships”

How can we balance our work and personal life? Is that even possible in today’s fast-paced world? It’s not always easy but we can start …

Continue reading “Can we Balance our Work and Personal Life?”

Mindful living is such a wonderful, nice, wholesome idea. The problem that happens with this idea and with mindfulness in general, when you’re a perfectionist …

Continue reading “The Imperfect Journey of Living More Mindfully”

Are you multitasking as you read this? Eating? Watching T.V.? On the toilet? Driving?! Then you’re not mindfully present because your mind is divided.  Mindful …

Continue reading “Mindful Living”

Certified EMDR Therapist When I was asked to write this blog it gave me pause. I thought a lot of people don’t love themselves, and …

Continue reading “Loving Yourself and Others”

This year, like every year before it, I got to celebrate my birthday surrounded by the people I love. I smiled so hard all day …

Continue reading “Go Girl, its Your Birthday”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Self-compassion. I know, I know, It sounds hokey. Just give me two minutes. Hear me out. I’m not saying be self-indulgent. …

Continue reading “My Own Best Ally”

Just that word provoked a reaction in you. Assumptions and expectations popped up. (Maybe some resentments too.)How do you feel about love? Is love equated …

Continue reading “"Love"”

Acupuncture is an ancient integrative medicine that involves stimulating certain points on the body with hair thin needles. It becomes a popular alternative treatment for …

Continue reading “How Acupuncture Works for Anxiety Relief”

Life and Health Coach Many of us are constantly worrying about our weight. This is true whether we’re at the “ideal” weight or not.If we’re …

Continue reading “Wrapping Your Head Around Weight Loss”

I’ll bet you a shiny penny that one of your New Year’s resolutions is more self care? More “me time”?  Maybe it’s self improvement regarding …

Continue reading “Pretty Tough”

I can’t tell you how many times I heard someone say “I can’t wait for 2018 to be over” or the amount of memes I …

Continue reading “thank u, next”

Life and Heath Coach January has arrived and with it the beginning of a New Year. With a New Year comes confusion and stress with …

Continue reading “2019 Here We Are – Bigger and Better Than 2018”

These last couple of years, I’ve become incredibly grateful for the life I’ve had. This includes all my past and present experiences, along with every …

Continue reading “Existence, Waking Presence”

It’s the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the year!… Right? For some of us the holidays bring on a great deal of anxiety due to a …

Continue reading “9 Holiday Tips to Keep the Kids Stress Free”

The Holiday Season doesn’t have to end with you pulling your hair out. Try these seven skills to create a more peaceful, joyful and mindful …

Continue reading “7 Tips for Coping with Holiday Stress”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor The holidays can bring up a full range of emotions for many of us, from joy and excitement, to fear and …

Continue reading “Coping with the Grinch”

Life and Heath Coach Tomorrow’s my birthday. In celebration, I thought I would share lessons I wish my younger self would’ve known 30 years ago. …

Continue reading “Things I Know for Sure at 60 – I Wish I’d Known at 30”

Sometimes we can feel as though there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we need to get done. And it can …

Continue reading “No time for self-care? PLEASE make some!”

Why is it so much easier to look at the bad stuff than it is to see the good stuff? Even when everything is going …

Continue reading “Embrace the Positive in Life”

From about the age of 4, I suffered from chronic asthma attacks. You never forget something like that. You know what else I never forgot? …

Continue reading “The 3 Most Important Skills for a Healthy, Joyful, and Inspired Life”

Life and Heath Coach Today, October 31, 2018, marks the year since the beginning of my wellness journey after my September 2017 diagnoses of Invasive …

Continue reading “Journey to Me”

If you are considering on becoming a candidate for bariatric surgery, you will most likely be referred for an evaluation with a clinical psychologist. Although …

Continue reading “Path to Success for Bariatric Surgery”

When I was thinking about writing this blog about women’s health, I thought of so many different issues impacting women. All of those issues always …

Continue reading “Women and Stress — Impact and Intervention”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor & Doctor in Psychology Depression is a real illness. The REALITY is that many people will not talk about nor share …

Continue reading “Depression – Changing the Stigma”

Coming out of addiction is one of the hardest things anyone can do. Not only do you have to make it through withdrawal symptoms, but …

Continue reading “How to Thrive in a Life Without Addiction”

So you want to improve? But do you…really? Our society is so obsessed with improvement and perfection – billions of dollars and myriad industries attest …

Continue reading “So you want to improve?”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Everyone knows that feeling. You wake up, look in the mirror, and don’t like what you see. Bad body image, its …

Continue reading “Embrace Your Body: 10 steps to better body image for larger bodied women”

Founder and Director Encore Academy of the Arts “A large number of scientific studies have found that music education improves our cognitive and brain functions, …

Continue reading “The Benefits of Music Education”

Life and Heath Coach As we approached the start of a new school year, I was excited. Excited because it was time to spend time …

Continue reading “Back to School from a Grandmother’s Point of View – My Second Chance”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Back to school season can be stressful for some parents, but it is more complicated when you are going through a …

Continue reading “Helping Your Child with Divorce”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor With school right around the corner, I’m sure many of you are beginning to think about the mental and physical prep …

Continue reading “Back to School Challenge”

Certified EMDR Therapist In my last blog, “Parenting your college age child,” I spoke about how to shift your parenting style when your child goes …

Continue reading “Back to School for the Adult You”

At times it is easy to be negatively affected by insignificant stressors because we internalize and allow them to alter our moods. Often, we are …

Continue reading “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and How our Kids are Affected”

PH. D., LMHC, CAP Licensed Mental Health Counselor & Doctor in Psychology Purposeful Parenting is significant because it gives parents the opportunity to create an …

Continue reading “The Art of Purposeful Parenting”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor This blog goes out to all parents, single parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents, and guardians. We are dealing with a …

Continue reading “Calling All Parents…”

The so-called “Man Code” is a collection of unspoken limiting rules that men often learn at a young age. Sometimes, in order to demonstrate their …

Continue reading “Discover Your Soul”

Life and Heath Coach As we have recently seen in the last six to seven months, the resurgence of the #Metoo Movement has dragged men …

Continue reading “#Metoo Movement – the new feminism?”

As much as we want to equate men and women, the reality is we are different. Not only physically but mentally and socially. With those …

Continue reading “Understanding a Man’s Process”

Ten years ago, while on a men’s journey, I came across a quote by Joseph Campbell “follow your bliss”. Wow! I thought to myself. How …

Continue reading “The Call to Adventure and Following your Bliss”

Life and Heath Coach I’ve always not only looked down on myself as a procrastinator, but constantly called and described myself as one – as …

Continue reading “Procrastination – To Be or Not to Be…”

Certified EMDR Therapist Suicide is the third leading cause of death among persons aged 10-14 and the second among persons aged 15-34 years. A precedent …

Continue reading “Major Depression in Adolescence: Suicide Prevention”

You don’t have to be “crazy” to seek mental health treatment.  This is a truth for two big reasons: We should all be focused on …

Continue reading “Mental Health Treatment”

Licensed School Psychologist Many often associate success in life with high mental intelligence, proper schooling, and perhaps even a streak of good luck. Of course, …

Continue reading ““Emotional Intelligence: A Key Element for Success in Children””

Motivational Singer and Breakthrough Hypnosis This is a question that has run through my head for quite a long time. My adolescent years were filled …

Continue reading “What advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?”

Before I became a therapist I heard the term PTSD used and I connected it to the military or war veterans. Also, I didn’t really …

Continue reading “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — What Is It?”

The definition of peace is freedom from disturbance, quiet and tranquility. Can you think of the last time you had peace? Mindfulness is a practice …

Continue reading “Peace Within No Matter What Throughout”

Today we’re getting so many messages from all avenues of the media reporting on mindful living and that we should “learn to love ourselves.” Sounds …

Continue reading “Loving Yourself Leads to a Balanced, Happy Life”

You’ve had mindful moments. You’ve already practiced mindfulness. You just don’t realize it. And you don’t realize it because you were just BEING, and not …

Continue reading “Slow Down, Tune in, Go with the Flow”

  Love is a catch-all word that people use and we seem to think it means the same to you as it does to me. …

Continue reading “Your Love is Different”

  It’s that time of the month when “love is in the air” and everyone seems to be talking about romance. Stress levels seem to …

Continue reading “Love Yourself First”

Over the years, I have been given the incredible opportunity to work and study one of life’s most elusive and complex topics: Love. Through my …

Continue reading “Love: The Solution to Most of Your Problems”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor & Doctor in Psychology As we near the end of February, we celebrate love; the love of self and others. Love …

Continue reading “6 Keys to Loving Yourself and Others”

Life and Health Coach On September 25, 2017 at 8:00 A.M., while in my car, on my way to my 13 year old niece’s Junior …

Continue reading “When Life Throws You Lemons…”

  What if you are good enough, as you are? What if your New Year’s Resolution doesn’t involve a sweeping life change? Maybe, your life …

Continue reading “You’re Amazing, Just the Way You Are”

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Constant open communication with your children/adolescents is important throughout the year. However, sometimes with so many family activities during the Holiday …

Continue reading “Holiday Talks”

I remember as a child the excitement of the beginning of the holiday season. The arrival of the Christmas tree was an important event. As …

Continue reading “Family Traditions”

Contrary to the popular societal belief that defines intimacy as a sense of physical and emotional closeness and connection with another human being, I have …

Continue reading “Healing through Intimacy”

Director Palmetto Bay Academy “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle Or does it? They smiled at me. Maybe it wasn’t the biggest smile in history, …

Continue reading “Strength in Gratitude?”

  “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers, Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs, That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he …

Continue reading “Thankful for Having, and for Not Having”

  Although there may be times in our lives we feel overwhelmed and surrounded by negativity or bad luck, it can sometimes become difficult to …

Continue reading “Be Happy, Be Grateful”