Blog

Anxiety, Depression, Parenting, Somatic Exercises

Your Teen Overwhelmed by Back-to-School Anxiety? 3 Signs, 3 Parenting Pitfalls, and 3 Ways to Help Your Teen Succeed

Picture your teen pacing the kitchen the night before school starts, clutching their stomach and snapping at small questions, their usual spark dimmed by worry. As summer ends and routines resume in Pasadena, anxiety surges, overwhelming many adolescents with restlessness or tears. Back-to-school transitions stir deep fears in teens, from

Read More
Therapy for healing self-criticism, judgement, and blame with self-compassion and hope
Depression

Are You Your Own Worst Critic? How to Heal Self-Criticism

Whoever first realized, “I am my own worst critic” brilliantly described a painful and all too-common way many people relate to themselves. Self-criticism involves harsh or negative views and judgements of one’s self. This pattern of self-criticism is especially overwhelming because the critic is not someone “out there” that can

Read More
Depression

Why That Toxic Relationship is Created by the Pain You’re Trying to Avoid (And How to Break Free)

Certain relationships feel like a rerun of old wounds. Maybe it’s a partner whose constant criticism makes you feel small, just like a judgmental parent did in childhood. Or perhaps their helplessness leaves you frustrated and overburdened, echoing the abandonment from an unreliable caregiver. These “toxic” relationships aren’t accidents—they’re born

Read More