Life By Design Therapy

  Resilience is a desirable trait -- one that protects against depression and anxiety and helps us cope with adversity. Why not make 2021 the year that you practice building your resilience? Here are four ways to get started with becoming more resilient: ⭐️ Look back on previous successes. We can all think of at least one time when we were resilient in the past. Think back on your previous experiences with resilience. What did you do to cope? Why did it work so well? Try to replicate those successes in the face of future setbacks. ⭐️ Practice radical acceptance. Distress often comes from fighting reality or our refusal to accept the situation we are in. Radical acceptance is the act of accepting the things you cannot change and releasing control over the things outside our sphere of influence. By practicing radical acceptance, you can learn to make peace with challenging situations. ⭐️ Focus on logical problem-solving. While it's easier said than done when we are feeling overwhelme

The next love language we'll be talking about is Quality Time. This love language is all about giving your loved one your undivided attention. For someone whose love language is Quality Time , spending one-on-one time with someone they care about helps them feel loved. It's crucial that the time spent together is uninterrupted and filled with meaningful conversation. That means putting down your phone and actually making eye contact! This Valentine's Day, taking your partner on a date (sans smartphones) -- even if it's just cooking dinner at home -- will give you the opportunity to connect without distractions, helping them feel extra-appreciated. https://www.lifebydesigntherapy.com/marriage-counseling

  Looking back on 2020, it's become clear to us that Life by Design Therapy is unique from many other mental healthcare practices. Life by Design Therapy specializes in holistic therapy and utilizes the mind-body connection to help our clients achieve better mental health. However, what we are most proud of is our unique connection to the wider Berkeley and Richmond Bay Area communities. In 2020, we proved that we were different by: ⭐️ Starting to donate a portion of our revenue to local charitable causes ⭐️ Creating a new mental health fund to support BIPOC and LGBTQ+ clients ⭐️ Writing 24+ new blogs on different mental health topics ⭐️ Creating a free e-book on mind-body healing (which is soon to be released!) Visit our website to learn more about what makes Life by Design Therapy unique, and to schedule a free consultation with one of our providers. https://www.lifebydesigntherapy.com/holistic-therapy

  Next in our Five Love Languages series, we'll be talking about Gifts. This love language gets a bad reputation since it can be mistaken to mean that the person is superficial or only cares about receiving material items. However, it's important to know that for someone whose love language is Gifts, the cost of the item is never as important as the thought put into it. To someone whose love language is Gifts, having their partner buy them a coffee just the way they like it, or bring home a little trinket from a work trip, shows that they were thinking of them while they were apart. If you find these little gifts to be incredibly meaningful, then Gifts might be a way you feel and give love. For Valentine's Day, you don't need to spend a lot of money to treat someone whose love language is Gifts. Buying them a small box of their favorite chocolates or a bouquet of their favorite flowers will be much more meaningful to them than expensive, opulent gifts. From : Life by De

  There are many reasons for conflict between teens and their parents/families. Teens are starting to be more independent, they become increasingly more oriented towards their friends, and they can make impulsive decisions. For parents, there can be conflict around teens challenging adult authority and exploring their identities. All of these factors make it a common time to experience increased tension in families with teens. Today on the Life by Design Therapy blog, Dr. Nia Saunders shares her five best tips for communicating with teens and building stronger relationships as a family -- link in comments ❣️ https://www.lifebydesigntherapy.com/blog/5-tips-communicating-with-your-teen/1/2021

  Hygge (pronounced HOO-guh) is a Danish word describing a cozy lifestyle. As winter deepens, you'll probably be seeing more and more about hygge on your feeds -- but just what is hygge, anyways? It's important to note that while hygge is often touted as beneficial for mental wellness, it's most useful as a form of self-care. Hygge is not a treatment, or a substitute for treatment with a mental health professional. That being said, hygge includes a lot of activities recommended by mental health professionals, especially mindfulness. It's not entirely wrong to say that practicing hygge can be beneficial to your mental health. Hygge can be especially helpful as a form of grounding for trauma survivors, people who suffer from panic attacks, or others who may need to reconnect with the present moment. Hygge stresses the importance of small delights like warm blankets, fuzzy socks, hot drinks, and other tactile items that engage our senses to help us self-soothe. Whether you

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, many of us are thinking about the ways we show our appreciation to our loved ones. As you plan to treat your partner (or yourself!) for Valentine's Day, keep in mind the ways they understand and accept love -- a.k.a. their love language. The Five Love Languages were invented by psychologist Dr. Gary Chapman. In the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, we'll be shining a spotlight on each of these love languages to help you better understand how to express love to those around you. Remember that the Five Love Languages don't just apply to romantic love, but also to friendships, familial love, and self-love, too! Today, we'll be talking about Words of Affirmation. If your love language is Words of Affirmation, you may be a person who says "I love you" often. You find it most meaningful when someone gives you a heartfelt compliment or leaves you a note to show you they're thinking of them. To show someone who