Services & Resources
ADHD
It used to be thought that children diagnosed with ADHD outgrow symptoms in adulthood, and sometimes that can be true. It is certainly true that some symptoms change, so, for example, hyperactivity in an adult looks different compared to childhood. But more frequently adults continue to have symptoms they have learned to mask. Depending on the severity of ADHD people can be very successful in their chosen professions without treatment. However, newly diagnosed individuals who engage treatment often experience for the first time the emotional costs of relying on coping mechanisms. Life with a new understanding and significant reduction in symptoms often feels like a tremendous relief.
Because some symptoms can apply to all adult experiences it is easy to think ADHD is just a question of the right environment, the right diet, the right attitude. Who here hasn't felt some difficulty focusing on a boring task? However there is a robust data distinguishing symptoms that rise to a level of diagnosis. It is also important to recognize and distinguish impacts of traumatic experience, and other diagnoses that can mimic ADHD. For this reason it is critical to work with a clinician experienced at distinguishing these. For more information unifying the disparate seeming behaviors of ADHD click on the link below. For evaluation and treatment if indicated, reach out via my contact form.
Alcohol
Already recognized as problematic, the consumption of alcohol in the United States increased precipitously during the pandemic. Isolation, loneliness, and fear were magnified in a time of great uncertainty and, at least in Colorado, the decision that delivery of alcohol was an essential service, proved devastating to many. For those struggling prior to the pandemic, social connection and other means to cope, became suddenly unavailable and contributed to exacerbation which proved fatal for many. For some it was the trigger to fall into full blown addiction.
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Once addiction has a grip on the brain it can be extraordinarily difficult to escape. Science has a much better understanding for what is happening in the brain and sometimes it can be helpful to know exactly what you are fighting. Increasingly depressed, anxious, and miserable, it seems impossible that it could ever change. But it can.
Psychotherapy and sometimes medication can help. A best practices multi-modal approach includes finding support and community that resonates with your experience and helps you feel less alone. Therapy can help you build a life that you want to be a part of, and figure out your best ways to protect that.
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Do you need inpatient detoxification before engaging therapy? If you have severe alcohol use disorder you do. Read my blog to learn more. There are lots of options to find life.
Depression
Depression can be inherited or developed over time with experiences of trauma, some of which you may not even recognize. This is important because sometimes therapy, sometimes medication, or both, are more effective, depending on where your depression stems from. It is particularly important to recognize and treat postpartum depression, whether or not you choose medication.
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Sometimes advice from friends, and things like exercise or meditation can be enough to help. But sometimes it isn't which can feel demoralizing and hopeless. But depth-oriented psychotherapy, identifying those thoughts typically associated with depression and where some of your thinking originates, can be both surprising and very helpful. And sometimes medication, temporary or otherwise, may make a world of difference.
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Anxiety
A certain amount of anxiety is completely normal. It serves to both motivate and protect us when functioning properly. But when anxiety is chronic, seems to exceed the circumstances, keeps you awake at night on a regular basis, prevents you from doing things you would otherwise like to do, it interferes with your best life. And there is a different way. Identifying origins, exploring coping skills, and sometimes the addition of medication, can all be helpful. Anxiety can be exacerbated in the post partum period, sometimes presenting with painful intrusive thoughts, and anxiety can be severe. Psychotherapy, sometimes with the addition of non-addictive medication, can be helpful. Let's explore what might work best for you and your circumstances.
Apps for anxiety and insomnia (free & subscription)
Click links to explore:
Love & Conflict
Conflict in relationship is normal, at home, with friends and family, and at work. Sometimes it can lead to people becoming closer with a better understanding for each other. But this can depend on how, or if, disagreements are resolved. Stress can impact our ability to understand what someone is conveying to us and negatively color what we hear. This can lead to misunderstanding with impacts which are not always intended. Or, sometimes words are said in anger and it is challenging to repair the damage. Improving a capacity to navigate conflict can positively alter our engagement with communities and family.
Link for couples/intimacy/resources/blog/podcast
Life Transitions
Growing up we are generally prepared for earning a living and raising our own families. But we are less than prepared for some of the challenges that can come with conceiving, pregnancy, being new parents, caring for aging parents, sometimes complicated by a fraught relationship, and retirement. These phase of life transitions are a particular focus of marriage and family therapists.
Pregnancy can be a time of joy and excitement, but it comes with a complexity of emotions, and sometimes feeling very anxious or down with disturbing or intrusive thoughts. It is an experience of navigating new challenges in a context of sleep deprivation in which assumptions about how to do things arise in the relationship, sometimes contributing to conflict.
Retirement is another time that calls for redefining identity in which new purpose, meaning, and community takes active input. Sometimes this is a first experience of reaching for something that isn't career advancement. Sometimes this is a first experience of looking up to see there is more to life than achievement. While disorienting, you don't have to settle for feeing depressed, lost, or irrelevant during this transition.
