brain Archives - Heather Edwards Mental Health Counseling

Anxiety and Lockdown

December 9, 2020

Anxiety is on the rise. As we approach another lockdown, you anticipate uncomfortable feelings. You notice parts of yourself vying for attention - the ones that feel fear, loneliness, and shame. The anxiety of unfinished business from the past, beckons your acknowledgment and soothing. Without the external distractions of work, shopping, and appointments, you are forced to sit with your internal world. There are many ways to distract yourself from this discomfort. You can go for a walk, watch a movie, call a friend, dance in your bedroom, or take a class online. It's a temporary "fix" but, will all this “doing” result in healing? What if this is the time to stop doing? What if all this doing has kept you stuck in unproductive being? And what if...

anxiety brain Feelings lockdown stress trauma wellness

COVID-19: Seeking a silver lining

March 31, 2020

Anxiety

COVID-19 is frightening. Most of us are wondering what COVID-19 will mean for our future. Not knowing what to expect is stressful. In fact, the three largest contributors to stress are: 1. uncertainty; 2. lack of information; and 3. lack of control. I’d say the Coronavirus has checked all three boxes. Many people are struggling with boundaries, privacy, and managing emotions while quarantining at home. Negotiating space, finding ”me time” for self care, and sitting with the uncomfortable feelings challenge even the best coping strategies. So, let’s get back to basics. There’s no magic bullet but perhaps the closest thing is gratitude. Take a breath, get grounded in the now, and connect with your core values. Look around you and notice how many have manifested in your...

brain breath coping Coronavirus COVID-19 Feelings gratitude mindfulness neuroscience rewiring values

Heather Edwards Psychotherapy in New York

EMDR Therapy Changes Lives

March 20, 2018

Articles

EMDR Therapy: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing changes lives. EMDR can be thought of as an integrative physiologically based therapy that helps a person see emotional material in new and less distressing ways. A Certified EMDR therapist helps guide you in a specialized way to clear trauma, break through limiting beliefs, and create an empowered way of being you. Using Mindfulness and bilateral stimulation while holding gentle pulsers, healthy memory processing is stimulated to gain emotional distance from difficult memories. Research shows that trauma & emotionally charged experiences can get physically frozen in time in your body. They live there in the present, interfering with your life, as if the experience is happening now. EMDR creates a natural flow of information processing so that balance is restored and memories become...

Retrain Your Brain – Better Stress Management

January 5, 2016

Articles

“I can’t take it anymore!” “I need a vacation!” “Maybe I'll sell everything and move to an island!” Have you had similar thoughts? I know I have. This. Is. Stress. We ALL experience stress. It’s NORMAL in our highly opinionated, fast paced, multi-tasking, master of all domains world. In fact, I just had a perfect storm of stressors in my life that created exhaustion and overwhelm. But I'll spare you those gory details. What is stress??? The dictionary definition is: A state of mental or emotional strain resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. Sound familiar? Your nervous system is activated. This is your fight or flight reaction. All functions aimed at survival take priority. And stress kills, right? Wrong! Research is demonstrating that it's what we do with stress that kills us. When there's a perceived threat in...

brain happiness journal neuroscience psychology stress

brain Tag

Anxiety and Lockdown

COVID-19: Seeking a silver lining

EMDR Therapy Changes Lives

Retrain Your Brain – Better Stress Management

Heather Edwards LMHC

Quick Links

Contact

Sign up for DIY Self Help Newsletter