The holidays have a way of bringing out the kid in all of us. We long to innocently enjoy all the wonder (blissfully unaware of the work involved!). We treat ourselves to hot chocolate with a candy cane stirrer because, after all, it’s the holidays. The first time we turn on the tree lights, we remember our very first tree and clap our hands with the same joy and excitement. Innocent childhood delights adding a special flavor to our adult celebrations. No harm in that, right? Right! But what if your holiday-inspired temporary reversion to childhood isn’t quite so harmless? What if you get together with your family and find yourself acting like the bossy older sister, a role you thought you’d outgrown a long time ago? Or what if a step through Granny’s door takes you instantly from competent, capable mother to     . . . read more

Holidays can be a minefield to navigate when you are grieving the loss of a loved one, especially if that loss was recent and this is your first holiday without them. There you are, feeling so very sad and vulnerable and raw, and everywhere you turn you are listening to cheerful holiday music, looking at pictures of smiling people, and watching excited children and beaming parents going about their holiday preparations. The contrast between where you are and where the rest of the world seems to be can be overwhelming and quite painful. Holidays are a time when cultural tradition exerts tremendous pressure on you to be a certain way, feel a certain way, act a certain way – ways that feel almost foreign to you in the midst of your grief. As you look around your holiday table, the     . . . read more

Jennifer is just like you and me – a highly competent, compassionate woman with a great career, a family she adores, and a very full life. On the outside, she looks great. You should see her Facebook photos! On the inside, she’s cooked. Beyond done. A bunch of jangled nerves running on sheer will alone. Jennifer’s been chronically stressed out for so long that her physical and mental health are starting to become compromised. She’s about to burn out big time. For checking all those boxes, doing all the right things, it seems all that she gets in return is exhaustion. And she knows it, but she doesn’t know what to do about it. Jennifer has tried to figure out how to manage her time better, how to cope better, how to practice more and better self-care. She’s read the books     . . . read more

Do you ever feel like you can’t shut off your brain? It’s no wonder when you think about how much you’ve got on your mind. You’ve got a massive To Do list for work, home, and family.  And so many things you need to remember, so many decisions you need to make. It all adds up to a lot of pressure to do it all, remember it all, and make all the right choices.  And it’s way too easy to get to that place of analysis paralysis where you think, think, think but don’t take action. As if that weren’t enough, there’s everything that’s going on in the world these days – politics, hurricanes, mass shootings, earthquakes, war, wild fires, terrorism, climate change. You turn these problems over and over in your mind, even though you can’t solve them by     . . . read more

Does this sound like you? You know in your heart you’re a good parent. Sometimes you wish you had a little more patience, a little more confidence. You feel like you could use a few new parenting tricks up your sleeve. You want to become the parent you know you can be. The truth is parenting can be so hard.  And it’s way too easy to start feeling beaten down and discouraged.  Let’s face it. There are times when we all feel like we’ve done less than our best when it comes to being a parent. Here at New Approaches, we get it! And that’s why we’re so very pleased to be offering Parent Strategy Sessions. These are 2.5 hour consultations that are facilitated by Laura Watters, LCPC. Laura is a family expert and therapist as well as a parent     . . . read more