Cognitive Restructuring: Healthy Ways To Deal With Negative Thought Cycles
Does it ever feel like your head is spinning? Like you start going down a negative thought path and you can’t pull yourself out? Or like your mind is going...
Journaling As a Coping Mechanism: How It Works and How To Get Started
Coping mechanisms are key to helping us regulate and tolerate our emotional fluctuations (yes, fluctuations in our emotions are normal!). The key here, though, is choosing coping thoughts and behaviors...
Neuroplasticity & Childhood Trauma: Exploring The Brain’s Capacity for Healing
You know that your body adapts based on what happens to it. If you put in serious time in the gym, you get stronger. If you expose your skin to...
Creating Work-Life Boundaries to Support Your Mental Health
With the rise of remote work that we saw during the pandemic, work-life boundaries got blurrier. When your home becomes your workplace, you lose the ability to physically leave the...
June is Men’s Mental Health Month
“Man up.” It’s a phrase you probably hear relatively often, and you might have even used it yourself. Plenty of people say it to tell someone else it’s time to...
3 Ways to Take Advantage of Summer Break for Improved Mental Wellness
Summer is upon us! On the one hand, summer break can provide more flexibility in your schedule. With yourself or the kids out of school, you have more freedom to...
Coping with Loss: 6 Tips to Help You Start Your Healing Process
Losing someone dear to you transforms your life overnight. Suddenly, the world you once knew feels like it no longer exists. As you navigate the days ahead, the pain might...
The Link Between Mindfulness and Trauma Recovery
After living through a traumatic experience, many people want to keep their minds off it as much as possible. By maintaining a busy mind, you might feel better able to...
Stats to Know During Mental Health Awareness Month 2024
Mental health is extremely personal and we understand that opening up about it can pose real challenges. That said, there can be something reassuring in learning that you’re not alone...
The Five Stages of Grief
Our teams at the West Valley Counseling Center and the Ventura Counseling & Wellness Center have the benefit of being led by Sharon Burnett, PhD. Dr. Burnett studied under and...