To Existing and New Encompass Counseling Clients: We want you to know that we’re open and continuing to offer in-office sessions, as usual. We’re taking extra precautions to maintain a clean office space for you. So, please contact us to confirm or set an appointment. Note: HIPPA-compliant phone and video sessions are an option.
Perspective is an important thing to consider when dealing with anxiety-provoking situations. You know this from your sessions with your therapist. Please remember this as you consider your response to Covid-19. Don’t let emotions outweigh logic in your everyday choices surrounding the coronavirus. Whether it’s fighting someone in the grocery store for toilet paper, or […]
Jen suffered from opioid addiction, bad. She never meant to become addicted to pain pills, but the intensity of her aches—and pains—were too much to bear, so soon one pill every six hours turned to one pill every hour, and before the day was done, Jen had taken as many as 20 tablets of her […]
by Angela Walters, freelance author and creative consultant Our emotional scars are nothing to take lightly, and believe me I don’t, but sometimes a simple thing can help us find relief. That’s why I wrote this article, to give you something simple to remember that I hope will help you pinpoint why you can’t […]
We might as well ask if the Pope is Catholic, or if Tom Brady is a future hall of famer. Of course, technology impacts culture—destructively. For example, how could it not when people living in the same house or workplace can all be looking at different screens and communicating with different people—some within the same […]
Confession. Who needs it? Criminals admitting their crimes to police? Children caught with their hand in the cookie jar? Congregants talking to their priest? How about confession for those suffering from an addiction? It’s what Dr. Carl Hart, chair of the department of psychology at Columbia University, thinks. His view of addiction focuses less on the […]
Popular misconceptions reinforce the belief that therapy is about resting on a couch and talking about one’s problems, according to Jonathan Alpert, a New York psychotherapist and author of Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days. “So that’s what patients often do,” Alpert said, adding that this just as often this leads to codependence. […]
Wendell used to be vibrant and healthy, sharp as a tack with anyone he met. He could answer any question you threw at him, and he loved to laugh. His chuckling would resonate throughout the room. When he was much younger, Wendell could easily count backwards from 100, by sevens. Once, to the amazement of […]
In case you’re wondering, plenty of good reasons to be physically active exist. Big ones include reducing the odds of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Maybe you want to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, prevent depression, or just look better. Here’s another one, which especially applies to those of us experiencing the brain […]
In Part 1 of “What Causes OCD in Adolescents?” author Michael Angelo, MSJ, LCPC, examined the reasons behind obsessive compulsive disorder and also looked at the prevalence of OCD in children as young as 4 years old. In Part 2, he discusses the growing evidence that a specific form of childhood OCD might actually be […]
Obsessive compulsive disorder is the “drama” found on episodic television, where the antics of idiosyncratic characters like Adrian Monk display bizarre behavior that makes for good ratings. He adjusts crooked pictures on the wall; touches each parking meter twice as he walks down the street; brushes each tooth 32 times before going to bed; and […]
It has been said that if we repeatedly find ourselves in places where we don’t want to go, it’s our thinking that has led us there. Emily can relate. All she has done is mislaid a report she knows would be very helpful in a meeting scheduled for today. Yet her mind immediately goes to: I must […]
Imagine living for most of your adulthood with the thought that you are a piece of sh*@t because of something stupid you did in college. And more than 25 years later, having to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting as part of a graduate school assignment, only to be reminded of the incident again. But also […]
Imagine using a hallucinogenic drug—an ecstasy-like compound known as MDMA—to treat individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It sounds a little far-fetched to many psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists. But others in the profession are willing to suspend judgment to see what the future holds for MDMA, which promotes the release of oxytocin and prolactin—hormones […]
Building rapport with patients is a given in psychotherapy. But what happens when two faiths collide in session? Suddenly, theory can go out the window, and therapy can become a battle of the wills, as the tenets of psychotherapist’s and the patient’s own religious traditions “butt heads,” creating barriers to healing. In this article, Michael […]
False beliefs about mental health can cause significant problems for those who need treatment the most. The last thing that someone with a mental illness needs is to be stigmatized because of it. Negative attitudes and beliefs toward people who have a mental health condition are common. Some of the harmful effects of a […]
Writing about anxiety, St. Francis de Sales, in his Introduction to the Devout Life, said that anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall us except sin. Anxiety is a complex and powerful emotion that arises from many sources, including the loss of a person’s ability to trust or feel safe; intense worries; an excessive […]
Noah didn’t expect the rain, but the heavens opened and water surged from below, obliterating every living thing on the planet. However, the rainbow came afterward, proving that God would never destroy the earth again with a flood. More than a reminder for Noah’s time, the rainbow is also sign for us today that […]
Encompass Counseling Center LLC is a private psychotherapy practice serving the Bloomingdale and Naperville areas—and online. We combine our educational experience and professional expertise with our proprietary 5 CORE model of counseling to provide individuals, couples, and families with a “whole” health experience.
