ACA Counseling Corner Blog

In today's unsettled world there are numerous things that can leave us feeling upset and sad. Most of the time it's simply something short term - a promotion that didn't come through, a social event that fell short of expectations, or something else that didn't turn out as we had wished. But sometimes those feelings of sadness are much deeper and longer lasting. That can be a serious mental health issue that should not be ignored.

We all have days when we question ourselves. Have we made the right decision? Are things going to turn out the way we want? When the questions become too frequent and the fears driving them become overwhelming, our self-esteem, the value we see in ourselves, can begin to deteriorate. The result can be a growing fear to try anything new or even to continue with our regular activities. But there are actions we can take to improve and grow our faith in ourselves.

Organized sports can be a lot of fun and provide great learning experiences for many children. Unfortunately, in some families those same sports can be a source of stress and problems. Some parents can become not just supportive fans for their children's sports activities, but can put a great deal of pressure on the children to participate and perform well, mainly to meet the parents' expectations and often at the expense of the children's positive experiences.

Do you volunteer? It might be through your church, your children's sports teams, a local hospital, or an almost limitless number of other opportunities to give a bit of your time and talents to help others. A lot of us do volunteer to help in various ways. And a lot more of us don't. We may have a variety of excuses as to why we don't participate in volunteering, but what we're really passing up are not just chances to help others, but also the opportunity to derive a number of personal benefits.

Kids often complain about school. Usually such complaints are about minor things -- disagreements with friends, a test that they weren't prepared for, or a subject they just don't like or understand very well. And while it's easy for parents to ignore most such complaints as just being a natural reaction that most kids have, there may be times when there is something real and meaningful behind the complaining, a time when it's important to pay attention.

Stress can sneak into our lives through our jobs, families, personal relationships or a wide variety of other causes. Regardless of the source, stress is never a pleasant experience and so we often try to find ways to eliminate or minimize the stress we are experiencing. A common stress reducer is to turn to our favorite foods, the ones that make us feel better. Unfortunately such action can also add extra pounds and end up being another form of stress in our lives.

There are probably lots of people whose lives turn out just the way they imagined they would, or possibly even better than they ever dreamed. But there are also plenty of us who find our current lives aren't quite living up to our earlier expectations and are possibly missing those goals by a great deal. With some simple steps and determination it's not that hard to make changes toward getting the life you really want.

Communication between parents and teens is often difficult. Teens are often convinced that their parents don't understand them, don't trust them and refuse to recognize their growing maturity. While it may not be possible to always overcome such feelings, parents can often have a much better relationship with their teens by taking a few simple, but important, steps to build a parent - teen friendship.

It can be difficult to change the actions of others even after trying to tell that other person repeatedly that what they're doing or saying is personally troubling to you. It can happen with our kids, our spouses, or other close relatives. Often the problem is that the words simply aren't being heard. What that can mean is that it may be time to take action instead.

Stress is very much a part of our modern world. Whether it's the pressures of family responsibilities, personal obligations or the requirements of our jobs, there are ample opportunities for most of us to feel stressed and anxious a great deal of the time. To handle such stress successfully it sometimes helps to be able to escape from it, to put whatever is bothering us, out of our thoughts, even if for just a little bit. And nature can help us do just that.