• July 20, 20232 min

    Change Your Surroundings, Change Your Mind

    When I am feeling particularly bummed out, for whatever reason, I sometimes have a tendency to gravitate towards surroundings that don’t make me feel better. For example, I find myself scrolling my phone for an [...]

  • July 14, 20233 min

    Recognizing & Addressing a Negative Environment

    Have you ever wondered WHY certain things have happened in your life? Why you may have certain feelings, use certain strategies to cope, or think certain things? Well, turns out your environment may have a lot to [...]

  • July 4, 20234 min

    Your Environment: People, Places, & Thing

    Most us think of nature or of the home we live in when we consider what our “environment” is. However, our true environments are made up of so much more than this. Furthermore, our environments [...]

  • June 27, 20233 min

    How Chosen Family Heals Us

    There is not a soul on this earth that chose the family they were born into. Some of us have warm feelings about our blood relatives, while others of us feel like we simply cannot [...]

  • June 22, 20233 min

    3 Tips for Helping Boost Your Teen’s Self-Esteem

    “I’m just so stupid.” “No matter how much I practice I’m still terrible.” “I’m so ugly.” Parents and caregivers, sound familiar? If these are phrases you often hear uttered from your teenager, chances are you’re not [...]

  • June 1, 20234 min

    Setting Boundaries with Family Members

    I probably lost some of you with the title already, didn’t I? There are few things as uncomfortable as setting boundaries with the people that we know best or that know us best. Boundary conversations [...]

  • May 10, 20232 min

    “Why I Buy a New Pair of Shoes for my Sobriety Anniversary”

    Written by Ben, Willow Center Alum “Why I buy a new pair of shoes for my sobriety anniversary… So the short answer – is because when April 9th rolled around last year (my 1 year [...]

  • May 1, 20233 min

    Awareness – A Small Step in Right Direction

    May is Mental Health Month “Mental Health” is the common umbrella term to describe the spectrum of lived internal experiences from wellness to illness that all human beings find themselves on throughout their lives. It [...]

  • April 21, 20233 min

    Belonging Influences Mental Health

    Those who know me are aware that I have always been (and always will be) an eccentric dresser, influenced by a personal fascination with vintage men’s fashion. It’s a hobby and an artform. Throughout my [...]

  • April 3, 20233 min

    Belonging: A Core Human Need

    In 1943, well within the midst of the global atrocities and uncertainties of World War II, American psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced the world to an idea that has come to be known as the “Hierarchy [...]

  • March 20, 20233 min

    Starting Over Requires Discipline

    Growing up, back when commercials interrupting live-aired television shows was still a thing, I remember a commercial for the office supplies company, Staples, that featured a big red “Easy Button”. A weary dad trying to [...]

  • March 1, 20233 min

    Starting Over is Normal

    Every morning shortly after my 2-year-old daughter wakes my partner and I up (at 6:15am sharp – oof), I take my daughter to the kitchen to begin the day. One of her favorite morning activities [...]