6 Red Flags of a Toxic Relationship
What is the Foundation of Your Relationship?: If your relationship is built on lies, control, manipulation, ego, or competition and not on trust, shared interests, love, kindness or respect, know that you have a problem. The foundation of your relationship determines...
Walk to Fight Suicide
Star Meadow Counseling is proud to help sponsor the 2017 Out of Darkness Community Walk. We have seen the impact that suicide can have on friends and family and are committed to spreading a message of hope to those that are suffering. Every 40 seconds someone in the...
What Is Intuitive Eating?
What is Intuitive Eating? We are all born with the natural instincts to be well-balanced eaters. Throughout our lives, many of us battle against and eventually beat down those instinctive eating habits. Recently, you might have heard more and more people talk about...
Embody Boldness: Overcome Your Fear of Failure
The fear of failure can be paralyzing. In fact, a fear of failure can derail a life's passion, sap out motivation, and sometimes stomp the brakes on all forward momentum. It's what convinces you NOT to apply for that promotion, NOT to ask that girl out, and invites...
Declaring Divorce From Your Eating Disorder
Have you ever thought of an eating disorder like a separate person? Jenni Shaefer did, in her book, “Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too.” The following is a brief summary and review. In her first chapter...
6 Ways Counseling Helps You Get Unstuck
Do you ever feel like a hamster on a wheel—as if you are going through the motions of life, but not actually moving forward? People often come to counseling when they are in this state of stuck-ness. Here’s how we’ve heard clients describe their personal brand of...
Listen Like a Counselor – How to Help Your Depressed Teen
Teen depression can bring an array of emotions and behaviors that parents struggle to understand. An urge to isolate, to experience intense feelings alone Difficulty maintaining motivation with chores or homework Disinterest in usual hobbies or interests An opposite...
Body Acceptance Part 2: The Scale—Friend or Foe?
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed strategies for eliminating unhelpful self-criticism about your body. In this article, we will explore frequent weighing as a potential contributor to poor body image. Following a cognitive behavioral counseling approach, we know...
Seasonal Affective Disorder in Vancouver, WA
In Vancouver, Washington there are approximately 143 sunny days per year. That makes for 222 cloudy, gloomy days! In fact, it is so cloudy here that weather forecasters have a special term— “sun breaks”—to describe the periodic bursts of sunshine that are both rare...
Body Acceptance: PART 1—An Unexpected Lesson From Star Wars
Anyone that saw the movie poster for Star Wars: Episode One could have been easily mislead into thinking this would be an epic movie. The image of Darth Vader's shadow lurking beside the figure of innocent Anakin Skywalker is thought-provoking and thrilling! Yet,...