GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Many people who suffer from mental illness struggle to see their daily lives from a healthy perspective. It can be a challenge for most people in therapy to remove the lens of negativity that causes them to feel anxious, depressed or angry. When the balance between positive experiences and negative experiences is weighed toward the […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Reinforcement exercises are a helpful tool when teaching children healthy communication and behavior habits. With positive reinforcement, a child learns what types of behaviors elicit positive reactions from people. Through using positive reinforcement techniques like reward systems, children can learn how to behave well in school, at home, and in counseling. About This Worksheet This […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
At some point in a client’s journey, he or she will need to take a step back to evaluate how he or she is managing self-care. It is important for a client to be well-aware of what he or she needs to be able to maintain self-care, and to understand a hierarchy in which the […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Building self-esteem is an essential part of child development. Without developing a high self-esteem, a child has a higher risk of struggling with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, body image and many other challenges. These challenges will affect the quality of how the child lives his or her life. In order to be able to develop […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
It is important to have a list of goals and objectives for the client and therapist to work toward when beginning a new therapeutic relationship. Setting goals creates a foundation that helps the client and therapist stay on track when helping a client feel better. Setting goals also empowers a client to stay on track […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
In recent studies, it has been found that practicing gratitude exercises and positive affirmations have been effective in helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and an array of other types of mental health disorders. Teaching a client how to practice gratitude exercises helps him or her learn how to acknowledge and appreciate the good. This […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When working with clients on how to modify behavior, it is important to teach how to be self-reflective and aware of his or her behavior in reaction to the people places and things around them. When clients learn how to be self-reflective, they are able to learn how to slow down reactions, think situations through, […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Sometimes we have clients who struggle with finding motivation. They may struggle to find motivation in developing a career, accomplishing a goal, or moving on to the next phase in life. There are a number of reasons why a person may struggle with achieving a goal. This is why it is important that the client […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Cravings to engage in dangerous or indulgent behaviors like drinking, using drugs, overeating, or sex are a difficult thing for a patient to work through. Each time a patient experiences a craving or a trigger to engage in something they know is not good for them they are confronted with the conflict between doing what […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
A major reason why patients suffer from low self-esteem or emotional issues is a poor sense-of-self. There are many reasons for a person to develop a poor sense-of-self, but one common reason being aware of or understanding the things they value in life. Helping a patient discover what is important to them and their moral […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When patients suffer from more debilitating emotional issues like depression and severe anxiety it can be difficult for them to keep from falling into bad habits like isolating and cutting off things that bring them joy. Of course this is understandable, as with such mental illnesses it can be difficult for a patient to enjoy […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When we are confronted with a situation in which a patient is expressing to us that he or she is in danger of causing harm to himself or herself or is in danger of being harmed by someone it is important that as clinicians we do all we can do to keep our patient safe. […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
One of the most important things we do as therapists is screen our patients to make sure they are safe after they leave our office. Whether the patient is struggling with depression, anger, eating disorders, substance abuse, family issues, abuse, or suicidal ideation, it is imperative that we make sure our patients are safe and […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Sometimes when people suffer from low self-esteem, low confidence, or mood disorders like anxiety and depression it is easy to focus on the negative and forget about the positive that they have in their lives. When patients focus only on the negative it is hard to imagine a happy and positive life that has hope, […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When a substance abuser first starts therapy it is important for both the therapist and patient to have a full understanding of the history and progression of the substance abuse. Such details as reasons behind first use, point in time where use increased, and difficulty with stopping use can be very telling when trying to […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Patients who are suffering from a mental illness can often feel discouraged from being able to achieve their goals. Sometimes their ambitions and efforts are cut off by thoughts like “why bother?”, “it’s too much, I won’t be able to do it” or “I will start tomorrow”. It helps a great deal to draft a […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Weekly mood charts are great ways to track the progress of a patient’s mood regulation exercises. With weekly mood charts the patient is able to record any successful or unsuccessful attempts of managing his or her moods and emotions. It is also very helpful for helping the patient identify his or her triggers and ability […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When a patient is learning what is affecting them and ways to feel better it is expected that they take lessons learned in therapy and to them to their lifestyles. Sometimes in the heat of emotions and stress patients can forget what they learned and how to implement them, and need a reminder of why […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Often those with depression lose sight on what is important to them. Depression is mentally, emotionally, and physically debilitating and when a patient is depressed and does not understand what they can do to manage the depression the patient will feel hopeless about life and the future. It is important to encourage patients to find […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
A huge part of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is understanding what core beliefs are and how they affect people. Core beliefs are the perceived conclusions a person makes about themselves, the world, and their future, based on what they have learned through life experiences. The way a person sees each aspect of their world is […]
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