GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When you do not set clear and healthy boundaries with others, you put yourself at risk of being mistreated. Without proper boundaries, the people in your life may mistreat you and not realize it. This is because they do not know that the way they are approaching you is upsetting you or simply does not […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Listening skills are important to have, but not everyone is taught effective methods of listening to others. To listen does not mean to formulate a response, it means to understand the points and perspective of another. We all get eager to respond to things we are listening to at times, but it is often more […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Teamwork is an important part of any relationship. Whether it is family, partners, peers, classmates or coworkers, being able to develop a good working dynamic can be a skill that lasts throughout the course of the relationship. In order to have a productive relationship, you must have good communication skills. Without effective communication skills, working […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Children in therapy can often struggle with expressing how they feel. For a number of reasons, a child can struggle with expressing their feelings and needs, even with their parents and friends. When a child is struggling to talk about how they feel, it can be helpful to think about other means of expression. A […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
It is important to encourage children to understand and embrace their emotions at an early age. Children who develop emotional intelligence can learn how to cope with uncomfortable feelings at an early age. That way, they develop a level of identity and self-awareness that will help them develop a healthy relationship with themselves and with […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Cognitive distortions are a major source of mental and emotional strain on a person’s day-to-day life. Everyone struggles with cognitive distortions sometimes. They are natural patterns that our brain develops to understand how the world affects us. The challenge with cognitive distortions is they warp the way we see the world and how it relates […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Anger affects everyone. It is a powerful emotion that can be triggered by many different things. You may feel anger from an upsetting situation, stress or another emotion you don’t entirely understand. Sometimes, when we do not understand our anger or how it negatively affects us, it has a damaging effect on our quality of […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Understanding your own positive traits is an important part of building your self-worth and self-esteem. When you do not know your own positive traits, it is hard to feel like you know yourself. You often do not know how to make proper decisions, or how to behave in a healthy way. Your self-worth and moral […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Children often do not understand how to handle their anger in a healthy way. They may act out, shut down, or lash out at others. Anger can be a complicated emotion for children, so ensuring that they understand how to cope with the feeling is important. Children often need guidance for how to communicate their […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
A huge part of having a healthy lifestyle is having proper boundaries with yourself and the people in your life. Boundaries promote healthy relationships with others and a good sense of self-esteem. They are very important, but can sometimes be difficult to maintain. Everyone’s boundaries are different. Each person has their own unique needs and […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Everyone has stressors in their lives. When people are in therapy, different stressors can serve as triggers for different conditions. Most people in therapy will have significant triggers that can cause them to think, act and feel in ways that are not healthy for them. An important part of therapy is helping clients identify their […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Just like adults, children can have a hard time controlling their anger. They often do not understand how their anger affects them, and how it affects others. Children can struggle to learn how to process and express negative feelings like anger, so it is important to teach emotional intelligence skills to keep them grounded when […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Everyone struggles with cognitive distortions. A cognitive distortion is an error in thinking. It is a pattern of thinking that is detrimental to the way clients think about challenges and behave in reaction. A cognitive distortion can cause different issues with stress management, communication, and relationships. It can also affect a client’s self-esteem, self-image, and […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When used properly, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a very effective form of therapy. CBT helps people work on their problem behavior by providing a means to understand their thoughts and feelings. People often react to stressors quickly, and that can prevent them from thinking things through. CBT teaches a person how to slow down […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Stress is a natural part of life. Everyone experiences stress, and everyone is affected by stress in different ways. It is important to know how to manage stress. When you do not know how to manage your own stress, you face consequences like anxiety, depression and sleep issues. The first step to learning how to […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Social anxiety has an effect on how people interact with others. It affects the connections people make with friends and family. Social anxiety can cause a great deal of stress for affected people, and can be really frustrating to manage everyday. Those who seek help with social anxiety aim to learn how to manage their […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Having healthy communication skills are important, but also challenging to develop. Some people may struggle with articulating their feelings and needs. It is common for a client to struggle with being assertive or understanding what it means to be assertive with your needs. Learning how to reflect on a situation before confronting another person can […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
A huge part of successfully developing effective communication skills is understanding what it means to be assertive. Assertive communication skills are essential for clients who are learning how to express themselves effectively. When a person is assertive, they are able to make their point and perspective clear. They are able to state their needs and […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When working with kids, especially those who have behavioral problems, it can be a challenge to teach empathy and healthy socialization skills. Being able to express gratitude and appreciation for others helps a child relate to their peers and teaches them how to identify positive qualities within themselves. When a child can express appreciation, they […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Arguments are never easy, but it is important to know how to effectively argue to keep lines of communication open. Often when people struggle with arguments the point of the argument is lost, which prevents the partners to find resolution. This is why it is important to learn how to effectively argue to find resolution […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Promoting self-love is an important part of therapy, but sometimes can be a challenge for clients. It is a lesson that is dynamic, and should be treated as such. For a client to learn to love himself or herself, he or she must also learn how to love and appreciate those around him or her. […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Working on communication in relationships is an integral part in strengthening the bond between a couple. Often, people who are struggling in a relationship have a hard time expressing their needs in an open and effective way. This can often cause tension in a relationship and cause a rift between partners. About This Worksheet This […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Teaching emotional intelligence skills is important when working with young children. Often children have feelings they may not understand, which makes it difficult for them to express how they are feeling and if they are upset. This struggle can prevent caretakers and parents from being able to understand the child’s needs, and can further complicate […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
One of the hardest things for a client to work on is how to learn how to understand, regulate and control their emotions. Emotions are tough, and can often lead clients to behave in a way that is detrimental to themselves and others. A major goal for most clients is to learn how to regulate […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When teaching a client how to use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for managing anxiety it helps a great deal to provide a visual aid. Clients who suffer from severe or chronic anxiety struggle to maintain control over anxious thoughts and resulting anxious feelings and behavior. It is important to teach clients in CBT treatment to […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Interpersonal issues like assertiveness, aggression, and confrontation are often things people struggle to know how to handle. There is a fine line between assertiveness and aggression, hostility, and submission, when dealing with confrontation. Sometimes it can be difficult to know which road to take, whether to be assertive, aggressive or submissive, and the confusion can […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
When working with patients who struggle with relationship issues and communication issues, it is important to be sure the patient understands the core elements needed in developing relationships. Patients often struggle with building relationships, getting to know people, being open to others, and communicating. When patients struggle with these issues it is important to teach […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Many patients will struggle with a major issue that all people are best coming to terms with: we cannot control what happens around us. Wanting to remain in control is a natural thing for people, but it can sometimes be difficult for a patient to understand that they cannot control the environment or a situation, […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
One major cause for stress for patients is understanding how to handle confrontation and interactions with others. Sometimes people struggle with being assertive, controlling their temper, or simply expressing how they are feeling or what they are thinking in a given situation. When patients struggle with such challenges it helps to help them understand social […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Negative thoughts have the potential to control the way people perceive and interpret almost every aspect of their lives. Some may have negative thoughts about themselves, others, or the way of the world. Negative thoughts generate negative feelings, and negative feelings contribute to negative behavior and mood disorders. That is why it is important to […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Therapists who are trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) find value in teaching their clients how to deal with automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). ANTs are huge catalysts for negative behavior like lashing out at others and self-destructive habits. They also cause negative emotions and hurt feelings that may not be fair to the client. ANTs can […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a very popular and effective treatment modality that is used for many different types of cases. Whether the patient has depression, anxiety, borderline personality, low self-esteem, poor impulse control, anger management issues or otherwise. CBT is an excellent form of treatment that provides the patient with tools needed to identify […]
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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
Children find it hard to cope with things they do not understand. There are many people, places and things in the world that scare children, and when children are afraid they feel lost, alone and vulnerable. Children who are fearful have a hard time developing the confidence they need to face their fears, but if […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
An important step to understanding your anger is understanding how intense it can become and the situations that make it as intense as it can be. Patients with anger management issues sometimes find it difficult to assess a situation and their reaction to the situation. An anger thermometer is a good way to help patients […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Anger is a difficult feeling to understand and control. When a patient suffers from anger management issues it is easy for them to identify through the feeling and behavior. Of course, holding on to anger is not a healthy habit, so we want to teach our patients a healthier way to handle emotions. In order […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
In therapy, a client learns a lot about their emotions and issues that create challenges in their lives. Through their own self-exploration, they begin to learn different ways to cope with different challenges. Therapy teaches coping skills that help clients relieve their symptoms in real life situations. They learn valuable life skills in therapy. It […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
Arguably the most popular and useful therapeutic exercise for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the automatic thought record (ATR). Automatic thought records are useful because they help the client take a look at themselves and reflect on their own reactions to a given situation. This empowers the client to reflect and identify their own errors […]
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GinaMarie Guarino, LMHC
It is important for a client to understand what anxiety is and how it affects their life. Often people do not fully understand what anxiety is or how it affects them. Sometimes people do not even realize that they have anxiety until they speak about their symptoms with a professional. That’s why it is important […]
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