Blog Posts

Hey friends, welcome to our blog!  We hope to create a space to talk about “all things” mental health.  Let’s begin by covering a common topic, the Winter Blues!  This is also referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  Have you experienced feeling more “down” during the long winter months?  Those who experience the winter blues can be unmotivated, have increased fatigue, feeling “blue” or “down”, less interested in activities, social withdrawal, and depression.  Colder weather, less light, darker mornings and evenings can lead us to want to stay inside and (for me!) cuddled up in warm blankets hibernating until the cold passes.  If the short, dark days are getting you down, what can you do to feel like yourself again?  

I often hear people say they don’t feel like themselves during the winter, they find their connection in nature, warm weather, and light. Knowing that winter is always going to come let’s talk about ways to beat the winter blues.  Winter is a great time to increase self care.  This can be achieved by joining a gym, getting some light therapy (Amazon has some great lights), practice yoga, or meditation.  One thing that always helps me is having something planned to look forward to.  This can be as simple as planning a vacation, staycation, having social outings to look forward to, or actually going on vacation to somewhere warmer.  Other forms of self care can look like getting a nice therapeutic massage.  Our in clinic, our massage therapist, Nikki Taylor, offers 60, 90 and 120 minute massages.  She is also certified in foot zoning and biofeedback.  Therapy is also a self care practice that can help combat winter blues.  We offer CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) talk therapy as well as EMDR to help address triggers, challenge thought processes, and improve coping skills.  One more thing!  Make sure your Vitamin B levels are where they need to be!

Stay tuned for our next blog post regarding relationships.  

~ Emilie Barragan, LCSW