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​How different would your life feel if you woke up every morning and thought no matter what gets done and how much is left undone today, I am enough” (Brene Brown). What would it be like to engage with life from the point of view that you are worthy regardless of how many check marks are on your to-do list? 

We live in a culture where being busy is prized. A culture where people brag about how little sleep they got or how much they had to work that day. God didn’t design us to be machines that accomplish tasks. God designed us to be his creations, worthy of love and belonging. Worthy of his favor even when things don’t go exactly as planned. 

God does not see us the same way we see ourselves. We look at ourselves and see all of the things that we would like to change. We see the things we wish could be different. God sees as as worthy, as new creations in him (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

So, for today, come just as you are. You don’t have to have everything together. You don’t have to know the answers. Come as you are - for who you are is enough. 

Going to therapy (or counseling), depending on what you call it, can be a scary thing. If it is something you’ve never done before you may have no idea what to expect. Even if you might be familiar with therapy each experience is unique. Today we want to share five things that will help you get the most of out of your therapy experience: 

1. Be informed: 
Therapy is word that can mean many different things. There are therapists with different credentials and even different theoretical orientations. This can be incredibly overwhelming! Do a little research about your therapist before you begin working together. Spend some time figuring out what you might expect from therapy.

And if you can’t find the answers online, ask your therapist! Your therapist should be able to answer your questions about their theoretical orientation, their experience, their credentials and about the way that therapy with them will look. The unknown can create anxiety so be informed about the basics of what you might expect in therapy. 

2. Be prepared 
It feels uncomfortable to come to counseling and not know what you want to talk about. Your therapist asks what you want to talk about and you find yourself at a loss.

Your therapist might have things from last session that they can bring up but ultimately it is up to you to determine what is important to talk about in your session. Have a note in your phone where you jot down things throughout the week that make you think “I should talk to my therapist about this!” Spend a few minutes the day of therapy thinking about what feels most important to talk about. If your therapist gives you “homework,” complete it! Treat therapy as a priority and prepare for the time you are going to spend in it. 

3. Be intentional 
Therapy is a wonderful medium to develop healthy emotional habits. The best way that you can find therapy effective is if you are intentional about what you want to accomplish in therapy. Have some specific goals that you discuss with your therapist. You want to talk about childhood issues with your parents? You want to improve your marriage? You want to reduce anxiety at work? It is all fair game - just be specific with yourself and with your therapist about what you want to accomplish in your time in therapy. 

4. Be engaged 
Therapy takes a lot of work. Talking to your therapist might bring up old emotions that you never processed. It might make you realize some things about yourself that you don’t like.

Often when things get hard we tend to withdraw from a process. But leaning into the process of therapy and trusting the journey that your therapist is taking you on can bring about huge life change. Show up to therapy, be engaged and don’t quit when things get hard. If something is painful to talk about that might mean that you need to talk about it. 

5. Be courageous
Therapy can be incredibly scary. Therapy means sitting in front of a near stranger and talking about things that you might not usually talk about. It can be really scary to be vulnerable with other person. Therapy is an amazing opportunity to be vulnerable in a completely safe space.

A good therapist should never judge you for something that you tell them. A good therapist will honor your vulnerability and courage and will create a safe space for you. Take this opportunity to be courageous and share some things about yourself and your feelings that might be scary to share with someone else. Be brave and it will pay off! 

Therapy is as much about your relationship with your therapist as it is about any thing else. Your therapist should be someone that makes you feel safe sharing. They should be someone that helps you stay informed about therapy, that is intentional in their work with you, is engaged and that honors your courage.

If you find a therapist who you feel like might not be a good fit for you, it is always okay to find a different therapist. Often times success in therapy is about a personality fit between client and therapist. This doesn’t mean your therapist always has to agree with you or be exactly the same as you! But they should be someone who honors the differences in every and who honors the story that you share when you come to the therapy room. Do you have any questions that you'd like to have answered about therapy? Comment below and we will do our best to answer them! 

​Is there anything more frustrating than lying in bed unable to fall asleep? You look at the clock and start calculating how many hours of sleep you’ll get if you fall asleep right now - how many hours of sleep you’ll get if you fall asleep in thirty minutes. You lie in bed, frustrated until you finally drift off to sleep as the morning sun starts streaming through the window. For some of us, there are very real sleep disorders that can interfere with sleep. For many of us, there are specific changes we can make to increase our ability to fall asleep quickly and to get a good night’s rest. Following are seven ways that you can start healthier sleep habits - starting today! 

1. Avoid caffeine for four to six hours before going to bed. You may not realize that coffee is affecting your sleep but coffee and other caffeine stays in our system for four to six hours. 
2. Stop drinking alcohol within three hours of bedtime and limit the number of alcoholic drinks to one to two a day. Alcohol does help you fall asleep. However, during the night alcohol decreases the quality of sleep through increasing wakefulness and interfering with REM sleep. 
3. Bedroom activities should be limited to sleep. Your bed should be an environment that cues your brain and body to fall asleep. This means there should be no TV, iPad, phone, computers, work/homework or eating in bed. You don’t want to train your brain to associate your bed with anything other than rest. 
4. As much as is within your control, avoid stressful conversations or activities before sleep. The stress hormone cortisol promotes awakeness and makes it harder to fall asleep. Avoid sensitive topics or stressful topics before sleep. 
5. Give yourself twenty minutes to fall asleep. If you are not able to fall asleep after twenty minutes, get out of bed and do something in a different room such as reading a book or magazine. 
6. Skip the clock-watching. As we talked about in our opening paragraph, watching the clock does nothing but create frustration! Move the clock where you can not see it and put your phone somewhere where you can’t reach. 
7. Keep away from electronics. Did you know that electronics emit blue light wavelengths that actually interfere with our ability to fall asleep? Harvard Medical school shares that blue light wavelengths “boost attention, reaction times and mood” which can be incredibly disruptive in our ability to fall asleep. Blue light also suppresses the secretion of melatonin, the hormone that helps us fall asleep. 

There are actually many more ways that we can change our habits to help promote healthy sleep. We shared some of the top ways today but if you are interested in finding out more information you can read the links below. Thank you for reading! 

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http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/getting/overcoming/tips
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
https://www.sleepassociation.org/patients-general-public/insomnia/sleep-hygiene-tips/

We hear a lot about the importance of healthy eating and getting exercise. But getting a good night’s sleep is just as important - and the science backs it up. The consequences of not getting enough sleep are real - and a little scary.
The American Sleep Association shares that the following can result from not getting enough sleep:

• Decrease collagen in our bodies and make our skin age faster
  
• Cause weight gain through disrupting our circadian rhythm and making us more likely to make poor food choices (while also decreasing our chances of exercising)
  
• Stop our brain from storing events in our long-term memory
  
• Negatively impact our short-term memory causing us to be more forgetful or more likely to misplace something
  
• Make our immune systems weaker by decreasing the number of white T-cells that typically help in defending against getting a cold or the flu
  
• Cause injury to neurons that can slow reaction time and make it dangerous to operate cars and other machinery
  
• Create moodiness and irritability and negatively impact our social interactions and mental health
  
• Be a factor in developing more chronic and serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension
  

The list of things that happen when we don’t sleep sound scary! It can be so easy to forgo sleep when it feels like we don’t have enough time in the day to get things done. By remembering the vital role that sleep plays in our physical and mental health we can choose to prioritize sleep in order to prioritize a balanced, healthy lifestyle.

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/why-do-we-sleep
https://www.sleepassociation.org/blog-post/happens-us-dont-get-enough-sleep/