Meet one of our fabulous counselors—Lorraine Looney, LMSW. Lorraine joined the BabbCenter for Counseling team at the end of 2017. She provides counseling for children, adolescents, adults and families with a focus on substance abuse and co-occurring disorders as well as depression and anxiety, stress management, and grief counseling. Q. Where did you go to school? A. Boston University. I loved…
Can you believe we’re nearing the end of summer months already? Perhaps you and your family have spent the past several weeks hanging at the beach or tanning by the pool, and you’re totally chill. But many kids (and their parents) are experiencing the “mid-way moodiness” that comes about this time of summer. They’ve gone to visit…
“The best survivors of divorce are individuals who can intentionally look for the positive about their new place in life.” ~Anonymous In this series on divorce, we’ve looked at various ways women who have separated from their husbands are affected within their own self-esteem, thoughts, and feelings. In Part Two, we were also reminded of the…
Taking care of your marriage is much easier than adjusting to a divorce.” #hindsight Life Status: Divorced Divorce rates as one of life’s most stressful events—just under death of a spouse or child. However, it’s also one of the most familiar life transitions in our culture. Regardless of how commonplace divorce may be, that doesn’t…
Family structures change. Job reorgs happen. And sometimes we need to move. You wouldn’t think relocating from one part of the country to another should be that big of a deal. After all, it happens every day for many people across our country. However, moving from home to home can be draining, challenging, and depressing—all…
Think of a recent dreadful event that made headline news. What was your initial response to it? Did it create a sense of fear and hopelessness in you? Did it make you afraid to continue your normal daily processes—wondering if something bad would happen to you or your family members? Unfortunately, children often experience similar thoughts and feelings when tragedy strikes. Times…
When did you become acquainted with our friend, “It?” For me, it was sometime during college. It tends to linger in our thoughts for days, months, perhaps years. Long lines of traffic are the perfect time to think about it. Other days, it may sneak up on you during family conversations around the table. Regardless of the setting, many of us experience it at some…
This is our final segment in this series on anxiety. We’ve looked at it in general terms of defining anxiety in Part 1. In Part 2, we considered how anxiety affects us in the workplace. We then looked at it in terms of relationships in Part 3. And now we’ll consider various coping methods. In reflecting back to Part 1, I promised…
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, anxiety is something that many people deal with each day. It not only affects the person suffering from it, but coworkers and those closest to the individual as well. We often think we live in isolation—where our personal issues don’t interfere with the rest of our lives—but…
In the first part of this series, we learned that true anxiety is something that affects our thoughts and behavior in such a way that we are debilitated in our daily functioning. Normal job stress—meeting deadlines, talking with clients, being prepared, balancing your workload—is considered typical workplace unease. But, if anxiety-related concerns impede your ability to make…