Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTC, Author at personal balance counseling

Eating Disorder Behaviors Among Teens

The rise of eating disordered behaviors among teenagers is a growing concern among mental health providers. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, can have serious physical and emotional consequences. Unfortunately, the term eating disorders also refers to a range of unhealthy eating habits that can impact mental health and physical well-being.

Teens today are faced with a number of pressures that can contribute to disordered eating behaviors. They may feel pressure to conform to societal ideals of beauty and thinness, and they may turn to unhealthy dieting and restrictive eating in an attempt to achieve these ideals. The rise of social media has also played a role in the normalization and promotion of disordered eating behaviors. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, teenagers may be exposed to harmful content that promotes unhealthy body image and weight loss techniques, or they may compare themselves to unrealistic and heavily edited images of celebrities and influencers.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

Posted by Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTCon May 3, 2023December 14, 2023in Couples Therapy, Family Therapy, Individual Therapy

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month! The #morethanenough campaign is going strong with the help of NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) and with today’s social climate, we can’t help but think this is a great reminder for all of us.

Here at Personal Balance Counseling, we know you matter and recognize you are #morethanenough even when you don’t believe it. We often find low self-esteem and beliefs like “I’m unlovable” and “I’m unworthy of happiness” stem from the world around us. We’re here to remind you that you can’t believe everything you think!

Low self-esteem, often resulting from negative core beliefs, can make anxiety worse, exacerbate moods, and lead to a sense of hopelessness and unhappiness; directly affecting your mental health.

Communication is Key

Posted by Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTCon January 20, 2019April 6, 2019in Family Therapy, Group Therapy, Individual Therapy

How often have you wondered what someone else was thinking? Do you ever think someone hasn’t heard what you said? Were they hearing you, but not really listening? Are you communicating what you want and what you need?

The truth is, we are not mind readers, we don’t know if people heard us, and sometimes, (alright fine, most times) we don’t say what we mean despite our best intentions.

What’s the Point

Posted by Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTCon January 4, 2018January 20, 2019in Individual Therapy

You come to counseling sessions week after week and talk, talk, talk. Some weeks are better than others, but nothing seems to be changing. You’re tired, you don’t want to come, and you think “I’m wasting my money, time, and energy on this.” You call your therapist and inform him or her that you’ve decided to try something different because you just don’t get the ‘point’ of therapy.

Our Top 10 Anxiety Busters

Posted by Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTCon November 24, 2017January 20, 2019in Individual TherapyLeave a comment

Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome; excessive uneasiness and apprehension, may be accompanied by compulsive behavior or panic attacks.

Anxiety can be debilitating. It looks different for everyone. Here’s our top ten tips for calming your nerves and getting through it:

1. Take a deep breath and recognize where the anxiety is coming from. We can’t face or deal with our anxiety if we don’t know where it’s coming from. Stop and take deep breaths to calm yourself down so you can locate the anxiety.

Read More “Our Top 10 Anxiety Busters”

The Uphill Battle of Mental Illness

Posted by Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTCon October 17, 2017January 20, 2019in Family Therapy

More than several times, I’ve had people walk into my office and ask me why this is happening to their brother, sister, daughter, uncle, mother, again when they have had a good week/month/year.

Mental health is a constant uphill battle. People are allowed to have good days mixed in with their bad day. Those individuals battling mental health issues work incredibly hard to hang on to good days. However, it is difficult for our loved ones to understand the harsh realities of constantly struggling with mood disorders and mental illness.

Perspective, Why is it so important?

Posted by Michelle Conrad, LCPC, DBTCon September 3, 2017January 20, 2019in Group Therapy, Individual Therapy

Dr. Wayne Dyer once said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Let’s be honest, he said this many times over because IT’S TRUE!

How often have you thought about a situation and become upset, depressed, angered, or hurt by this? While some people are rather good at establishing perspective and can recognize the possibility that other truths may exist, others are not so good.