Now, if you’re like me, you really don’t need help learning how to be forgetful. I can easily forget where I left my keys and just as easily forget my own kids names (you know how it goes…Joe, Dan, Steve, I mean, Randy! You name the whole tribe before you get to the one you […]
How to Tell if Therapy is Right for You
When it comes to your physical health, it’s pretty easy to know whether or not you need to see a doctor. If you catch a cold, there’s really no need to make an appointment; however, if you break your ankle, you need to immediately get to an emergency room. But when it comes to your […]
Afraid of Failure? Here’s Advice on Coping with Failure
Fear of failure causes us to put the brakes on our life. When we’re so afraid of failing at something, we either don’t try at all, or we subconsciously undermine or own efforts to avoid an even bigger failure. Without question, fear of failure is immobilizing and, when we allow it to dictate our choices and sit […]
4 Things You Need to Know About Adolescent Anxiety
Anxiety is like fire: It can keep us safe and warm, or completely devastate our property and our lives. It’s good to be a little anxious at times. When walking down a deserted street at night, anxiety keeps us on alert and ready to fight or take flight should a dangerous situation arise. But for […]
Rethink The “Gratitude” Challenge
A New Way To Be Thankful It’s common during this season of the year to see “gratitude challenges” on social media, or to create “gratitude jars” at home. I really do love these concepts, and gratitude is something that I help people actively focus on at my counseling practice, Legacy Counseling Service, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Today I […]
Are You A Consumption Addict?
As a therapist, I’ve talked to many clients in my practice in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area who have struggled with mental health problems as they try to manage anxiety, depression, or stress. Or, they have developed a chronic illness or had a physical injury that takes time to adjust to. They might come in for counseling […]
10 Minutes To Calm: A Quick Strategy to Reduce Anxiety at Work
Most of us have those days at work when we suddenly have a feeling of nervousness or anxiety. At Legacy Counseling Service in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Dr. Leedy comes across this a lot in the people she works with. Maybe something didn’t go right, you have an unpleasant conversation with a colleague or boss, life […]
How One Question Can Set Your Priority and Change Your Life
At Legacy Counseling Service in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma helping clients clarify their values and make choices that are consistent with those values is a top priority for me. When we are living out of line with our values we open ourselves up to increased chance of anxiety symptoms, depression, insomnia, health and relationship problems. Back […]
The Problems with Disqualifying, Catastrophizing, Should, and Personalizing
In this series about how psychologists can help people with anxiety and depression, I’ve been talking about how a psychologist teaches people to do critical thinking about their own thoughts. At Legacy Counseling Service in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, teaching people to notice and challenge their thoughts is a big focus in counseling. So far we […]
Letting Your Emotions Rule? The problem with Emotional Reasoning, Labelling, & OverGeneralizing
In my earlier blog post about mental health and automatic thoughts, I talked about three ways in which we can get stuck in anxiety or depression from automatic thoughts that are “all-or-none thinking,” “mental filter,” and “jumping to conclusions.” As a psychologist at Legacy Counseling Service in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, I frequently help people look […]
How Does a Psychologist Help with Anxiety and Depression? Understanding Black/White Thinking, Mental Filter, and Jumping to Conclusions
Imagine that your mind is like a popcorn machine and your thoughts are like corn kernels. When situations heat up just enough thoughts about anxiety and depression automatically pop up and then settle into the mind (like a full movie theater popcorn machine). All the while more thoughts continue to pop up and fill up […]
How Writing Can Improve Mental Health
Recently I was unpacking boxes as I continue to settle in from moving from Florida back to the Tulsa, Oklahoma area to start my private practice, Legacy Counseling Service. If you’re wondering why in the world I moved from sunny Tampa to Tulsa, I will simply tell you that living out the legacy I want […]
Why It’s Smart to Make Time To Worry
What is worry? It’s smart to my time to worry. At Legacy Counseling Service in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Dr. Leedy helps people who worry for all sorts of reasons. We all struggle with this from time to time, some people more than others. You may be known as a “worry wart” or people may intentionally not tell […]
What Finding Dory Reveals About Physical Disability, Worry, and Depression
Finding Dory is the newest box office hit in the theater this summer and it is sooo good! If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil the end. Here is a quick video of the trailer: Today I do want to talk about a theme in the movie that is important […]
The Over Use of Technology is a Buzz Kill
I often think that the better way is the long way, the harder way. So, I tend to cook most of my meals rather than eat out, I’d rather paint it myself than hire someone, and I’d rather knit (yes, I used to do this back in the day) than buy a blanket. To me, […]