By Stephanie Wick, Ph.D., LCMFT, LCAC It’s 2019, and the stigma around mental health continues. The words alone are cringeworthy: ”mental health”. Or worse: “mental illness”.  One might as well be saying “crazy” or “psychotic”. Certainly the one who suffers must surely look the part. Disheveled. Detached from reality. Mumbling nonsensicalities and gibberish. But why […]

By Stephanie Wick, Ph.D., LCMFT, LCAC It saddens me to be writing this. If I weren’t so tired, my soul might actually be weeping tears of profound sadness. Instead, I have settled for weary resignation of the way things are and a diluted sense of grief for how they used to be. Most days, I […]

By Stephanie Wick, Ph.D., LCMFT, LCAC Most people have no idea what to expect when they walk into a therapist’s office for the first time. Anxiety is often high. Expectations are often based on depictions from movies or tv shows. This means newcomers may expect a stiff lipped, notepad bearing therapist with no sense of […]

Depression and anxiety are sisters. They like to hang out together much of the time. Sometimes they even look alike. Depression brings with her hopelessness, sadness and a loss of interest and motivation. Anxiety brings with her irrational fear and dread, excessive worry and nervousness. Both are isolating and dark. Both bring irritability. Both are […]

By Stephanie Wick, Ph.D., LCMFT, LCACAndrews & Associates Counseling The Hallmark channel begins airing Christmas movies in October. You know the ones—a wholesome, simple minded country bumpkin persuades a cold-hearted city executive to fall in love with Christmas (and him/her) through a predictable succession of hot cocoa drinks, Christmas tree farms, a very slight climax […]

Sakura Every spring, the Japanese cherry trees bloom. It’s a ravishing sight really. People travel from across the world to witness this brief spectacle. The trees are heavy and dripping with luscious, pale pink blossoms, the accumulation of which paints like an explosion of down feathers. Cast against the blue sky and lush green grass, […]