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Shining the Light
Bright Light Counseling Center's Blog on all things Mental Health
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Navigating the Holidays as an LGBTQIA+ Person: Tips for Survival
Worried about your upcoming holidays? Do you have family conflicts or stressful relationships? You deserve to protect your peace. Here's how.
4 min read


6 Ways to Manage ADHD Without Medication
Many people with ADHD find that behavioral tools, structure, and lifestyle changes make a real difference. The key is learning how to work with your brain rather than against it.
3 min read


The Impact of Trauma on the Brain: A Closer Look
Trauma causes more than just an emotional wound. It is an experience that changes how the brain processes information, manages stress, and interacts with the world. When someone experiences trauma, the brain does not simply move on. Instead, it adapts for survival. These adaptations can be protective in the moment but often lead to long-term emotional and physical consequences.
3 min read


Cold Feet or Something More? Understanding Marriage Anxiety
Anxiety about marriage is often tied to broader themes: fear of failure, loss of independence, past relationship trauma, or uncertainty about identity. For some, it may come from growing up in a family where marriage was unstable or conflict was common. For others, it can emerge from perfectionism or the pressure to meet external expectations. Marriage represents both a personal and social milestone, so it can activate unresolved issues about control, trust, and self-worth.
3 min read


What to Know About Invisible Chronic Illness
Invisible illnesses often come with invisible burdens. People may struggle to explain why they cannot participate in certain activities or why their energy levels fluctuate so dramatically. This constant need to justify their limitations can lead to emotional exhaustion, frustration, and shame.
3 min read


What Causes Suicidal Depression? Top Risk Factors Explained
While depression alone does not always lead to suicidal thoughts, certain risk factors make some individuals more vulnerable. Understanding these risk factors is an important step toward prevention, support, and healing.
3 min read


What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder and How Do You Know If You Have It?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a mental health condition that involves persistent and excessive worry about many aspects of daily life. Unlike situational anxiety, which usually has a clear trigger, GAD can feel more constant and diffuse. A person with GAD may worry about work, school, health, relationships, finances, or the future even when there is no immediate reason to expect a negative outcome.
3 min read


Acute Trauma vs. Chronic Trauma: Understanding the Difference
Trauma doesn't look the same for everyone. Some people experience a single devastating event. Others endure trauma that stretches across months or years. Both types leave their mark, but they may affect you differently.
4 min read


Think You Have ADHD? Key Symptoms and What to Do Next
Many people wonder if their struggles with focus, restlessness, or forgetfulness mean they have ADHD. This disorder can have a big impact on people’s academic, professional, and social lives. Understanding the core symptoms and knowing what steps to take next can help bring clarity.
3 min read


Why Going to College Causes Anxiety—And What You Can Do About It
College represents one of life’s biggest and most exciting transitions, but many students experience anxiety during this time. Whether you’re applying to colleges or already navigating campus life, understanding why college triggers anxiety can help you develop effective coping strategies.
3 min read


What Is Complex Trauma and How Is It Different?
Complex trauma happens when harmful or unsafe experiences occur repeatedly over time, often starting in childhood. Instead of one clear moment, it is a pattern. Common causes include ongoing abuse, neglect, domestic violence, alcoholism, or growing up in a chronically unstable environment. Because it happens during critical developmental years, complex trauma shapes how people see themselves, others, and the world.
3 min read


Living with Chronic Pain and Fatigue? How Counseling Can Help
Counseling does not take away pain or erase fatigue, but it changes how people respond to them. By working with a therapist, individuals can learn to separate their sense of identity from their illness. This distinction is important because it allows room for growth, joy, and meaning outside of the limitations of symptoms.
3 min read


Is It Burnout or Depression? Understanding the Difference and Finding Your Way Forward
Burnout and depression rarely show up out of nowhere. They often grow out of a web of stressors that pile up. Untangling what’s fueling your distress can help you begin to name it—and eventually, reshape it. Understanding the difference matters because while burnout and depression share similar symptoms, they come from different places and may need different approaches to healing.
4 min read


Chronic Illness and Dating: Finding Love While Managing Your Health
Dating while managing a chronic illness will never be easy, but by being honest, setting boundaries, taking care of your emotional well-being, and seeking professional support, you can build strong relationships that honor both your health and your desire for love.
3 min read


Quarter-Life Crisis: What It Is and How to Survive It
A quarter-life crisis refers to a period of anxiety, self-doubt, and confusion that usually occurs in your mid-20s to early 30s. It is a time when you may feel unsure about your career, relationships, or life goals.
3 min read


Perfectionism and Anxiety: What’s the Connection?
Perfectionism is often seen as a positive trait. However, it can become a major source of anxiety. Perfectionists often set unrealistically high standards for themselves, believing that anything less than perfect is a failure. This mindset can lead to intense anxiety, self-doubt, and a constant fear of disappointing others.
4 min read


ADHD at Work: How to Thrive in a Professional Setting
ADHD can affect many aspects of a person’s life, and the workplace is no exception. From maintaining focus during long meetings to keeping track of multiple tasks, planning and organizing projects, managing ADHD at work can present unique challenges. However, with the right strategies in place, people with ADHD can not only succeed in the workplace but thrive.
3 min read


Life With Chronic Illness: How It Affects Your Mental Health and Well-Being
Chronic illnesses, visible or invisible, affect every aspect of life. Dealing with pain, fatigue, and the uncertainty of symptoms can lead to feelings of frustration, sadness, and even hopelessness.
3 min read


Moving Back in with Parents as an Adult: How to Navigate the Shift
Moving back in with your parents as an adult is a life transition that can stir up a variety of emotions. You might feel a sense of loss over your independence or struggle with being treated like a child again.
3 min read


Chronic Illness and Mental Health: Exploring the Connection
Living with a chronic illness can be physically draining, but it also affects mental health in ways that are often overlooked. Constant physical discomfort and limitations can lead to feelings of frustration, sadness, and even hopelessness. The stress of managing symptoms, appointments, and treatment can also be overwhelming, further exacerbating anxiety and depression.
3 min read


A Closer Look at What Depression Does to Your Brain
Depression is a complex condition that affects mood and brain function. It can cause chemical imbalances, structural changes, and cognitive impairments that make it harder to manage emotions and complete daily tasks. Therapy provides essential tools and strategies that help rewire the brain's neural pathways, offering long-term skills for managing depression that extend far beyond symptom relief to create lasting emotional resilience and personal growth.
4 min read


Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD: What It Is and How It Works
Exposure and Response Prevention is a powerful tool for managing OCD, and while it may feel difficult at first, with time and persistence, it can lead to lasting change.
3 min read


Understanding and Managing ADHD in Adulthood
ADHD in adulthood makes mundane tasks difficult to navigate. With the right strategies, such as establishing routines, setting achievable goals, and seeking professional support, adults with ADHD can live a more successful life. Whether you were diagnosed with ADHD in childhood or if you are getting diagnosed now as an adult, ADHD therapy for adults will make a difference in managing symptoms and improving your mental health.
3 min read


A Guide to BIPOC Mental Health Support and Services
For BIPOC individuals, it is essential to work with a therapist who understands their experiences. Historical trauma, discrimination, and cultural differences often shape mental health, and these factors should be acknowledged in therapy.
3 min read
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