Expert Interviews & Perspectives in Counseling

The gut is home to as many as 100 trillion microorganisms, weighing about two pounds in the adult, that make up the gut microbiome. The vagus nerve can sense metabolites produced during microbiome activity.

Gender dysphoria is a complex diagnosis with a controversial and sociopolitical history that cannot be ignored. It’s also a very recent concept that should not overshadow the full scope of gender diversity throughout the ages.

College student culture makes bad sleep habits, such as staying up late, pounding energy drinks, having strange napping schedules, and pulling all-nighters, seem normative. Peers might single out students who actually pursue good sleep hygiene as being odd.

Codependency can be a tricky topic in the world of mental health. Broadly speaking, codependency means relying upon someone else to a detrimental extent, where the desire to help causes further harm.

Studies have consistently shown the mediating impact social support and LGBTQ+ community connection have on mental health for sexual and gender minorities. When they’re loved and accepted, they thrive. When they’re outcast and oppressed, negative messages start to get internalized.

If you aspire to work with trans and nonbinary people as a mental health professional, there are many trans-positive career paths to explore, depending on your area of focus and level of training and certification.

Exploring one’s sexuality or gender identity is, by its very nature, an existential pursuit. In fact, LGBTQ+ clients often seek out therapy to help make sense of their phenomenological experience.

Therapeutic healing sometimes takes a village. Each one of us can benefit from a multitude of supports that help us navigate through tough times.

As one of the five core mental health disciplines recognized by the federal government under the Public Health Service Act, MFTs are licensed and trained to provide individual, family, and group psychotherapy services from the perspective that relationships matter.

While studies have shown that short-term stress boosts the immune system, chronic stress has the opposite effect, suppressing the immune system and placing us at risk for a host of physical and psychological disorders.