FPA Blog

  Hello FPA friends and family! We have arrived in the month of August. We're gearing up to send our kiddos back to school and resume some of our normal rhythms. We're also on the edge of a changing season, shifting away from the heat of the summer into the crispy cool of the fall. You may have noticed (I'd be shocked if you didn't) that our summer came with some intensely high temperatures. I stay curious about the relationship between external environment and internal experience. The heat waves of the season made me wonder about the impact of hot weather on irritability, mood, and relationships. There are some real implications of abnormally hot weather on our physical, emotional, and relational well-being. You might notice during heat waves that you have a shorter fuse, you tend to snap back at others, you might have difficulty concentrating, some general restlessness or an antsy feeling, your baseline frustration might have risen. This is all directly correlated wit...

Happy July FPA friends! Tis the season for travel, sunshine, pool days, and time off. Except, even when the hotel is booked, the out-of-office message is set, and the bag is packed… sometimes our brains don't get the memo that it's time to turn off. Why is it hard for some of us to unplug? Even in the best of circumstances, we can still feel restless, guilty, or just have a hard time relaxing. Some of us are too used to going a hundred miles a minute that we've forgotten how to slow down. Or we're just so out of practice slowing down, being still, and enjoying the moment that when we get the opportunity to take it easy, it feels hard. Our fast-paced culture and productivity-driven expectations as well as our attachment to our digital devices can keep us constantly activated. We've grown accustomed to being available to literally the entire world every waking moment of our lives. The notifications keep coming. The to-do list is never actually complete. Our minds are...

Hello to FPA as we welcome the month of June! You might not be aware that June is designated as Men's Health Month , which is why I want to share some thoughts with you specifically about men's mental health. You'll notice as I write that I make some generalizations about both male culture and female culture, and I want to note up top that of course these things are not true for all individuals and that my language choice of men/man is not exclusionary to other masculine gender identities. So why am I writing about this and what's the problem here? Men don't talk about things that need talking about.  What outcome does that yield? Men suffer. They suffer in silence. They feel alone. They are at much higher risk of death by suicide.  What are we going to do about that? Talk to our men. Men, talk to each other. The conversation is truly just beginning about men's mental health and how it intersects with our cultural ideas of masculinity and the expectations we pla...

Hello FPA! Today I want to share some thoughts with you about how we can untangle our identities from our medical and mental health illnesses. In our fast-paced world of diagnoses, prescriptions, and quick fixes, it can be easy to forget a simple truth : you are more than your symptoms . You are something more than your anxiety or your high blood pressure. You are a whole person. This is especially relevant if you are a person with a severe or chronic illness. At FPA, we believe in whole person care. I've written before about my treatment model as systemic- meaning all parts of us are connected to all other parts of us. Being a daughter impacts being a mother. Being a friend impacts being a colleague. The same is true for your medical conditions. Having a chronic illness, such as an autoimmune disorder, impacts so much more than your immune system. It impacts how available you can be socially, how much energy you have to play with your children, how many days you need to call off ...

Hello FPA and happy April! This month I want to share a few thoughts with you about aging. If you're one of my patients, you've seen my face and probably noticed I'm one of our younger providers. I've noticed that different age groups respond differently to perception of my age. I used to be self-conscious about working as a provider with a face as young as mine. I was only 23 when I finished my graduate studies and became a licensed professional. I wanted to be taken seriously, I didn't want patients to judge me based on my youth or make assumptions that I wouldn't be able to provide good care because I was young. I wanted the opportunity to earn the trust and confidence of my patients, and I feared I wouldn't get that opportunity based on bias or assumption. I wanted to look older and be perceived as older so I wouldn't be dismissed. That was 8 years ago, and now that I've been in healthcare for awhile I've learned some things. Here’s the thing...

 Ahhh, friends. Let's talk about being happy. 'Being happy' is a goal lots of people have, especially when they begin a therapeutic process. I often ask, '"What do you want to be different when therapy has concluded?" and lots of patients respond with "Being happier." So that's a big goal. And a bit ambiguous for my liking. What does it mean to be happy? And what does science and research have to tell us about the experience of happiness and the sources of happiness? Happiness is, of course, an emotion. Data tell us the emotion of happiness is most closely linked with 4 specific neurotransmitters, which act as chemical messengers throughout our brains and bodies. Those four chemicals are: Dopamine Serotonin Oxytocin Endorphins   Dopamine is our feel-good chemical, the primary contributor to motivation, pleasure, and satisfaction. Serotonin is our mood boosting chemical, helping us regulate sleep and appetite. Oxytocin is our connector chemical, p...