Last summer I got to be a reverse snowbird.
When your significant other comes home from work one day and announces, “I’m moving to Colorado. Are you in?” The only sensible response is, “Um… yes?”
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About 6 years ago I was sitting at my desk at a large, corporate America investment firm. I was miserable and felt myself dying a little bit each day in that cubicle. I knew that I wanted to make a change, and I even knew what I wanted that change to be. But it seemed really scary and basically impossible. I had a good friend who told me I owed it to myself to at least try. So I did. One very small step at a time.
Now I'm a licensed therapist who still doesn't have it all figured out, but I'm a lot happier. I want to share what I've learned both on my own journey, and on the ongoing journey to help my clients. I strongly encourage adventure as a non-pharmaceutical prescription for things like anxiety, depression, and stress. Your adventure could be taking a leap of faith and starting a new career, exploring a new city, or walking into a yoga class for the first time.
Adventure awaits... Be Curious Be Passionate Be Brave - Marissa
Want to work with me? Visit empoweringtampa.com for more information.
I get it. Despite the growing number of celebrity endorsements , there is still a stigma associated with going to therapy. But unless you're a straight up American Psycho sociopath, you've probably wondered what it's all about. And you've probably been at least a little curious to see what it can do for you. Many people come to therapy for the first time nervous about what they'll have to talk about, or what the therapist...
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The first thing to know about Costa Rica is that everything moves... really... slowly. No one is in a hurry. Nothing is urgent. Schedules are more like suggestions. Agendas are open to interpretation. It didn’t occur to me until I got home that I hadn’t so much as laid eyes on a television in a week. The distractions we constantly consume ourselves with were gone. And what happens when you take away the mind-numbing inert...
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What Makes A Relationship Work? Ask a hundred different people and you’ll get a hundred different answers. Here's an idea you may have never heard before. A recent conversation with a friend got me thinking about our current perception of what it means to be “submissive,” and that maybe there is a totally different way to look at it. Instead of the stigma, what if it could actually benefit our relationships? Make them str...
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While waiting for the elevator down this morning, one of my neighbors happened to walk by. He looked at me holding on to my bike with my yoga mat slung over my shoulder and carrying my visor and sunglasses. He said, “It looks like you are going on an adventure.” I said, “Why yes, that is exactly what I’m doing.” I call myself The Adventure Therapist, so I must be in to skydiving and rappelling from cliffs, right? Nope. Te...
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It is a moment of complete vulnerability when you can bravely and honestly admit that your self-esteem is in the gutter. Allowing that reality to come into conscious awareness can be so uncomfortable that we do everything in our power to deny it, stuff it, ignore it, and numb it. I admire my clients who check off the "low self-esteem / low self-worth box" on their intake form. At least they've gotten that far. There are o...
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Nod if this sounds familiar: “I want something to change but I don’t know what and/or I don’t know how. So… I will continue to go through the motions that run my everyday life and allow that to be a distraction so I don’t have to think about it anymore.” So it’s the beginning of January. And you’ve over-indulged over the holidays (again) even after you swore you wouldn’t (again). And the gyms are p...
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There is a reason you keep hearing about yoga. There is also a reason you keep hearing about yoga during conversations about mental health. There is a direct correlation between the practice of yoga and improvements in overall mood as well as decreases in symptoms of both anxiety and depression. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I don’t prescribe medication. But I do prescribe yoga to each and every...
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As a therapist I see people almost daily who are trying to heal from the ending of a relationship. That can mean anything from a breakup after dating for a few weeks to a divorce after being married for 20 years. Typical emotions include anger, shock, confusion, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and shame. Whether you are experiencing one or all of those feelings, it can be overwhelming. Even the strongest, most independent p...
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I have a guru.
As anyone on a path of self-exploration and growth should.
About 3 years ago, I started to write a blog. It was candidly titled “The Perpetual Bachelorette," and it's purpose was to share my experiences with internet dating. I was going on 32 years of consecutive single-dom. The behind-the-scenes purpose was to prove to my happily coupled up friends that they really needed to stop saying, “Have you tried internet dating? I heard a lot of people meet that way!” I wrote for over a year and it was about that time that I went to meet with my guru, Jimmy. I had been so excited about this blog. The fact that I was writing and getting good feedback. That I found a creative outlet for my 'unfortunate' state of still being single in my 30’s. And, if I do say so myself, thought it was entertaining if nothing else. I couldn't wait to talk to him about it.
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