The overlap of chronic medical illness, access and equity within healthcare, and traumatic experience have all been top of mind as a psychotherapist. Especially as we are coming off of Mental Health…

A healthy perfectionist is a mythical creature, like a mermaid or a unicorn. While perfectionists are often hard workers…

The overlap of chronic medical illness, access and equity within healthcare, and traumatic experience have all been top of mind as a psychotherapist. Especially as we are coming off of Mental Health…

Co-authored by Sybil Ottenstein, MHC-LP and Celine Gonzalez

Couples therapist Sybil Ottenstein talks about how to improve your communication habits and build vulnerability, honesty and trust: Since the 1970s, The Gottman Institute has studied thousands of couples interacting while tracking their relational satisfaction over time. Research into relationships has…

In September of 2020, a patient told me about a dream. In it, he sat alone on the floor of an empty room and felt the urge to blow his nose. When he did, matchsticks came out. Hundreds of them. It didn’t hurt, he assured me, and it wasn’t gross. He was just… sneezing matchsticks.

How to rebalance your life in an unbalanced time. Originally published on Psychology Today Co-authored by Khadega Wzaky In uncertain times, you can find yourself on edge, tense and nervous about the future. However, we all have internal and social resources to get through this challenging time. You are far more resilient than you give yourself credit for. Moreover, the human spirit can be incredibly kind and generous, so even with social distancing we can feel the support from one another! With increasing concern about the coronavirus, we have seen and will continue to see a variety of responses. While …

Think of that special doorway in your home where you have marked the inches of your child’s growth. You and your child delight every time the pencil marks confirm how big and strong your child is getting! But how might you get your child as excited about their social-emotional growth? And how on earth would you measure that? Here are some simple strategies that you can adopt into your daily routine: Use emotion words in your daily language. Beginning in infancy, your child is learning from your behavior. Babies first become aware of their emotion states through a natural social …

My Observations of Working with Patients While Sporting a Hijab   Most therapists adhere to the “do not disclose rule” of therapy given that the therapeutic space exists for patients’ benefit. It’s possible patients know very little about their therapists from what they have directly shared and maybe more from what they’ve observed. Do they wear a wedding ring? Do they have photos in their office? Do they have a public or private education? Do they believe in God? I’ve been wearing my religion on my head long before I became a therapist and so when I was first exposed …

Staying ambitious without perfectionism or doubt. Originally published on Psychology Today You know who your inner critic is. It’s the little voice inside your head that insults you and criticizes you. It seems to chime in like a rude neighbor in the movie theater, loudly chattering away at the most important parts of the film! It’s the voice that says, “Ugh, why did you say that?” and replays the mistake in the conversation for hours, even days. It is also the voice that compares and despairs, reminding you that your goals feel far from reach. The inner critic is a …

Touch a hot stove and your hand starts to hurt because of the pain. That’s your brain’s way of telling you something. Perhaps don’t touch a hot stove? Without our body and brain working in tandem to interpret pain signals, we wouldn’t be aware that our body needs care or that there is something to do differently next time. Emotions work in telling us something in the same way that physical pain does. When we have a strong relationship with ourselves and our feeling states, we can use emotions as instincts. Emotions are usually an internal reaction to something, whether …