Vantage Point Counseling Services Blog
This page is dedicated to discussing current events and topics of interest relating to psychotherapy, counseling, and other advice and help for issues relating to anxiety, depression, substance abuse, relationships, and sexual issues. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments. This page will be updated often, so please check back frequently. Click on the title to be directed to the article you are interested in reading about below.
Our Sex Life Sucks…Should We Open Up Our Relationship?
Our Sex Life Sucks...Should We Open Up Our Relationship? It’s not uncommon for sex in…
Avoid “Roommate Syndrome” 7 Ways to Keep the Romance Alive
Avoid "Roommate Syndrome" 7 Ways to Keep the Romance Alive Between chores, the kids, commuting,…
Uncovering the Story of Your Erotic Self
Uncovering the Story of Your Erotic Self Sex is a complicated issue in any relationship.…
5 Relationship Problems You Didn’t Know Sex Therapy Could Help You With
5 Relationship Problems You Didn’t Know Sex Therapy Could Help You With Many people think…
Alcohol Addiction: How to Cope with Your Partner’s Drinking Problem
Alcohol Addiction: How to Cope with Your Partner’s Drinking Problem When your partner has a…
Somatic Experiencing For Help With Trauma
Somatic Experiencing For Help With Trauma Although talk therapy can be powerful and effective, there…
5 Steps to Take When Your Spouse Cheats
5 Steps to Take When Your Spouse Cheats You’ve just found out your spouse has…
Why is EMDR Therapy an Effective Treatment for Trauma?
Why is EMDR Therapy an Effective Treatment for Trauma? EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization…
Sex Therapy in a Holistic Way
Sex Therapy in a Holistic Way When we think of sex, we tend to think…
Is Sex Addiction Ruining Your Life? Sex Addiction Therapy can Help
Is Sex Addiction Ruining Your Life? Sex Addiction Therapy can Help In February we posted…
Using Empathy to Help Your Partner Heal After An Affair
Using Empathy to Help Your Partner Heal After An Affair The period after cheating has…
How Counseling Can Help Transgender Individuals
For the trans community, the idea of seeking out a counselor or therapist can be…
“How Do I Know I Am A Sex Addict?”
When I let people know that I work with people who are dealing with a…
Sex Addiction Infographic
Rebuilding trust after a sex addiction has been discovered can be one of the most…
I Hate My Life! I’m so Shy! How do I Change It?
I Hate My Life! I’m so Shy! How do I Change It? Shyness frustrates those…
How Do I Bring Up Couples Therapy To My Partner?
Talking to your partner about couples therapy is one of the bravest, yet terrifying things…
Mystery Can Improve Your Sex Life
In our culture, we largely view relationships as something that will complete us. We find…
Surviving a Valentine’s Day When Single
Valentine's Day can be a lot of fun for many people. However, for those who…
Why I Work With Sex Addiction
I was recently asked why I want to work with sex addicts, their partners and…
Showing Up In Your Relationship
Many relationships end in complete chaos, but why do some just fizzle out? Long-term relationships…
Unhealthy Boundaries in Relationships
The development of boundaries begins early in life and is reinforced by the relationships we…
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome was first coined in the article, by Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, “The…
Restoring Trust After An Affair
In a previous article I talked about how couples can survive an affair. One major…
No More “Under the Radar”
Stepping out from under the radar can be an enormous risk. Allowing yourself to be…
Make Bids For Connection For Your New Years Resolution
Make Bids For Connection For Your New Years Resolution When we think of a New…
Keeping Authentic To Make Your Holidays Happy
Holidays are a stressful time for all of us. We have to leave our normal…
Planning for the Firsts: Holiday Season
There are many firsts in recovery. There is the first sporting event without alcohol. There…
Recovery and ‘Tis the Season
At this time of year, commercials, advertisements, and social network feeds are filled with images…
Dealing With Infidelity
According to a recent poll commissioned by The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 41%…
Early Recovery: “…growing up in public.”
Recovery from active addiction involves much more than simple abstinence from drugs. There is common…
Handling an Emotional Affair
When clients come into couples therapy for an emotional affair, there are many things that…
Fear of Vulnerability
Getting vulnerable is often the last thing that we want to do. There is so…
Identifying Your Values
Knowing what you value is an important part of any type of healing, growing, and…
It’s Not Your Fault
In traumatic situations, it's very common that the person who was traumatized blames herself for…
Laughing and Crying and Vulnerability
The shock of Robin Williams death by apparent suicide still hovers around today. How can…
Painful Realizations
Not all realizations about the situation that you are in or where you are at…
Overcoming a Little “t” Trauma
When we think of trauma, we usually think of the most obvious of traumatic events…
Seeing Through Your Blind Spot
How do you know what you don't know about yourself? You listen to others. We…
Are You Getting An Objective Substance Abuse Evaluation?
Making a decision on who you want to conduct your substance abuse or DWI evaluation…
Emotionally Surviving Black Friday
Emotionally Surviving Black Friday Black Friday, and especially the days leading up to it, can…
Quick Guide to Surviving Holiday Stress
With the holidays fast approaching, holiday stress is common. This time of year can bring…
Knowing Your Vision
Life without a vision can lead to reactivity. Looking at what you have and what…
Walking Through Pain…What’s The Point?
Identifying and accepting pain and the sources of this pain is not at all a…
Life As It Should Have Been
It's easy to get caught up in the fantasy of how things could be if…
Growing Through Shame
Shame is something that we often try to avoid. Walking through a place of such…
Identifying Low Levels of Depression
Severe depression is quite easy to identify. Most people know that they're dealing with depression…
Stick to the Plan
When trying to make a change in your life, staying the course through a plan…
Getting Comfortable With “I Don’t Know”
Trying to control everything about your life will feed into a cycle of worrying that…
Look Who’s Overreacting
Overreaction is a label that can cause problems for you personally, as well as problems…
Dealing with Failure
Failure is in the definition and in the one who defines it. Some failures are…
Rescuing the Rescuer
The rescuer is one who tries to save, prevent, protect, or mold. This role has…
Reflecting on the Death of Cory Monteith
Dead at 31. I can't help but feel my heart sink when I think of…
Working Backward from the Emotion
Working Backwards from the Emotion Working through an emotional issue is often not easy. There…
Scraping the Surface of Denial
Denial is often misunderstood when working through an addiction . On the surface, breaking through…
12-Step Support vs. Therapy
There is often confusion for people who are dealing with an addiction of whether or…
“Should I Contact A Therapist?”
Bouncing back and forth on a decision of whether or not you should participate in…
Relationship Recovery From The Ground Up
For those who are in recovery, managing intimate relationships can be very difficult. A loss…
Relapse Prevention: Exercise and Dieting
Eating well and developing an exercise routine are key to any who is in a…
Body Image and Gay Men
Problems with body image is a huge issue that the gay community contends with. Gay…
10 Ways to Ruin a Relationship
Romantic relationships are challenging to manage. Although there are hundreds of ways that a couple…
Making Time For The Present
"What could I have if I just did something more than what I've done?" Living…
The Power of Introversion
Introverts have the same probability of living content lives as do their extroverted peers. For…
After It’s Over
After a relationship ends, the world can get quite hazy. Remnants of the relationship continue…
11 Interpersonal Skills to Take Control of an Addiction
Overcoming an addiction is largely learning how to control the behavior itself. However further recovery…
Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis Is Not Progress Enough
With the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) about…
Dealing with the Initial Shock of an HIV Diagnosis
In my Dallas therapy practice , I have had the opportunity of working with many…
Moving Past Shame
Running from shame is understandable. This avoidance can initially help you cope with the discomfort…
No Dr. Ley, Sex Addiction is Not BS
Update: This was initially a written response to Dr. Ley and a specific Huffington Post…
After a Relapse
After relapsing, it is common to experience shame, frustration, sadness, fear, and even anger. Getting…
Understanding Pornography Addiction
Understanding Pornography Addiction One of the most common misunderstandings in the field of sex addiction…
Identifying And Working Through Internalized Homophobia
Identifying And Working Through Internalized Homophobia Homophobia comes in many forms. When we think of…
Relationship Problems Infographic
This infographic displays the pull and influence of common relationship problems. It also focuses on…
Can you become Addicted to Sex?
Sex addiction is a controversial topic in the addictions field. One of the debates that…
Should You Confront The Secrets Of A Sex Addict Partner?
If you find out about several secrets of your partner's sexual behavior, your first inclination…
New Years Resolution Quick Guide
New Years Resolution time has fast approached. As a therapist who pushes people to make…
Silver Linings Playbook: A Therapist’s Review
SPOILER ALERT—This review is a critical analysis of the theme of mental illness portrayed in…
Therapeutic Change Is Not Easy, But Worth The Wait
When people come into therapy, they often struggle with separating what they can and cannot…
Dealing with the Anxiety of the Apocalypse and Other Unlikely Events
Around the middle of 2011, I started to hear many people talk about the "end…
Feeling Down During the Holidays
The holidays come with their own source of pressure. We change our routines, we spend…
Closing the Door on Abuse
Many people overestimate their clarity on their boundaries. The truth is that most people do…
Coming Out for Yourself
Today is National Coming Out day, which helps to provide national awareness to the coming…
Love Worth Waiting For
When I work with people who are just getting out of a relationship, I watch…
What is CBT and How Can it Help?
I am commonly asked from people is "what is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and how can…
Learn to Laugh at Yourself
I can remember an influential teacher from my high school giving us some advice that…
Positive Self-Talk Infographic
This infographic demonstrates how positive self-talk can help people overcome their problems. Many people have…
Disarming Misery
When I'm working with clients who are dealing with serious depressive issues, the hopelessness that…
How to Overcome Anxiety
Infographic that gives a brief description of how to deal with a problem with anxiety.…
Dealing with Complacency
In substance abuse counseling and couples counseling, one of the most common issues is complacency.…
Shy or Socially Phobic?
Is there a difference between being shy and socially phobic? Yes. For those who are…
How to Overcome an Addiction
How to Overcome an Addiction This is an Infographic that displays How to Overcome an…
Birthday Blues
While my birthday gets closer this week, I am reminded that I am getting older.…
How to Let Go
Bitterness and vindication are two themes that people often succumb to. This is often no…
Picking The Scab Off An Emotional Wound
Many times after an extremely emotionally negative event, we will put the thoughts about the…
Getting Better By Yesterday
One of the most common issues for people who are trying to recover from an…
Taking the Next Step
Deciding when to take the next difficult step in a relationship and determining when to…
Behind Closed Doors: Uncovering Abuse in the Gay and Lesbian Community
An underestimated problem in the gay and lesbian community is that of domestic violence. A…
Taking a Break for Dating’s Sake
I'm going to start this entry by asking you to take a deep breath. You…
Notice the Unappreciated
We live fast-paced lives. We work demanding jobs, which we have to balance with our…