We’re getting into the colder months of the year. The sun is setting earlier. There are more clouds. This is a time of year when many people all around NYC start to struggle with “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” also called “Seasonal Depression” or “SAD” – a type of depression that is caused, at least in part, by a lack of sunlight.
Seasonal affective disorder is a very real condition. It is linked to a change in chemicals in the brain that occur when the days are shorter and there is less time spent outside. It is treatable, especially with therapy, but it is also based largely on external factors that are outside of a person’s control.
But while seasonal depression is real, not all depression around this time of year is caused by SAD. Some of it is caused by other things, and one of those things is often family issues that are related to the holidays.
Why the Holidays Can Cause Depressive Symptoms
Seasonal depression may be the cause of your negative feelings. But it could also be related to issues that simply occur around this time. For example:
Those that are estranged from their families often experience sadness or depression during the holidays. It’s not uncommon for this time of year to bring back these difficult memories, or cause feelings of loneliness knowing that your family is not around.
Holidays can be a time of immense pressure for different families – having guests, organizing parties, buying gifts, quickly finishing off work vacations, etc. These can also lead to negative emotions that may be difficult to handle.
The holidays can be expensive. Financial stress and pressure is another potential cause of anxiety and depression that can show up during the holiday season.
Some people have experienced trauma during the holidays. Few seasons have so many consistent reminders of these types of traumas as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
If you’ve experienced loss, especially of someone close to you that you used to see over the holidays, that can also cause this time period to be one that is heavy and potentially stressful.
These are all examples of issues that can cause depression that are related – both directly and indirectly – to the holiday season, but are not specifically “Seasonal Depression.”
Depression Treatment in NYC – Knowing the Signs
Both seasonal affective disorder and holiday-related depression are treatable conditions. But it is important to know the difference, as doing so can help guide treatment and make sure that you’re getting the help you need.
If you feel the “holiday blues,” call Flourish Psychology today. Our depression therapists in Brooklyn will help determine the cause of your winter depression, and find solutions that will address your needs and struggles.
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, is a psychotherapy modality that is particularly useful in treating trauma and trauma-related anxiety conditions. It involves re-triggering traumatic memories carefully and with purpose in a safe environment to help process these memories and work through them.
Mental health conditions like PTSD are related to the mind’s unwillingness to reprocess traumatic events, and EMDR therapy aims to address that in a controlled environment with an experienced therapist.
When you and your therapist decide to use EMDR to treat your mental health symptoms, the two of you will go through the following process, which consists of 8 phases, to successfully address the different memories and experiences that are involved in your trauma.
8 Stages of EMDR Therapy
EMDR involves working with each of your traumatic memories to desensitize you to them and then to reprocess them. The first step in EMDR is to decrease the emotion around the memory. From there, you can change your perception of it to eliminate the negative thoughts.
EMDR does not remove painful memories, but neutralizes the emotions and thoughts associated with them, and reduces their ability to control you. The process uses the following steps:
Stage 1: Treatment Planning – Before beginning EMDR, your therapist will assess your needs based on your current symptoms and decide whether EMDR is the right treatment path. Your therapist will then need to build a complete understanding of your current stressors and previous traumas to guide you through treatment.
Stage 2: Treatment Preparation – During this stage, your therapist will go over more in depth what you can expect during treatment and in terms of results. You can also ask any questions that you may have.
Stage 3: Assessment – This is where the bulk of EMDR treatment begins. Your therapist will help you choose a target memory that you will be processing, as well as a more positive connotation to give this memory.
Stage 4: Desensitization – Your therapist will guide you into thinking about the memory, including the image of the memory, the physical sensations, and the words and emotions tied to it. At this time, your therapist will use eye movement or another distraction like tapping. The focus on two things at once will start to desensitize you to the memory so you can think about it with complete neutrality.
Stage 5: Installation – This part of the process is when you replace any existing negative thoughts with your positive thought. You will do this by thinking about both at once until it becomes an ingrained belief.
Stage 6: Body Scan – Once installation seems to be complete, you will do a body scan to check for any remaining unprocessed emotions or thoughts and do more bilateral processing at that moment.
Stage 7: Closure – When processing is complete or the session is over for the day, you will stop trying to actively recall the memory and your therapist will help you return to calmness.
Stage 8: Assessment – After you are through processing, you and your therapist will assess your progress to determine how successfully you reprocessed your target memories and what additional processing is still necessary during further treatment sessions.
In general, you will go through each of these steps for all of the different traumatic memories that you and your therapist consider to be targets, so the phases of EMDR are less of a linear process and more of one that repeats as many times as necessary.
EMDR is one of the therapies that we offer at Flourish Psychology. We work with patients from a variety of backgrounds who have undergone a range of traumatic experiences. Our goal is to help you process and overcome memories of the past that may be challenging or keeping you from enjoying your life in the here and now.
Learn more about our treatment options and if EMDR will be beneficial for you. We encourage you to set up an appointment with our Brooklyn therapists, today.
There are many factors that affect a person’s fertility – from age, to biology, to diet, exercise, health, and even luck. Couples that are having issues with infertility may also find themselves struggling in silence, concerned about whether they are going to be able to conceive, and feeling as though they are under immense pressure to get pregnant soon.
We are here to talk to you about infertility in NYC, and help you process your struggles and figure out how to best move forward as an individual and as a couple. But today, we want to talk about the effects of stress on fertility – and how, in some cases, your own stress over the process may be impacting your ability to conceive.
The Effects of Stress On Pregnancy
We all experience stress. It’s also not uncommon to feel stress and anxiety if you and your partner have had difficulty conceiving. Problems can arise, however, when a person is feeling intense pressure to conceive – where their stress and anxiety about the process is overwhelming, and they’re having difficulty coping with it.
The relationship between stress and fertility is a complicated one. But studies have shown that patients that are under a significant amount of stress do tend to have a more difficult time conceiving:
Stress affects the menstrual cycle, affecting ovulation date.
Stress affects the ability of the egg to stick in the uterine wall.
Stress affects sleep quality, which can affect fertility.
Stress affects libido, which can cause couples to not be as intimate during ovulation.
This does not mean that stress itself is to blame for infertility, as stress is unlikely to be the only cause. But severe stress does have the potential to affect a person’s ability to get pregnant in different ways. If you’re struggling with severe stress caused by infertility, it is possible that your stress levels could also be leading to further infertility issues.
Therapy for Infertility – What the Science Says
While the science is mixed on how much stress creates infertility, research has shown that reducing stress levels through psychotherapy has the potential to improve fertility. Fertility is complicated, and therapy alone may not be enough to create the change that you and your body needs. But research has shown that it can help and, if you still struggle to conceive, therapy for infertility can help you move forward with the next step in the process.
If you’ve been struggling with infertility in Brooklyn, NYC, or anywhere in New York State, contact Flourish Psychology today and let’s talk about the therapy and support we can provide.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an approach to psychotherapy designed to help control intense emotions. It is similar to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). But while CBT is primarily focused on thoughts and behavior, DBT is designed around emotions. It is a treatment for those that experience emotions in very intense ways.
How Does DBT Work?
There are many components to dialectical behavior therapy, so we encourage you to talk to one of our therapists at Flourish Psychology if you’d like to gain more insight into DBT and how it works. Some components of DBT include:
Learning how to hold two competing thoughts at the same time.
Learning how to identify and manage emotions as they occur.
Learning how to tolerate stress and setbacks without generalizing the future.
Learning empathy, and how to understand the experiences of others.
All of these are taught through partially structured, partially individualized, heavily researched techniques that have helped DBT adapt to support many different conditions and struggles.
What Does DBT Treat?
DBT can be an appropriate treatment in a variety of different settings. Our therapists that specialize in DBT have worked with hundreds of men and women throughout New York City, and found success in using DBT in many different settings. It was first developed for very specific conditions:
Borderline Personality Disorder
Chronic Suicidality
Over time, research found that DBT was a beneficial treatment for many more disorders, challenges, and experiences. Now, adapted forms of DBT are used to treat:
Other Personality Disorders (inc. Histrionic/Dramatic Personality Disorder)
It is especially useful for bulimia and binge eating. There are also situations where DBT therapy may be a worthwhile choice for other mental health conditions as well. You and your therapist will determine what treatment options are best for your struggles and needs.
DBT in NYC with Flourish Psychology
Flourish Psychology is a Brooklyn DBT therapist that works with many patients struggling with BPD, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. If DBT has been recommended to you, or you believe you may have a condition that dialectical behavior therapy is qualified to treat, contact Flourish Psychology, today. We are based in Brooklyn Heights and have an intimate understanding of the ways that DBT – and other therapy modalities – can help benefit our patients here in New York City.
Flourish Psychology has a team of Brooklyn couples counselors that work with partners through all stages of their relationship – from the newly dating to those celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary to those that have already ended their relationship and are looking for support.
Working in couples counseling in Brooklyn has helped us discover many challenges that are unique to this area. While relationships have similarities no matter where you live – whether you’re in the heart of Brooklyn Heights or in the middle of rural New York – there are issues unique to Brooklyn that can affect relationships in distinctive ways.
Example 1: Limited Relaxation Time
New York City is one of the fastest paced, densely packed cities in the world. There is a lot to do, and the people here typically understand how busy Brooklyn life can be.
But that same busyness can have an effect on your relationship, because it also means that there is very little time to relax. All couples need that relaxation time. Sometimes, not getting that time can create arguments. For example, some people may find that they need to be alone for a while to de-stress and may not have time for their partner. Others may find that the hustle and bustle makes it hard to feel relaxed enough for intimacy.
There are different ways this can manifest, but living in a high stress environment can take its toll on couples.
Example 2: Brooklyn Tough
Communication is key to a happy relationship. People in Brooklyn, and throughout New York City, are typically taught to be tough. “Tough” can make it easier to grit through hard times, but in relationships, being “tough” and not allowing yourself to be vulnerable can also affect marriages.
There are upsides to that toughness. It can mean that you can handle fights and arguments better than people in other cities in the US. But there are also downsides, and that can affect relationships and push people towards couples therapy.
Example 3: Finances
Brooklyn is one of the most expensive places to live in the entire United States. Yet it also has its share of income inequality. It is not uncommon for people here to struggle with their finances, and financial issues are one of the most common reasons for arguments for couples.
Example 4: Fame and Power
Though this description is not likely to apply to everyone, there are typically two places where people live if they are, or want to become, famous, wealthy, or powerful – Los Angeles, and New York City. Being a high profile individual may have its perks, but it can also affect relationships, and many of the calls we get are from high profile individuals in Brooklyn and NYC that require discretion, yet are going through challenging times with their partners.
Example 5: Cultural and Religious Differences
Brooklyn is a melting pot for different cultures, different religions, and different backgrounds. That melting pot is one of the best parts of living here, and it is also a chance for people to meet and start relationships that would otherwise not be in a similar cultural sphere.
While these relationships often thrive, having cultural or religious differences can introduce arguments, misunderstandings, and road blocks that you need to overcome. It’s one of the best parts about Brooklyn, but it can still lead people to couples counseling.
Any Reason, Any Couple – Couples Counseling in Brooklyn with Flourish Psychology
There is no wrong reason to seek out a couples counselor in Brooklyn. At Flourish Psychology, our services are comfortable and judgment-free. We believe that every couple that wants support deserves support, and many issues that affect relationships in NYC are universal – not necessarily related to being in Brooklyn.
But there are undoubtedly issues that are also unique to living in New York City, which is why it is so important to know that you have couples counselors that are here to help. Call us if you’d like support for your relationship, or to inquire about what is included in our services.
Location: 300 Cadman Plaza West Floor 12 - Brooklyn, NY 11201
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