HHC Blog

What is Play Therapy? A Guide for Parents/Guardians

Posted on December 10, 2024December 10, 2024 by hopehealchange

As parents, it’s tough when your child struggles with emotions but cannot find the words to explain what’s happening or how they feel. Whether it's a tough time at school, changes at home, or something else, children sometimes have a hard time expressing effectively or calmly themselves. Often times, expression can look like emotional outburst because they don't know what else to do with the thought or feeling that they might be having. Then, we as adults, can often fall into the trap of merely addressing outburst or unwanted behavior rather than helping the child address the feeling that's driving the behavior. That’s where "play therapy" can help. Play therapy is a form of therapy where children communicate and work through their feelings using play. Instead of talking, children use toys, art, and imagination to express what they are going through. In this blog, I'll explain what play therapy is, how it works, and how it can benefit your child. So, What is Play Therapy? Play Read more [...]

Five Signs that You have Found a Great Therapist (Even if it’s not me)

Posted on October 11, 2024October 11, 2024 by hopehealchange

by Josh Jostock A quick Google search of “therapists near me” will quickly lead you to a website called Psychology Today. There you can scroll through an endless list of therapists, psychologists and social workers. All of their bios sound somewhat the same. They provide a “non-judgmental safe-space where client and clinician can explore the difficult challenges of life.” They, “use CBT, mindfulness, and person-centered therapy to assist the client in empowering themselves and living a happier, more fulfilled life.” I’m not knocking these people or their bios… mine sounds something like that. Ultimately, we have to take our best and most intuitive guess as to which professional will be the best fit. But how can you tell if you have a skilled and fantastic therapist upon the beginning parts of therapy? Below are 5 signs you picked a great therapist. (Hint: I saved my most important one for number 5). There are several other characteristics and factors that make Read more [...]

Dungeons & Dragons & Therapy

Posted on September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by hopehealchange

by Justin Lamb You may be wondering how delving into dungeons, fighting dragons, and rolling countless 20-sided dice relates to therapy. Certainly there are some surface metaphors of “slaying the dragon” and things like that. However, I would urge you to dive deeper into the proverbial dungeon. When you look at the way playing Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, and others provides specific outlets, you can see how valuable they truly can be. The Magic of Dungeons & Dragons First, there is the aspect of imagination. Countless peer-reviewed, scientific studies discuss the benefits of utilizing your imagination. Whether that’s done through visual imagery, songwriting, or any other creative act, your imagination is a quality unique to you. Exercising your imagination allows you to tap into your creative mind and invites your unconscious to come out and play. Second, there is the aspect of community. Dungeons & Dragons, and similar role playing Read more [...]

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Posted on August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 by hopehealchange

What Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is and How I Use it in Sessions with Clients by Josh Jostock When a client comes in for therapy for the first time, one term that they often hear in regards to mental health therapy is “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” (CBT). Today, I hope to explain what it is and how I use that in practice. Moreover, my hope is that after reading this blog, you’re equipped with some CBT so that you can start using it in your day to day life. But before I dive in, I want to preface the heart of my blog by saying that CBT isn’t for everybody nor is it a magic wand. I use CBT with some clients and I also integrate other techniques/theoretical orientations in like Motivational Interviewing and my personal favorite, Internal Family Systems. I cannot think of one case where I’ve strictly used just CBT as a means of treatment. For some cases, though, CBT doesn’t even enter the arena. Okay, preface over—here we go. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: The Definition Cognitive Read more [...]

Understanding the Roles in Dysfunctional Families

Posted on July 30, 2024August 5, 2024 by hopehealchange

by Tara Yombor From family dysfunction to slightly more functional families One of my favorite topics as a therapist, specifically working with clients who are in recovery from addiction, is educating them on the roles in dysfunctional families. While working in treatment centers for drugs and alcohol, inevitably, at least one or two groupsa week would land on the topic of family dynamics. I’ve always said, “you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family.” What is family dysfunction? You might be asking, what is a dysfunctional family? What are the roles in dysfunctional families? Is my family dysfunctional? How do the different roles come to exist? How can they “benefit” from each other to create a toxic environment? Let me start by saying that every family is dysfunctional – yes, even yours! It’s important to note that there is no “perfect family.” Human beings are dynamic, flawed, and unique. The intensity and impairment of the dysfunction Read more [...]