“Honey, did you have a hard day?” my husband asked shortly after coming through the door after work. I followed his gaze. The house was in disarray. He saw the dishes in the sink, the clean laundry pile waiting on the couch, and various items scattered around, waiting to be put back where they belong. Much like it had been before he left that morning. Basically, a messy house.

When I was growing up and playing outside, I learned on my own that mixing sand with water did not make the same product as mixing dirt with water. I discovered that breaking rocks open with a hammer often led to beautiful crystal insides. I unfortunately learned that touching different metals to an electric fence produced shocking results. I also learned that it was not a good idea to swing as high as possible and “see what happens” when I landed on my knees instead of my feet.

In honor of celebrating Black History Month, I want to spotlight two important people in the psychology field. First, is Frances Sumner, PhD. He was known as the “Father of Black Psychology” because, despite not having a high school education, he was still the first African American to receive a PhD in the psychology field. Sumner was born in Arkansas in 1895. He passed an entrance exam to Lincoln University in which he graduated at the top of his class.

We are looking to fill four positions here at Birch!

This will be one of two articles written in honor of black history month. This month is a time to think about how we as a society can do better and end bias and discrimination, which our practice strongly supports.

Feeling overwhelmed with stress or worry? Feeling unattached from yourself or surroundings? Do you feel like things don’t feel as vivid or real anymore? Grounding exercises are very helpful for people who need to calm down and get reconnected to things.

Eventually, he will come back to appreciate having a mom and renew his relationship with her. He will again value her opinion and appreciate her help. But, I don’t have that luxury. I don’t have time to wait.

A silly ol’ grilled cheese sandwich. That’s all it took to trigger all of the lasts of my son’s senior year. He’s seventeen and, after work and practice, was sitting in his room gaming with his friends. I knocked and opened his door and waited for him to turn off his microphone.

I have never been an outdoorsy person. I don’t like our Colorado snow, but the extreme heat isn’t my thing either. I prefer activities such as reading, watching movies, playing games, and enjoying a constant indoor temperature. This was great for the first couple of months of a nationwide quarantine.

Everyone does their best to prepare you for when you have your first child, but I promise that no one can ever do a good enough job of it. Before I had my first child, I thought I was prepared for the worst and prepared for anything at all based on the amount of unsolicited advice I had received over the years.

I’m struggling. I’m struggling with identifying my purpose, my role, my identity at this stage of my life. I suppose I am at mid-life-crisis age, but that’s not what this feels like. Becoming a purple-haired, bungee-jumping, motorcycle mama isn’t what I need. I am seeking a title.

We are adding 3 post-docs and 3 practicum students in the fall!

Except for centenarians, people have no experience when it comes to how to live through a pandemic. We all have had to follow the constantly changing guidelines to get through these times. Parents are juggling working from home while having their children, even adult children, at home at the same time. Relationships are strained.

We are adding more psychologists to our group!

It’s a wonder how quickly our whole world changed a year and a half ago, and how difficult it has been to pick up the pieces since. I don’t know anyone unaffected negatively in some way by the pandemic. I have had distant relatives pass away, friends lose their jobs, and family members seek mental health relief.