Perfect Bite-Size Intro to Therapy

January 1, 2016 Garen Amirian

Hello all! I'm back after a long hiatus to wish you a happy New Year. Here's wishing you a happy and healthy 2016.

Today, to start off the new year, I bring you three short videos that perfectly encapsulate some core therapy concepts. They are broken down in three steps to focus on ideas you should know prior to therapy, during therapy, and outside of therapy.

You Should Be a Multiculturally Aware Person. If You're a Therapist, You Need to Be.

February 16, 2015 Garen Amirian

Embracing the value of diverse cultures, races, religions, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, et. al. makes society better. Full stop. In my opinion, life is just plain better when you open yourself up to this idea.

Grief vs. Depression: When It's Time to See a Therapist

February 9, 2015 Garen Amirian

With each person in our life that passes away, our world changes. Sometimes we have time to prepare ourselves if the individual struggles with an illness before their passing. Other times, the end of an agonizing struggle can bring strange and confusing feelings of relief.

Traps, Snags, and Dilemmas: 3 ways your thoughts are keeping you from being happy.

January 26, 2015 Garen Amirian

Have you ever thought you needed to withhold your feelings because if you expressed yourself you would hurt someone else's feelings, and now the world seems out of your control? Have you avoided social situations because you were sure that you would make a fool of yourself, and now you believe you are bound to be awkward? If you answer yes, like many of us will, you may be unfairly undermining your own happiness.

What's Your Story? And Where Did it Come From?

January 19, 2015 Garen Amirian

Narrative Therapy is another model of psychotherapy that I like to integrate into sessions with my clients. This model of therapy is particularly helpful for people who have experienced trauma or those that suffer from PTSD.

The Power of Stinkin' Thinkin'

December 22, 2014 Garen Amirian

While I worked as a counseling assistant in my undergraduate fieldwork, one of my clients summarized the idea of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and the focus on maladaptive thoughts perfectly. When asked to describe his goals for therapy he exclaimed, “No more stinkin’ thinkin’!”. Stinkin’ thinkin’, clinically referred to as maladaptive or automatic thoughts, is the focus of the ever popular model of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). CBT is something that I often integrate into my own style as a therapist because I believe a great deal in how we think, feel, and behave can be drawn back to these maladaptive thoughts. Through this model, we can examine these thoughts and try to reframe them to create a new perspective that can bring about change of all sorts.