The Benefits of Creativity for Those Who Self-Harm

by Haylee Furlow, SHSU Counseling Intern Student

Hope & Harmony Therapy, LLC

           For children and adults alike, creativity can be a great way to express one’s emotions. When we don’t know the right words, we can get our feelings out through our art. Those who self-harm often do so because they feel they cannot express themselves adequately or even at all. Whether they already engage in some creative practice or not, establishing or expanding creative habits can help to express the emotions that may be the cause behind self-harm.

            Multiple articles have lobbied the benefits of creative arts for people struggling with self-harm. In “The Use of Visual Arts Activities in Counseling Clients Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury”, research ...

Read more

Emotional Eating and Controlling Your Addiction to Food

a prezi by Debbie Martin, LPC, LMFTA, therapist at Hope & Harmony Therapy

Let's be realistic for a minute....

Food is an unavoidable necessity of life. We need it to provide the nutrients that allow our bodies to help us survive as human beings. Without food, we wouldn't exist long enough to enjoy the many pleasures that life as to offer; such as love, sex, joy, and success that also provide comfort.  It does sound natural to seek comfort from a basic life necessity, such as food. Doesn’t? Physical comfort is not quite the same as emotional comfort, is it? I wonder why some of us seek emotional comfort from the very life necessity designed to meet our nutritional comfort and needs? Is it because feeling comfor ...

Read more

Vulnerability: Strength or Weakness?

Written by Debbie Martin M.Ed., MA, LPC, LMFT 

Vulnerability is something we all struggle with most of our lives. It seems like there is a learning curve deciding when it is appropriate to show our vulnerable side and when it is not. Of course, never showing our weaknesses is easier and protects us from everything--even love.

That's right! When we put up our shields to hide our vulnerabilities, we lose opportunity to connect with others. Feeling connected to others is not only a human need, it is also a necessary component for love to blossom.

Our life experiences with emotional pain and hurt can cause us to put up walls so tall that connection with others is almost impossible. We forget how to be vulnerable. We forget how to handle our painful feelings. We become stuck in constant figh ...

Read more