Damaris Karanja
Understanding Defense Mechanisms

In the journey of mental health, we often encounter various psychological strategies that help us cope with difficult emotions and situations. These strategies, known as defense mechanisms, can play a crucial role in how we navigate life's challenges. While they can provide temporary relief, it’s essential to understand how they can also hinder personal growth and healing. Let’s explore some common defense mechanisms and their implications.

Understanding Defense Mechanisms
Damaris Karanja
Resistant Depression, Could it be Unsolved ...

Have you been been going to therapy year after year without seeing any significant results? Do you feel like your therapy sessions are more like venting sessions? Have you been jumping from therapist to therapist and never finding the growth that you are looking for or due to feeling like your voice is not being unheard? Are you frustrated that your therapy sessions feel more like listening or venting sessions and do not go deep enough?

Resistant Depression, Could it be Unsolved Trauma?
Damaris Karanja
The Amazing Power of EMDR Intensives

Are you ready to unlock the remarkable potential of EMDR Intensives? EMDR intensive therapy sessions have the power to bring healing and relief in a shorter time frame than traditional therapy. Let's delve into the extraordinary capabilities of EMDR Intensives and discover how they can be a game-changer for your mental health journey.

The Amazing Power of EMDR Intensives
Damaris Karanja

The Power of EMDR: Unlocking Healing Through Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

In the world of psychotherapy, there are several approaches and techniques aimed at helping individuals overcome trauma and other psychological distress. One such method that has gained significant attention and recognition is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This groundbreaking therapeutic approach has shown remarkable effectiveness in treating various mental health issues and empowering individuals on their journey to healing.

The Power of EMDR: Unlocking Healing Through Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Introduction In the world of psychotherapy, there are several approaches and techniques aimed at helping individuals overcome trauma and other p
Damaris Karanja
Understanding Attachment Trauma: Unveiling the ...

Attachment is an innate and fundamental aspect of human nature that influences our emotional development, relationships, and overall well-being. When attachment experiences are disrupted or damaged during early childhood, it can lead to attachment trauma, which profoundly affects an individual's ability to form secure and healthy connections throughout their life.

Understanding Attachment Trauma: Unveiling the Impact and Path to Healing
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Break Free From Your Past, Embrace Your Future

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Break Free From Your Past, Embrace Your Future

We are all products of our past. No one grew up in a vacuum.  Most of our struggles today are rooted in our past. We fail to fulfill our purpose if we are held hostage by past negative experiences. Lack of freedom from our past is like walking backwards towards our destiny. Letting go of your past creates space for new experiences in your life.  Every child is born with dreams, but the cares and troubles of life can make us not to bring forth our dreams.

In our past is the source of our insecurities, fears, anxieties, and other unmet emotional needs.

Marriage Tip: Embrace Differences In your spouse

Marriage Tip: Embrace Differences In your spouse

Growing up, we were all accustomed to romantic fantasies for fairy tale weddings which concluded with “…and they lived happily ever after.” This leads to a myth that happy marriages are void of conflict or disagreements between spouses. According to renowned relationship expert John Gottman, happy marriages are based on a deep friendship between you and your spouse. This means respect for each other and enjoyment of each other’s company. In happy marriages, couples respect and appreciate each other's differences and there is little effort in trying to change each other. John Gottman asserts  that even happily married couples argue, but arguments don’t necessarily harm a marriage.

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Are Your Emotions Driving Your Relationship with Food?

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Are Your Emotions Driving Your Relationship with Food?

Did you know that there are two types of hunger- emotional hunger and physical hunger? You can feel the urge to eat as a result of either emotional hunger or physical hunger. Eating as a result of emotional hunger is known as emotional or comfort eating. This is the urge to eat that is triggered by unpleasant emotional feelings like anger, loneliness, anxiety, depression etc. If you have experienced an increased urge to eat more frequent meals or larger portions than usual, pay attention to how you feel before and after you eat. 

New Year Resolutions that Last

New Year Resolutions that Last

Have you ever realized that most of us make New Year resolutions only to give up in a few months? A New Year's resolution is simply a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year. Whether it is a plan to lose weight, put your finances in order, live according to your values or spiritual convictions, spend more quality time with your family, or a resolution to laugh more often or enjoy life, research shows that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail within the first few months.

Healing Streams Counseling Blog

Welcome to Healing Streams Counseling Blog. As I was starting my counseling practice, I was divinely inspired with the name of the practice “Healing Streams Counseling; A place of Hope, Healing, and Restoration for Individuals, Couples and Families”. I believe that my calling in life is to bring hope, healing and restoration, whether it is in the lives of individuals, couples, or entire families. 

The healing that I envision encompasses all dimensions of health, including the Mind, Body, and Spirit. I believe that with the right support and faith, ALL individuals have the ability to overcome life’s challenges, unlock their full potential, and live their life to the fullest. In this blog, my hope is to equip you with the necessary skills to help you live the life of an overcomer. We are all called to be great and we have a bright future ahead of us. I look forward to learning from you as well through your feedback and questions.

By Damaris Karanja, MA, MEd, LPC, RDN, a licensed Mental Health Professional Counselor and Registered Dietitian at Healing Streams Counseling.

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