“Daddy, will I see you tonight, or are you working late again?”

That question from my five-year-old son breaks my heart every time he asks. I work two jobs, and one of them requires 12 hour shifts in a local hospital. After I drop my three kids off at daycare, I do not see them until the following morning for a brief time on the way back to daycare. And repeat the following day. However, I am incredibly thankful for both of my jobs, and truly love what I do. But it’s that weird place of agonizing guilt of working a lot of hours and feeling proud of my work and desire to grow professionally.

Dear Peyton,

I am not sure when you will read this, but it is March 2022. You are currently 3-years-old and in preschool at Mini Kampus. I wanted to write you this letter to you to tell you how much I love you and to explain how proud I am to be your dad!

The sound of the phone ringing is a terrifying noise these days for mental health providers. The thought of who it may be or what situation may require our presence race through our minds. Could this emergency be worse than the one that we just managed? The phone ringing also means that we will likely be taken away from one of our several current situations and adding another that also require our attention. And further behind we fall. The phone ringing also means we will potentially disappoint, upset, anger, or not live up to the expectations of that person who is seeking our mental health services. It really is a lot of pressure.

“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” - Henry David Thoreau

I am not sure when you will read this, but it is October 2021. You are currently 6-years-old and in Kindergarten at Defer Elementary School. I wanted to write you this letter to explain how I feel about you and to tell you how proud I am to be your dad. 

The purpose of this posts are to shed light on what I commonly see in outpatient psychotherapy sessions and the purpose of this post identify negative core beliefs and learn about the impact it has on our mental health.

The past 13 to 14 months certainly has been a difficult time for everyone. As I mentioned in my first post, I work in the mental health field as a licensed professional counselor. There are more people that need treatment or services right now than providers with the availability to treat them in a timely manner. For those that have made the call to speak with a provider  or those who are still in the contemplation phase of their treatment or those just looking for additional coping skills, the following article will provide four strategies to reduce our daily stress.

Over the years, I have received compliments from people such as “You really went above and beyond” or “You are such a nice a guy” and these phrases helped reinforce my belief in who I am.

In other words, people’s opinions of who I am as a person have served as a gauge of my self-worth. Read that again. People’s opinions of who I am as a person have served as a gauge of my self-worth.

It was nearing the end of May in 2014 and it was a beautiful Sunday morning. I remember the day like it was yesterday. My dad pulled up in front of the house in his fashionable white Volkswagen Beetle. I was sitting on the porch waiting for him to come over to help me hang crown molding in my bathroom. I remember watching him pull out his miter saw and other tools from the Beetle. I could see how excited he was to help me with the project. Growing up, I was never overly interested in learning too much about woodworking.