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The Hidden Mental Load of Planning Family Vacations
Article Contents: What Is the Mental Load? Why Vacation Planning Can Feel So Stressful Signs You're Carrying Too Much How to Lighten the Mental Load For many families, summer vacation is supposed to be a chance to relax, reconnect, and make lasting memories. But for the person planning the trip, getting there often feels like a full-time job. Choosing a destination. Comparing hotel prices. Booking flights. Coordinating schedules. Packing for everyone. Making sure medications
Dani Spongé
Jul 174 min read
ACR Counseling Blog
Insights for Real Life
Practical mental health resources, therapy perspectives, and conversations that meet you where you are. Explore our latest thoughts on wellness and growth.
Therapy vs. Medication for Depression and Anxiety: What's the Difference?
If you have been struggling with anxiety or depression, you may eventually find yourself asking a very reasonable question: Should I try therapy, medication, or both? There is no universal answer. Some people benefit significantly from therapy. Some benefit from medication. Some find that a combination gives them the most support. Others may try one approach and decide that it is not the right fit. The important thing to understand is that therapy and medication do different
6 hours ago3 min read
How to Create Your Own Holiday Traditions Without Social Media Stress
Somewhere along the way, holiday traditions became Instagram content. There are beautifully decorated houses, elaborate Thanksgiving tables, matching pajamas, homemade pies that somehow look like they came from a magazine, and families smiling around enormous dining tables that apparently nobody has to clean afterward. Then there is real life: Maybe your family eats takeout on Thanksgiving. Maybe you spend the holiday working. Maybe your traditions changed after a divorce, a
3 days ago4 min read
Benefits of Watching Horror Movies: Can Being Scared Be Good for You?
On paper, horror movies are a terrible idea: You voluntarily sit in a dark room while a fictional character makes a series of increasingly questionable decisions. Your heart starts racing. You jump at noises you knew were coming. Then, somehow, you turn to the person next to you and say, “That was actually really good.” For millions of people, being scared is entertainment. Horror movies, haunted houses, scary podcasts, escape rooms, and other forms of recreational fear are a
Oct 294 min read
Election Stress Is Real: How to Protect Your Mental Health This November
Election season can be exhausting: The news is everywhere. Social media becomes louder. Political conversations can show up at work, at family gatherings, in group chats, and just about anywhere else you happen to exist. For people who care deeply about politics and what happens in their communities, “just ignore it” is not particularly useful advice. You may not want to disconnect from something that matters to you, but constantly consuming stressful information can take a t
Oct 264 min read
Feeling More Tired Than Usual? Here's Why
Sometimes you are tired because you stayed up too late. Sometimes you are tired because your alarm went off far earlier than you would have preferred. And sometimes you are tired even though you technically got enough sleep. That last one can be particularly frustrating. If you have been wondering, “Why am I so tired?”, there may be more going on than simply needing another cup of coffee. Fatigue can have physical, emotional, behavioral, and environmental causes, and figuring
Oct 224 min read
Daylight Saving Time Ends Soon — Here's What It Can Do to Your Mental Health
Twice a year, we change the clocks and then spend the next few days asking everyone around us what time it actually is. The fall time change can be particularly noticeable because it changes when daylight appears and disappears. While one hour may not seem like a big deal, your body does not operate entirely according to the clock on your wall. It also has its own internal timing system, known as the circadian rhythm. That internal clock helps regulate sleep and wakefulness a
Oct 194 min read
Seasonal Affective Disorder vs. the “Fall Blues”: What's the Difference?
There is something about the first genuinely cold morning of fall that can make summer feel very far away. The days get shorter, the weather changes, routines shift, and suddenly...it's dark before dinner. For some people, those changes are simply an adjustment. You might feel a little less energetic or miss the longer days of summer without experiencing a significant change in your overall mental health. For others, the arrival of fall and winter can bring a recurring patter
Oct 154 min read
Mental Health in the Latino Community: Breaking the Stigma Around Therapy
Read this article in Español For some people, the hardest part of starting therapy is not finding a therapist. It is admitting that they want one in the first place. Mental health can be a complicated subject in many families and communities. Cultural expectations around family, strength, privacy, religion, and self-reliance can all influence how someone understands emotional struggles and whether they feel comfortable asking for help. That does not mean every Latino person e
Oct 129 min read
5 Signs You Might Be Experiencing Burnout
Everyone gets tired. Everyone has stressful weeks. Sometimes work is overwhelming, your calendar is packed, and you spend your evening wondering how it is somehow already time to do it all again tomorrow. That does not necessarily mean you are experiencing burnout. Burnout develops differently. The World Health Organization describes burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It involves exhaustion, in
Oct 84 min read
World Mental Health Day: What It Means to Actually Take Care of Your Mind
Every year on October 10, World Mental Health Day gives us a reason to talk about something that tends to get pushed to the side the rest of the year: how we are actually doing. Mental health awareness has come a long way, but knowing that mental health matters and actually taking care of our own mental health are two different things. It is easy to share a post about self-care or tell someone that it is okay to ask for help. It can be considerably harder to admit that we mig
Oct 55 min read
The Language of Home: Why Bilingual Therapy Can Feel Different When You Speak Your Native Language
You can speak English every day. You can work in English, text your friends in English, and have no trouble expressing yourself. Then someone speaks to you in your native language, and something can shift. A familiar phrase might bring back a childhood memory. A word might express a feeling more naturally. Or there may simply be a sense of being understood without having to explain as much. Language is more than communication. For many bilingual and multilingual people, it is
Sep 305 min read
Suicide Warning Signs: What to Look For and How to Help
Talking about suicide can feel extremely frightening. You may worry that bringing it up will make things worse, say the wrong thing, or make someone feel uncomfortable. But if you're concerned about someone, staying silent usually isn't the best approach. Knowing the suicide warning signs can help you recognize when someone may be struggling and give you a starting point for checking in. You don't need to be a mental health professional to notice that something has changed or
Sep 257 min read
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