Author Archives: lkrenickimft

What happens when emotions take over? Anger may lead to harsh comments and reactive intensity in conversation. Sadness may lead to internalization of actions from others and isolation and distancing. Grief may lead to unbearable pain and loss of control. What happens when emotions take over is different based on the experiences we have hadContinue reading “When Emotions Take Over”

            The stockings have been hung by the fire with care, the sugar plums completed their dance and trees haven been taken down. Now is the time of year where resolutions are in the air. January 1st means the setting of goals and behavioral change to many. People hit the gym, start yoga classes, takeContinue reading “New Year, New You?”

What does trauma mean to you? Not everyone has experienced, “Trauma”, but that does not mean that their body has not experienced trauma in some way, shape, or form. When we think of trauma we often think of “Trauma” with a capital T. Big “T” traumas are tragedies, loss, assault, war, near death experiences, abuse…Continue reading “Trauma vs. trauma”

In our world today, there can be pressure to perform; to show up every minute of the day. At times, it can be easy to get sucked into the world of productivity, chasing perfection, and making the most of the time we have in a day to accomplish all of the tasks on our to-doContinue reading “Do you find it hard to relax?”

How often might you “tip- toe” around a subject because you are protecting someone’s feelings? You might elude to the true meaning of something but shy away out of fear of upsetting the other person. This can look like many different things. It can look like saying, “nothing,” when someone asks, “What is wrong?”. ItContinue reading “Clarity is Kindness”

Arguing can be challenging. Tension is high, listening might be low, and emotions like anger, betrayal and guilt can come forward in waves. Managing these challenging emotions is no light task, however, there are ways to make the process one that brings understanding and emotional closeness. While not every argument needs to lead to aContinue reading “How to Argue Better”

Stress changes how we respond to a situation. If we are under significant stress, we have less patience, increased irritation, and usually poorer judgment and insight into our situation. At times the stress becomes so intense that we may become emotionally flooded and be unable to take in any more input into our inner world.Continue reading “Got Stress?”

For the majority of people, our family system is where we begin learning our internal working model for relationships and connection with others. We develop meaning based on how responsive others are to our needs. We learn that adults are safe and reliable, we learn that our needs will not be met at times, orContinue reading “What Is Your Family Role?”

Eight months ago, we definitely did not think that we would still be here managing COVID-19 related stressors. I remember when things shut down in March in Connecticut we anticipated that it would be a two-week shut down and then back to “normal” on some level. Clearly that was not the case and now nearlyContinue reading “Managing Covid-19 Stress”

How we do anything is how we do everything. People are habitual. We very often engage with ourselves and others in ways that are familiar to us. Without conscience change, our boundaries are the same, our conversation style is similar, our routines are identifiable, and our patterns are filled with information about how we engageContinue reading “What Is Your Pattern?”