In a new blog on my group practice website (see link below), we talk about Stress Relief found in Nature. For those with allergies, Nature likely causes more stress than it relieves during certain times of the year.

At this time of the year, a lot of high school and college students come to us for help because they are stressed out, burned out, and desperately trying to get to the end of the semester and school year in one piece. Final exams, projects due, and sagging grades cause a great deal of stress and anxiety. Students usually understand that they need to learn better stress management techniques. They just don’t know how to break out of the patterns they find themselves in.

We find that students usually have very disrupted sleep. They don’t get enough rest, may be subsisting on a poor diet, and some are smoking too much cannabis (which for may relieve stress, but can be un-motivating), or drinking too much.

In therapy we look at what their stressors and self care routines have been. Typically, as stress levels went up, self care routines were disrupted and minimized. We focus on learning how to maintain balance, right the ship, and prioritize better.

Increasing awareness of how we are managing and prioritizing our responsibilities is essential. Establishing sustainable self care routines that include getting enough sleep, eating in a healthier way, maintaining some physical activity, and balancing social activities and substance intake (or in some cases, providing substance abuse interventions).

If you or your high school or college student family member is struggling with maintaining balance and managing stress, please give us a call or send an email to learn how we may be of assistance. (908-857-4422 or info@hhccnj.com).

Click on the Book Now button to schedule an appointment. In addition to psychotherapy, we also offer Art Therapy. Art Therapy is a very effective stress intervention and is a creative way to process emotions, reduce stress, and increase self awareness. For information on Art Therapy and our Professional Counselor and Art Therapist, Lauren Fallat, LPC ATR-BC see here: Art Therapy is Medicine and here: Art Therapy

We have lots of information on stress management on our websites:

See here: Nature and Stress Relief  found on our Holistic Health Counseling Center website

and here: Stressed? Some Simple Things Can Help

and here: How to Breathe for Stress Relief on our Telehealth website