advice

Is your negative outlook affecting your relationship?

With life’s many ups and downs, it can be hard to maintain a positive attitude every day. Whether it be at work or at home, bad days happen all the time. You may be struggling to get along with your boss, having difficulties meeting deadlines, or having to deal with angry customers at work. At home, your dogs may have made a mess in the house, the kids may be bouncing off the walls, or maybe a pipe has busted and flooded your kitchen. Any of these issues can make a good day turn bad in a blink of an eye. When bad events happen in your life, some people are quick to turn negative and it may be difficult to keep a positive attitude in such trying times. Can your negative outlook affect your relationship? What can we do to help our relationships when we have a not-so-positive outlook?

Earning his License in Marriage and Family Therapy from East Carolina University, Kevin Rutter is owner and founder of Growing Tree Counseling Center in North Carolina. He is also a certified professional life coach. His training has included psychotherapy and systems therapy. Kevin began his clinical experience in counseling in 1996 and has over 10 years experience in Employee Assistance Programs. He has taught as a student-professor at ECU and has extensive experience in corporate and community coaching providing leadership training, group presentations, and professional coaching. Kevin is an approved supervisor qualified to train other therapists for licensure. Additionally, he was feature many times on a local radio station in Cincinnati and has published articles for a magazine. Kevin also serves on the board for Catawba Valley Association of Professional Counselors and Therapists.

To find out more about Kevin Rutter and his practice, Growing Tree Counseling Center, PLLC, you can visit their website or call (828) 638-5907 for an appointment.

Are you taking care of yourself in your relationship?

They always say “you must love yourself before you can love someone else”. This appears to be true when talking about loving yourself emotionally and physically. But what about when it comes to understanding yourself. If you are not aware of your own emotional and physical wants and needs, how can you expect your loved one to understand or even recognize your emotional and physical wants and needs? If you are not aware or comfortable with your own wants and needs it may become hard for you to confide in your partner about what you desire. When this happens you and your partner may get frustrated or even give up on each other. What can we do to alleviate the problem and strengthen our relationship with our loved one?

Earning her Masters Degree in Community Agency Mental Health Counseling, Letitia Huger-­‐Hill practices at Positive Redirection in Durham, North Carolina. Letitia has expansive experience interviewing, and assessing new clients, working with clients with co-­‐occurring disorders, writing treatment plans, and conducting individual counseling sessions to address physical, mental, social and emotional problems. She is a facilitator of Coping With Work and Family Stress which is a workplace preventive intervention designed to teach employees 18 years and older how to deal with stressors at work and at home. The curriculum emphasizes the role of stress, coping and social support in relation to substance abuse and psychological symptoms. Letitia is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina. She promotes conferences, develops event topics and speakers and monitors event activities.

To find out more about Letitia Huger-­‐Hill and her practice, Positive Redirection, you can visit their website for an appointment.

Do you and your spouse know how to effectively keep the peace in your relationship?

In our society we tend to try to keep the peace in many different settings in life. At work we attempt to keep the peace with bothersome coworkers and demanding bosses. At home we seek to keep the peace with our vexing children, aggravating siblings, and meddlesome parents. When it comes to marriage we try to keep the peace when our spouses ask questions that we may not want to answer truthfully, ask questions about money spending, and ask questions about our needs and wants. Sometimes, to keep the peace we may tell a little white lie as to not hurt our loved ones feelings. However, sometimes it is best to tell the truth so that our spouses are not hurt later down the road. Is it okay to tell little white lies in certain situations? In what ways can we learn to keep the peace between ourselves and our spouses?

Earning his Master’s Degree in Counseling from Humboldt State University, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Counselor, Mr. Noah Rubinstein strives to expand the visibility and reach of GoodTherapy.org in an effort to counter the tendency within the mental health field to view people as deficient and fundamentally flawed. The mission and vision of GoodTherapy.org and Noah’s efforts have been featured extensively in the media, including numerous radio and television interviews and print articles. Mr. Rubinstein is one of the strongest voices advocating for ethical mental health treatment and challenging the application of the medical and pathology-based models within mental health. He has worked with individuals, couples and families for over 25 years in various social service, counseling, and consultation roles within different communities, including mental health clinics, residential treatment centers, emergency shelters, hospice organizations, home-based therapy programs, summer camps and in private practice.

To find out more about Mr. Noah Rubinstein and GoodTherapy.org, you can visit their website.