Are You Ruminating or Emotionally Processing?

    – Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC   Brian often finds himself thinking about a time when he was fired from his job as a manager at a reputable software company. He was a good manager and put in a lot of work in order to help the business succeed. However, Brian often butted heads with the other managers and would disregard … Read More

The Truth About Forgiveness

– Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC   Forgiveness is an elusive creature. We may find it difficult to give when we have been wronged by others, choosing instead to cling on to painful emotions of anger, resentment and blame. And when we are the transgressor, we yearn for forgiveness to extinguish our guilt, regret and remorse. And yet there are still other times … Read More

Do You Have Unhealthy Boundaries?

by Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC Setting boundaries is an important, but often misunderstood, tool. Some people think boundaries are only needed in extreme scenarios where physical or emotional abuse is occurring. Other people may believe they have good boundaries when in reality they are putting up walls or avoid asserting their own wishes and preferences out of fear as being seen … Read More

The Holiday Season: Expectation vs. Reality

by Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC   The holiday season is filled with expectations. Fueled by idyllic scenes depicted in movies and social media postings, our imaginations can run wild with ideas of how things should be.  Annoyingly, how things should be is rarely how things actually are. Don’t stress if you feel that things aren’t going right for you this season. … Read More

OCD and Anger

by Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by the presence of disturbing thoughts or images (obsessions) that are intrusive and unwanted. The nature of these obsessions are distressing and experiencing them on a daily can cause an individual to feel that they are inherently immoral or are likely to end up committing an immoral act. Individuals will … Read More

OCD Mood Swings

OCD Mood Swings - Chicago Counseling Center

Until the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was classified as an anxiety disorder. Many still consider anxiety to be the defining feature of the disorder, by which obsessions cause anxiety and compulsions alleviate those feelings associated with anxiety.  

Letting Go of Resentment

  In previous blog posts, we talked about the role of forgiveness in alleviating resentment. The main take-away here is that forgiveness can help us to unload emotional weight we’ve been carrying around and achieve peace of mind. The tricky thing is that holding on to resentment and anger came happen so automatically that it can be extremely difficult to … Read More