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Small Changes With Big Results
Motherhood’s Hidden Strain: Mental Overload
Motherhood is a beautiful, life-changing experience, but it can also feel overwhelming—especially when you're trying to balance everything life throws your way. Between managing schedules, organizing meals, keeping track of school events, and making sure the household...
5 Signs You’re Heading Toward Burnout (And How to Prevent It)
In today’s fast-paced world, many individuals find themselves juggling careers, relationships, parenting, and personal goals. While you may feel like you’re managing it all on the surface, signs of burnout can creep up when you least expect them. At Evolution...
Rekindle the Romance: Long-Term Relationship Tips
Long-term relationships are filled with beautiful moments and deep connections, but let's face it—keeping the romance alive can be a challenge, especially when you're juggling careers, kids, and everyday stress. Over time, it’s easy for the spark that once made your...
Navigating Life Transitions… Let’s Talk Anxiety…
Life is full of transitions, whether it’s starting a new career, moving to a different city, or navigating personal changes like marriage, divorce, or becoming a parent. These milestones, while exciting, often bring along a hefty dose of stress and anxiety. Balancing...
Men’s Mental Health: Smash the Stigma!
In today’s fast-paced world, men are juggling numerous responsibilities, from career pressures to family obligations. With so much going on, it’s easy to neglect self-care, especially mental health. However, ignoring stress and anxiety can have serious consequences....
Self-Care for Women on the Go: 5 Quick and Effective Practices
Life moves fast, especially for women juggling careers, family, and personal responsibilities. In the middle of this whirlwind, finding time for self-care can seem impossible. However, taking care of yourself doesn’t require a day at the spa or a long vacation. With...
When is it Time to Ask for Help?
Depression is a complex mental health issue that varies widely between individuals. This is why it can be difficult for some people to recognize what are mental health issues that may pass on their own, and what may be more serious and require professional help. The...
The Power of Saying No: How to Stop Overcommitting
Saying no feels like letting someone down or missing an opportunity. You may worry that people will see you as selfish, or you might fear losing out on something exciting. This is especially true for women, who are often conditioned to put others’ needs before their...
How to Set Healthy Boundaries at Work and Home
In today's fast-paced world, it can feel like you're constantly juggling work, home life, and personal commitments. The pressure to be "on" 24/7 can quickly lead to burnout and anxiety. One of the most effective ways to protect your mental health is by setting healthy...
October is National Depression & Mental Health Screening Month
October is National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month, a time when clinicians and their communities come together to spread awareness and combat mental illness. By working together, we can all promote the importance of mental health screenings while...
5 Practical Anxiety Strategies for Busy Women
Let’s be real—life as a busy woman between the ages of 30 and 40 can sometimes feel like juggling a hundred different things at once. From work deadlines to family responsibilities, anxiety has a sneaky way of creeping in. At Evolution Wellness in Wilmington, NC, we...
A Parent’s Guide to Teen Depression and Suicide
The statistics on teen suicide are staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year, an average of 8% of American teens will attempt suicide. This makes suicide the second leading cause of death for kids aged 10 to 24. In fact, it is believed that...
September is National Suicide Prevention Month
According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in this country, claiming more than 47,000 people’s lives in 2019. In fact, there was nearly double the rate of suicides that year as...
Mental Health Effects of Excessive Screen Time
If we’re honest, most of us would admit we look at some form of digital screen more than we do the faces of our friends and loved ones. From our phones to iPads, laptops, and flatscreen TVs the size of an entire wall, screen time for most people is definitely on the...
Is Social Media Bad for Your Mental Health?
Have you been feeling a bit low lately, but you can’t quite put your finger on why? It may have something to do with your social media habits. According to a recent study, social media use can increase depression and loneliness. For years people have suspected that...
What Is Complicated Grief?
Grief Is Something Everyone Experiences at Some Point It’s normal to experience grief after a loss, such as the death of a friend or family member. In most cases, these emotions gradually improve over time. But if you’re still living with the symptoms of grief months...
What Is Anticipatory Grief?
In many cases, grief occurs when someone has already suffered a loss. But grief can also result from a loss that is impending but hasn’t yet occurred. When this happens, it’s referred to as “anticipatory” or “preparatory.” Anticipatory grief commonly affects...
Couples: How to Regulate Your Emotions During Difficult Conversations
Sharing your life with someone means having open and honest conversations, even when those conversations are a bit difficult. But that’s easier said than done. During hard conversations, it’s common for many people to become triggered by something their partner has...
When is the Right Time to Try Couples Therapy?
For better or worse. Those words seem easy to say at the time, but when worse gets really bad, many couples are ready to throw in the towel. That’s because they didn’t seek help in time and let things get out of hand. Marriage and couples therapists specialize in...
What Is Trauma-Informed Care?
According to CDC data, 1 in 4 children experiences some form of trauma or abuse in their childhood. More sobering statistics indicate that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have experienced rape at some point in their lives. These numbers suggest that many people, male and...
What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and What Causes it?
Most of us won’t get through life without our own fair share of stress and heartache. But some people experience not just stress, sadness, or grief, but actual trauma. This can be from events like being involved in a bad car accident, rape, a natural disaster, or war....
What is Orthorexia?
There is no denying that healthy eating is good for us. When we eat right, we can make significant improvements to our overall health and well-being. But, as with most things in life, everything in moderation. There are those that take healthy eating to an extreme,...
Warning Signs of Anorexia
According to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), Anorexia Nervosa affects roughly one percent of the adult population in the United States. Although the condition is treatable, it is very serious and can potentially be fatal. The NIMH suggests that up to...
3 Common Eating Disorders
Do you suspect that you might have an eating disorder? If so, you’re not alone. According to statistics published by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), approximately 9% of the U.S. population (28.8 million people) will...
Can EMDR Therapy be Done Online?
When the pandemic hit, many people began to work with their therapists online. But there were many skeptics who did not believe the benefits of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, also known as EMDR therapy, which is traditionally a hands-on...
EMDR Therapy is a Helpful Treatment for Sexual Abuse Survivors
In the United States, one in three women and one in six men will experience some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). When sexual abuse happens, many people don’t know how to cope with the event or...
3 Ways Teens Can Benefit from Therapy
Not many of us remember our teenage years as walks in the park. That’s because this time in our life is punctuated by uncertainties, social pressure, and a surge of hormones. Because of this perfect storm, many teens act out, which can cause a lot of chaos and...
5 Ways to Get Your Teenager to Talk to You
It's tough trying to get your teen to talk. Science has shown that the teenager's brain has yet to fully develop the frontal cortex, which is the area that controls our ability to reason, and to think before we act. As your teen's brain develops, they're also learning...
Types of Anxiety Disorders
At some point in our lives, most of us will experience anxiety. It’s actually a natural reaction to many stressors such as starting a new job, taking final exams, and becoming a new parent. Now for many people, the anxiety will subside once the stressor goes away. But...
Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, social anxiety disorder causes someone to intensely fear normal social interactions. This is more than shyness or a fear of public speaking—someone with social anxiety disorder excessively worries about being...
Dealing with Family Trauma Around the Holidays
The holidays are often a complex time for many people. On the one hand, there is a sense of joy in the air, while on the other hand, sorrow and grief because of either a loss or dysfunctional family dynamic. The following are some ways you can deal with family trauma...
How to Deal with Family Drama Around the Holidays
For many of us, spending time with family during the holidays is something straight out of a Hallmark movie with days filled with comfort and joy. But for others, the holidays with family are scarier than Halloween. From the stress of traveling to the pressure of...
Coping With Grief After Losing Health
If you or a loved one recently received an upsetting—possibly life-threatening—diagnosis, you might be feeling a mixture of shock, disbelief, fear, sadness, and anger. It’s completely normal for you to feel this way. Many people think of grief only in terms of the...
Coping With Grief After Losing a Job
People often speak of grief in terms of losing a loved one, but did you know it can also result from the loss of a job? It’s true. When you lose a job—especially one that you enjoyed and planned to stay at well into the future—it can cause you to question your...
6 Signs Your Teen May Be Depressed
As teens struggle through the tough transition period of childhood into young adulthood, it can be difficult to decipher a teen’s behavior. Are their out-of-control emotions and conduct a result of the natural process of adolescence, or is it something more serious?...
4 Ways to Change Your Thoughts and Relieve Depression
Did you know that on most days, the average person has between 25,000 and 50,000 thoughts? That’s an impressive amount of thoughts. But when happens when the majority of these thoughts are negative? Imagine the impact on your psyche and your life if you had thousands...
Overcoming Depression: Practical Steps
Do you experience persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or guilt? Are you feeling fatigued, anxious, restless, or like you can’t focus? Have you lost interest in the activities you once enjoyed, or have your coworkers or loved ones...
How to Tell When You’re Feeling Burned Out
Many people think of burnout as simply being incredibly tired after a long week or month of work or school studies. But burnout is much more than a physical exhaustion; it has in fact been called the “triad of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and feelings of...
Managing Work-Life Balance
Do you have trouble balancing work and your personal life? If so, you’re not alone. According to Mental Health America (MHA), almost 40% of U.S. adults who are employed full time reported working 50+ hours a week, and 18% work 60+ hours. Despite how common it is for...
Why Did I Feel Fine Yesterday? The Causes of Depression
With 322 million people suffering with depression worldwide, it's not surprising to learn that in America, depression is among the most common mental disorders. The cause of depression is often simplified as a chemical imbalance in the brain, but the reality is that...
Am I Sad or Depressed?
Into each life a little rain must fall is a way of saying every one of us will experience sadness in our lifetime. It is completely normal and natural. But there are some people who feel something deeper and darker than sadness, and they may feel this way despite...
How to Talk to Your Kids About Divorce
Going through a divorce can be one of the most stressful and emotional times in a person’s life. It’s hard enough wrapping your own head around the event, but trying to break the news to your children can be especially difficult. Many parents struggle having this...
Therapy for Divorce
When we say the words, “I do,” we never imagine that one day those words will turn into, “It’s over.” But the statistics point to the fact that many marriages do not make it. In fact, the CDC reports that 42% of marriages have a high probability of ending in divorce....
Overcoming Addiction: How Loved Ones Can Help
For decades, individuals suffering from addiction have traveled the same route toward recovery with some measure of success. That route entailed combining a recovery program, such as AA, with therapy. The problem with this traditional route is that therapists and...
Recovering from Addiction: Where & How to Reach Out for Help
When it comes to addiction, there’s one thing that all addicts have in common: at some point, they realize that their life is headed down a path they don’t want to go down. Addiction can begin innocently enough; someone might start taking drugs or drinking out of...
How to Deal with Infidelity in a Relationship
When infidelity occurs in a relationship, it can be very devastating for the parties involved. Infidelity involves breaking a promise to be completely faithful to your partner, and when it happens, it erases the trust that existed in the relationship. Dealing with...
How Infidelity Affects Mental Health
No one ever wants to be on the receiving end of romantic betrayal. The emotional pain of discovering that someone you love and trust has been cheating and lying to you can be overwhelming. According to the University of Iowa, between 20-25 percent of married men cheat...
What No One Tells You About Therapy (But Should!)
It is said we fear the unknown, which is why many people shy away from receiving therapy. It can be intimidating walking into your therapist’s office for the very first time, not knowing what to expect. On the flip side, some people assume they know everything about...
How to Tell if Therapy is Right for You
When it comes to your physical health, it’s pretty easy to know whether or not you need to see a doctor. If you catch a cold, there’s really no need to make an appointment; however, if you break your ankle, you need to immediately get to an emergency room. But when it...
The Impact of Grief on Relationships
Experiencing the death of a loved one is one of the most painful things each person must face. The shock of your beloved friend or family member having passed away, along with the finality of their death is difficult to deal with. Everyone Mourns Differently The...
How to Heal After a Loss
Experiencing the death of a loved one is the hardest thing we can go through in this life. What can make grief even more challenging is the feeling that we’re somehow doing it wrong. But grieving is a unique experience and there is truly no “right” way to do it....
How to Begin Healing After Personal Trauma
No one is ever prepared for a tragedy or personal trauma. In fact, most of us go through our lives believing that tragedies happen to other people. When people do experience a distressing or life-threatening event, such as a car accident, natural disaster, or...
What is Trauma Therapy?
Not many of us will get through life without facing our own share of challenges. But some people experience not just stress and strife, but actual trauma. Trauma may come in the form of a physically or emotionally abusive relationship, a physical accident such as a...
5 Strategies to Calm Your Anxiety Disorder
When you live with an anxiety disorder, any moment can become one that creates a slow-rising panic within you. Life is normal one second and the next, you feel your chest tighten and your heart begin to race. You may begin to hyperfocus on future events and find...
5 Ways to Effectively Manage Anxiety
If you suffer from anxiety, you know that awful feeling when heart races, you start to sweat, and you feel like you just want to run. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness in the...
4 Subtle Exercises to Calm Anxiety in Public
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 40 million adults over the age of 18 suffer from an anxiety disorder. If you are one of them, you know how difficult your life can feel most days. When anxiety strikes in public, the world around us can...
Why People Misunderstand Anxiety Disorder
Did you ever play the game called “telephone” growing up? One kid whispered a secret message into the ear of the kid next to him. That kid then whispered the “same” message into the ear of the kid next to her. On and on each kid would whisper the message around the...
Self-Care: Holding Onto Good Mental Health After The Seasonal Depression
Seasonal depression, also referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), refers to a type of depression that relates to changes in the seasons. Most people with SAD feel symptoms come on in the fall and generally feel them all through the winter. Symptoms, which...
Coping with Depression During the Holiday Season
During this time of year, radio and TV ads would have us believe we should all feel merry and bright. Sadly, that’s not always the case. According to the National Institute of Health, many people experience depression during the holiday season. Some of the most common...
Why Timing is Everything When it Comes to Marriage Counseling
Seeking help from a marriage counselor is not unlike seeking help from a mechanic. It makes little sense to take your car into the shop a month after it started making a horrific noise. By that time, too much damage may have been done and your engine may be beyond...
5 Warning Signs It’s Time to Try Couples Counseling
When you first fell in love, you could never imagine that someday the sound of your partner chewing could make you want to scream. It’s inevitable that once we are out of our honeymoon phase and reality sets in, we realize that all relationships take work and...
Feeling Angry and Frustrated With Your Partner? These Tips May Help
A lot of couples who come for couples therapy at Evolution Wellness usually cite frustration with their partner as one of the major issues they face. This frustration usually stems from unmet expectations. Our team of caring and compassionate therapists are here to...
Eating Disorders in Adults
Eating disorders are often associated with teenagers and adolescents. But many adults struggle with this same issue. What are Eating Disorders? Eating disorders are mental health issues that involve unhealthy or obsessive eating habits. Some of the most common...
What is Disordered Eating and How Can Therapy Help?
Disordered eating, also referred to as “eating disorders,” is a behavioral condition that is characterized by disturbances in eating behaviors. These behaviors are usually associated with distressing thoughts and emotional patterns. Disordered eating can be a very...
What is ERP Therapy?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) refers to a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that cause an individual to perform repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These thought patterns and behaviors significantly impact a person’s daily activities and...
Symptoms of OCD
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects 2-3% of the population. The disorder is characterized by a pattern of unwanted thoughts or fears (obsessions) that cause an individual to perform a set of repetitive...
How to Prevent Burnout
Not many people get through life without experiencing burnout at some point. Whether it’s from working more than one job, taking care of a sick loved one, or juggling family life while going back to school, burnout is real, and it negatively impacts your life and...
Mental Health Therapy for Frontline Workers
None of us were prepared for the global pandemic we found ourselves in. Not parents, teachers, and certainly not the healthcare workers around the country. Doctors and nurses suddenly found themselves working double shifts to care for sick people. As the rest of the...
The Caregiver’s Guide to Self-Care
Are you acting as a caregiver to a loved one? Maybe your elderly parent or a spouse or child that is battling a serious illness? According to womenshealth.gov, 36% of Americans provided unpaid care to another adult with an illness or disability in 2012, and that...
How to Talk to Your Young Child About the LGBTQIA+ Community
As a parent or caregiver, it can be difficult to know the right thing to say when kids question what we deem to be adult topics. Broaching topics of sexuality can be awkward for both parties, however, it is a necessary conversation to have. When it comes to talking...