Well its the first week of 2022  My guess is most people have made New Year’s resolutions.  And the truth is, most people do not follow through with them.  Why is this?  Why is change so hard for humans?   And how do you make change stick? To start, humans are a species that likes homeostasis, or status quo.  Change takes effort in the brain and the brain likes to use as little energy as

Lindsay Simon’s Moonshine Ink Article: How to Find Calm in a Crazy World. November 19, 2021 Millions of years of evolution have led us to be built to survive, not for happiness. That means we need to consciously learn and practice strategies that will reduce anxiety, depression, stress and boost happiness. We need to train and wire our brains towards thinking habits that lead to peace, gratitude and happiness. Check out the article written by

Charlotte Santos, ASW Daylight savings time has ended, the weather is changing, the days are getting shorter, and we’re all getting a lot less sunlight. Some people notice that they experience more depressive feelings in the winter and clinically there may be a very good reason. Seasonal depression, diagnostically known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is something that affects millions of people each year. SAD is characterized by depression and depressive symptoms appearing and lasting

Are you a people pleaser?  Do you know someone who is a people pleaser?  If so, this can be a helpful blog post to help improve assertiveness and healthy boundaries in order to improve mental and physical health and longevity of life. People pleasers are created, not born.  People pleasing is an adaptive response to an environment where expressing anger is not safe.  People pleasing is putting other peoples needs before your own and might

By Charlotte Santos, ASW – September 7, 2021 www.abalancedlifetahoe.com/our-therapists/ I was recently asked: “What can I do while in a crisis that will reduce the chance of long lasting trauma?” My Answer: “We have to turn off the override switch.” The cool thing about our brain is it is always looking to protect us. During heightened stressful times and traumatic events our brain can jump start our survival mode. You can think of our body and

Lindsay Simon, LMFT – August 25, 2021 Humans are creatures of habit and we like certainty.  The current wildfire situation is one of many current external crisis in the world right now that is bringing up many uncomfortable emotions. In California there are 12 active large wildfires that have burned over 1.6 million acres. In the face of uncertainty and potential threat, we experience anxiety, unease, discomfort, feeling trapped, fear, anger or possibly sadness. Currently