Who is the new ABL team member with furry paws and a big black nose? Nando, a 4 year old black labrador, joined the ABL team this fall as a facility dog. Facility dogs are placed with professionals working in health care or education settings whose clients can benefit from encounters with canines. Facility dogs are trained to do 50-100 commands and have special commands to help provide comfort to clients. Nando was trained at

By Taylor Wasko AMFT#129364 It can feel hard as a teenager to maintain relationships and to learn how to deal with conflict. And it’s true, it is hard! It’s scary! When we have an issue with someone or a difficult situation to discuss, it’s easy for worrisome thoughts to pop into our brains: “What if they talk bad about me to someone else?” “What if they get mad at me and don’t like me anymore?”

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