Steps Family Therapy

 Music Therapy  Often, all we need to heal from emotional wounds is validation, and that validation can come from many sources. Music is the universal language of emotion. It emerges from feelings, and allows them to take form. Artists have cultivated a talent for expressing emotion, and may have produced something that really resonates with a feeling you've had. This is a list of songs and artists that validate particular feelings that we feel a lot in therapy. I will divide them according to emotional categories. PLEASE COMMENT with Suggestions to add to this list! I will have to screen them, but will be updating it frequently. Don't be ashamed of your music taste! You may find some of my faves from boy bands and classic Justin Bieber on here... Heartbreak/ Regret: -"Amnesia" by 5 Seconds of Summer -"Aubrey" and "Diary" by Bread -"When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars -"Die from a Broken Heart" by Maddie and Tae -"In My Bone

  This post is to help us avoid instilling a totally unnecessary and avoidable dose of childhood anxiety. Though I don’t do Santa Claus with my kids, I think there are ways the concept can either induce shame or confidence in children, depending on how we use it. Let’s discuss Santa Shaming first. Children learn to define themselves according to adult perceptions. If they feel respected and loved by adults, they will come to feel generally lovable, and will love themselves in the healthiest sense. If they think adults think they are bad, stupid, or annoying, they will internalize these traits. They will either develop anxiety about trying to disprove these ideas (which does NOT foster healthy character), or become depressed and angry as they submit to them. Santa can throw more data into the mix. We introduce someone with the power to judge children as good or bad–and to let them know their goodness or badness through the outcome of Christmas morning.  However, it seems that Santa ju