Mindful Living

Clinic news: Kettle Moraine Counseling welcomes new therapist William Driscoll ! He has been working in the private and public sectors for over 20 years; he sees adolescents, adults, couples and families. His profile and picture is on our website. We are excited to have him part of our team. Deb Graf is busy working with families on attachment therapy and Angela Waldoch will be assisting her; please see website for article Deb wrote explaining attachment therapy. Tricia Schutz recently attended some training on infant and toddler mental health- two underserved populations. Layne Sampson is now a yoga teacher! The clinic has a new billing person, Dorothy Lehman , her phone number is 262.388.9425 or Dorothy@kettlemorainecounseling.com. Enjoy the warmer weather that I know is coming our way! Devona Marshall Question and Answer: Does couples counseling really work? I am dubious about it. Answer : Good question! And the answer is complicat...

Bill is an experienced therapist with over 20 years providing mental health services in the Milwaukee and Washington County area. “I am a highly motivated and experienced therapist with a particular interest in wellness and health. I am dedicated to working with individuals to maximize their happiness and quality of life.” “My passion is working with people to create and maintain their own solutions. At times, this means developing an acceptance of factors beyond one’s control. I believe strongly in self determination, strength based approaches and empowerment.” Bill works with a broad age range of individuals, from middle school to retirement. His specialty areas with adults are: o stress and anxiety o obsessive compulsive disorder o relationships with teens and children: o school performance o behavior problems o ADHD o anxiety Bill can be reached at 262-334-4340. Please feel free to contact him to set up an appointment or to make an inquiry with him over the phone.

Attachment Challenged Children Are Biologically Unable to Attach Children are born with a biological need to connect to people. The first two years are critical! Pay attention to your emotions as you read about Sammy and Tyler when they were four months old. Sammy woke up from his nap crying. The parent picked him up saying, “Good morning, little one,” comforted him, held him close, looked into his eyes while feeding him, and changed his diaper. Afterwards, they played. Making eye contact with Sammy, the parent smiled, cooed, stroked Sammy’s cheek, talked softly. Sammy watched and gradually started copying his parent. In contrast, Tyler woke up from his nap crying. He was ignored for a long time. Eventually, the parent screamed, “Stop your crying!” grabbed Tyler, plopped him on a pillow, shoved a bottle in his mouth, and stormed off. In the background was chaos, swearing, yelling; and the place reeked of alcohol and drugs. The parent came back and sternly shrieked, “Ah, you stink! I’ve...

Anglea Waldoch! Please read her bio. She can be reached at 262.334.4340 or angela@kettlemorainecounseling.com Sometimes talking is simply not enough. Sometimes things are just too difficult to express with words alone. Art and imagery is a universal language that can help express feelings, emotions, and stories when words fail us. Angela is an experienced art therapist and holds a Masters in Art Therapy with an emphasis in Counseling from Mount Mary College. She has worked with diverse individuals across the lifespan. Her areas of interest and specialties range from: Children /Adolescent behavioral and emotional issues AODA Anxiety Depression Bereavement / Greif / Loss Trauma Angela’s approaches are grounded in her beliefs on life, love, and growth. Everyone has their own life story, complete with interpretations and unique personal experiences. She wants to provide the space where her clients are able to share their story and make their own narrative. Angela uses streng...

We outed our son before he outed himself. By the time he was in middle school, my husband and I had strong inklings that he was gay, but it took a while for our son to come to that conclusion and longer to feel strong enough to share it with others outside our immediate family. It was a scary time for all of us. We had moved to Wisconsin from Virginia at the end of his 4th grade year, and he had a difficult time fitting in at the cliquish neighborhood elementary school. By the beginning of middle school he felt so left out and picked on that we almost pulled him out of school completely. But he stuck it out for a few more weeks, made some friends and felt better. During 7th grade, his dad and I asked him if he was gay, and let him know that it was absolutely OK to be gay. At the time, he thought he was bi-sexual. It can take a while to figure our sexuality out, especially if we are not mainstream. During this time he also became gorgeous- tall, muscular, handsome and a lot of girls lik...

Kettle Moraine Counseling January 2011 Newsletter Happy New Year!! I like the freshness of a new year and all of the possibilities that a new year brings. 2010 was a BIG year for Kettle Moraine Counseling- it’s the year we started! We have grown and grown and grown, which has all been good. We have more therapists and more space. I work with a great bunch of therapists and feel blessed that they chose to work at this clinic when they would be an asset anywhere they work. The clinic has a play therapy office and also a play are for kids in the waiting room- something we are very proud of- we want the little ones to feel safe and welcome and hope that we have accomplished that. As we continue to grow, we hope to never lose that personal touch- because truly you are all important to us . Devona Marshall ________________________________________________________________________ Question and Answer: I think my mother has a drinking problem and I don’t know if I should say s...

When we are in a relationship it is inevitable that you feel angry or resentful at times- completely normal part of a relationship! And if we don't share how we feel (maybe not every instance, but often enough), our resentment of the other can build, walls come up and the distance grows between us. When in a relationship there is a balance between letting things roll off your back, and also saying what is irritating or bothering you. Letting minor irritations go is very healthy for your relationship- toilet seats, socks on the floor, the bad joke, etc. If there are patterns of behavior (irresponsibility, disrespect) that continuously bother you, best to speak up! When we don't share how we feel, our resentment builds, and a kind of "numbing" can occur. We feel little or nothing for our significant other, and we wonder if we can ever be emotionally connected again. This numbing occurs because of a long time of not feeling heard, not sharing how we feel, and the distanc...