Ellen McGuinness Counseling

Author: Ellen McGuinness

  • Rainbow Chakra

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Listen below to a meditation guiding you through the energy centers of the body.

  • Now Offering EMDR

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    I began offering EMDR in 2019. I completed the 50 hour comprehensive EMDR training through the Maiberger Institute. My clients have seen significant growth in a variety of areas, including relationships, anxiety, work performance, and general self-concept. Frequently, the common denominator is a shift in the client’s own sense of self, meaning the client starts…

  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing)

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    EMDR is a type of therapy that uses bilateral stimulation of the physical senses, in order to allow one’s brain-body the opportunity to sort out and reorganize memories from the past that have gotten stuck and get re-activated in the present. There can be times in life when an experience is not stored or integrated…

  • Emotions; Your next adventure is calling

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Note: I wrote this from the mountain town perspective but it applies to all habitats Living in the mountains calls for many adventures, whether it’s wading out to your car through a foot of freshly fallen snow or backpacking to the perfect alpine location, the journey awaits.  Mountain dwellers have a tenacity for the challenges…

  • Applying Self-Compassion

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in , , , ,

    also known as The Story of Putting My Client Resources To Use on Myself I had the wrong time in my head and missed an appointment today.  I sat waiting for my client for awhile and when she didn’t arrive I figured it out that I should have been at my office half an hour earlier. …

  • Happy New Year, Happy New Decade

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    I am excited to recognize I am beginning my second decade of work as a professional psychotherapist.  I graduated with a MA in Counseling Psychology from University of Colorado at Denver in December of 2007. After completing my coursework I was lucky enough to have a year long internship at Noeticus Counseling Center.  After graduation I…

  • “First World Problems”

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    Every time I’ve heard this phrase lately, its thrown me off a bit and I’ve heard it with enough frequency that I decided to look into it.  The history of the phrase on the internet brings up a range of memes of varying levels of funniness, such as the one below; its not my favorite but…

  • Holiday Joy/Holiday Distress

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Tis the season for treats, parties, gift-giving, memories…in the best cases these things can be joyful and tinged by some occasional discomfort such as guilt, anxiety, sadness, or disappointment; in the worst cases the holiday season straight up sucks. Parties are packed with temptations for people trying to manage eating or substance abuse issues.Community activities…

  • Radical Acceptance

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    Today is a day to practice accepting something that you really don’t like but have no control over changing, also known as radical acceptance. Yes, this topic is stimulated by the election results but can apply to many areas of one’s life, so this post is not really about politics. It is about how to…

  • Shifting towards non-judgment and objectivity

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    …and away from judgment and subjectivity.  Subjective statements are ones that involve opinion, judgment and ambiguity, objective statements are ones that involve specific use of facts as they are seen in that moment. Subjective based conversation: A: “He was very rude.” B: “I didn’t think he was rude.” A: “Of course he was, he’s such…

  • 90 seconds of emotion

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    Imagine water on the ocean: the push and pull of the tide combines to create a surge and crest of a wave, which peaks and breaks creating a turbulent swarm of white water and strong forces that rush toward the beach, spreading upon the bare sand, stirring it up, then losing power and turning to gently slide back to the sea. This is…

  • NOW not KNow

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    After a recent appointment I found myself trying to rectify why it seemed that I was talking to my client out of two sides of my mouth.  The oversimplified version was one side of my mouth was telling my client to share her feelings and the other side was telling her to not feel anything,…

  • The Gifts of Imperfection Book Review

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    I read a book by Brene Brown, called The Gifts of imperfection: Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are; Your guide to a wholehearted life.  This is the book’s title, or just all the words on the cover of the book, either way the words inside and out of…

  • Monkey Mind Book Review

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    Daniel Smith wrote a memoir of his experiences with anxiety in the book titled Monkey mind:A memoir of anxiety.  I found this book to be well written and gripping.  Smith writes in a style that it is honest and revealing of his struggle with anxiety while also being engaging and entertaining.  The book is funny, not what you…

  • Cheerleading

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    “I can handle whatever crap (literal and actual) that my two year old dishes out”“I am an amazing parent”“I’m grateful for my vast stores of patience, without it I’d surely being snapping ten times a day.”“It’s okay to snap occasionally”“I will feel overwhelmed and helpless in some moments and those moments will pass”“I am caring, compassionate…

  • Support is key to incest survivors

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    I had the privilege of seeing Marilyn Van Debur Atler and her husband, Larry Atler.  The couple came to Steamboat and spoke about their experiences of overcoming the horrors of incest. I read Marilyn’s book Miss America By Day years ago and was amazed by the story of how she coped with being sexually abused by her…

  • June is PTSD Awareness Month

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  The US Department of Veterans Affairs chose the month of June to raise community awareness of this mental health problem. PTSD can develop after someone has been through a life or limb threatening event, otherwise known as a trauma, during which there was intense fear or horror and little sense…

  • Happy days, happy life

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in ,

    I recently read Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project; or why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fun (phew long book title!)  I enjoyed reading it because the topic of improving one’s life appeals to me in my line of work,…

  • Emotional Awareness

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    I often encourage client to tune into their emotions. This recommendation comes up if people are consumed with one particular emotion such as anger, fear or sadness, or if they are immersed in depression or anxiety. There is a whole wide array of emotions but one or two emotions can overpower others or become, through…

  • Why is there a poetry video on a mental health site

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in , ,

    I have anticipated that people may wonder, but hesitate to ask, why a mental health therapist has a link to a spoken word poet on her website. Sarah Kay, spoken word poet, Ted Talk This is supposed to be a mental health website, so what’s with the poetry.  Well there are a few reasons I included…

  • Relationship Insights: Schnarch’s Four Points of Balance

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Some basics of maintaining a satisfying relationship as seen by very experienced couples therapist/sex therapist, David Schnarch: The gist of the article is that it is important to maintain a solid sense of self as an individual in order to maintain a satisfying relationship.  The article goes into 4 ways to keep the balance of…

  • Blues Break

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    The winter blues have a way of seeping in and sucking the energy out.  With the short days and cold temperatures we end up spending a lot more time indoors and life can begin to feel pretty stagnant.  The routines of work, chores, and bad weather wear on many people to the point of developing…

  • New Year’s Re-Resolution

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Here we are three weeks in to the new year, how is your resolution turning out?  Have you made that change you pledged back on January 1 and are now reaping the benefits?  Or have you had some days of success and some days of backsliding?  Or did you forget about it all together by…

  • Visions of Sugar-Plums

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    “…Visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads…” This line from Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “The Night Before Christmas” is a reminder of how visions of the holiday season are a common occurrence.  People often have visions of exactly how events will unfold, how people will behave, what will show up under the Yule tree, how delicious…

  • Customer Reviews of Therapy

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Obviously I think therapy is beneficial, but why just take my word for it. I invite anyone who has worked with me specifically,  or worked with any therapist on a mental health issue, to submit a comment entry below or on my facebook page and tell the internet world how therapy has benefited you and why you…

  • Getting Therapy does NOT mean you are “crazy”

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    There is a very unfortunate stigma around mental health therapy, people often think that getting therapy means you are at best “unstable” or “weak”, or at worst “crazy” or even “dangerous”.  This stigma is misguided, out of date, and of course untrue. Mental health ought to be considered on the same plane as physical health. …

  • This is. (or The Concept of Acceptance)

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    Acceptance is simply an acknowledgment of What Is.  Acceptance is a concept which forgoes judgment on a circumstance.  Acceptance is  a mindset which allows you to let go of frustration and disappointment, stress and anxiety, regret and false hopes.  Acceptance brings peace.  Acceptance is the practice of recognizing the limits of your control.  Acceptance is…

  • Thought Distortions

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    So you read the last entry and know all about the power of thoughts, now what?  If your thoughts are powerful enough to effect how you feel, it is important to know what they are and even more important to  change them if you don’t like how you are feeling.  Very often when you are…

  • The Power of Thoughts

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you” – Unknown Anyone who has been around awhile, in any relationship with another person, knows that this childhood saying is a simplification and knows that words can hurt.  Words can be tremendously powerful for harm or for help…if we let them have the…

  • The Practice of Mindfulness

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    The mind is like a river, always moving.  There are times when the current of thoughts is moving fast and bumping into obstacles, crashing and foaming, there are other times when thoughts are like an eddy, swirling in one place stuck circulating over the same area, and other times when the thoughts gently glide along…

  • Growing your comfort zone

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    There is a time for comfort and a time for challenge.  A balanced life needs times of learning, growth, and change countered by times of soothing, familiarity, and ease.  Imagine all the aspects of your life that provide you with comfort; these fit inside the innermost circle in the diagram here: the comfort zone. The comfort…

  • Useful Anxiety v. Harmful Anxiety

    —

    by

    Ellen McGuinness
    in

    How anxiety can be useful for making changes in your life compared to what it looks like when it becomes harmful and what you can do to manage it.