Karen Sussan
LCSW, LMHC
Writing from Karen Sussan, LCSW, LMHC, grouped by subject. Browse every post or pick another category below.
Pearl Bailey wrote that sometimes you think the whole world is falling, and it is only yourself that is leaning. On perspective, and straightening up.
When my daughter told me she was bored, I said “Good!” Why empty, unstructured time is worth protecting, and what to do when it feels unbearable.
My mother taught me the saying as “a mile in their moccasins.” A reflection on cultural humility, and on asking clients about where they come from.
The litany of shoulds and musts is hard to disrupt, especially when “good” and “right” were taught harshly. How trauma-informed work can shift it.
Big or small, transitions are transformative. On coping with changes in career, relationships and family, and what therapy adds during a transition.
We go on overdrive, push through, and distract ourselves from what we feel. On the difficulty of just being, and how EMDR widens your window of tolerance.
“How are you feeling?” “Oh, I’m fine.” On the glossy answer we give no matter what is actually going on, and what it costs to keep giving it.
Self compassion can be hard to come by. Healing where it is missing helps you, and it ripples out to the people around you. You are worth it.
“When things fall apart, they turn into something else,” my supervisor Roger Wolfe said. On meaning, existential questions, and what comes after.
At 18 I had four impacted wisdom teeth out, and the recovery turned into an existential crisis. What it taught me about pain, meaning and healing.
Grief is not a mental illness but a normal process that takes time and looks different for everyone. Signs it may help to work with a counselor.
I invite you to start with a consultation. There is no pressure, just a conversation to see whether working together makes sense.
