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Orchard Mental Health Group Blog

Lubing, Pamela, Psy.D., Senior Pyschologist, Clinical Director

Hello! Welcome to OMHG’s new blog!

We are so happy that you are here and hope that you will join us each week.

My name is Dr. Pamela Lubing. I am a licensed psychologist and one of the Clinical Directors at Orchard Mental Health. I have been a part of the practice since 2016. I primarily work with children and adolescents, but work with all age groups. I approach my work with patients from a relational, attachment style, while also teaching cognitive behavioral techniques.

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What Does an Autism Evaluation Look Like?

While the specifics may vary depending on the clinician or setting, most autism evaluations follow a comprehensive and structured approach to gather a full picture of an individual’s development, communication style, sensory preferences, and daily life experiences.

What is Autism?

Autism is a naturally occurring variation in how brains process information, communicate, and experience the world. It is not a disorder to be “fixed” but rather a neurotype—one of many ways human minds work.

A 30-Day Mental Health Challenge: Small Steps, Big Impact

Having a thirty-day mental health challenge is an approach to form structure, prioritize self-care, build emotional resilience and promote emotional wellness.

Motivational Interviewing for Teens: Encouraging Positive Behavioral Change

Motivational interviewing for teens promotes behavioral change, helping adolescents overcome resistance and achieve positive growth.

Effects of Childhood Neglect on Adults

Adults who experienced emotional neglect as children may struggle with unresolved emotional issues, even if they don’t fully understand where those feelings come from.

The Benefits of Single-Session Therapy for Adults

Adult single-session therapy offers immediate mental health support, providing rapid, solution-focused support.

The Role of Inflammation in Depression

Research suggests a correlation between inflammation in the body and depression. It implies that mental health may be linked to physical health. Inflammation is the body’s response to an injury or infection, which fosters healing.

The Mental Health Cost of Cancel Culture

Accountability sets the foundation for emotional and mental growth, but the unyielding method of the cancel culture can be difficult on the psyche.

Glimmers vs. Triggers

Triggers are typically viewed as something a person would want to avoid, or to be aware of and prepare for when they know one is coming. On the other side of the spectrum, many people have not heard of “glimmers” before.

When Hoarding Becomes a Concern for Mental Health

Hoarding is typically characterized by the difficulty of parting with or discarding possessions. In most cases, there has been an accumulation of items that clutter the home and interfere with the individual’s daily routine.

Recovery: Relapse Prevention Plan

When an individual relapses, it can be disheartening and a huge setback within their recovery journey. Therefore, having a relapse prevention plan is a vital component within long-term recovery.

Supporting Children with Behavioral Issues Through Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) helps children with behavioral issues, enhancing parent-child relationships effectively.

Child Play Therapy For Trauma: How Play Therapy Helps

Child play therapy for trauma aids emotional healing in children, fostering resilience through therapeutic play sessions.

Adult Depression CBT Therapy: Supporting Adults in Managing Depression

Adult depression CBT therapy is widely recognized as an effective approach to addressing the symptoms of depression in adults. With a structured and goal-oriented framework, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) empowers individuals to change their thought patterns and behaviors, ultimately breaking the cycle of negative thinking that sustains depression.

Holiday Blues: Ways to Survive the Holidays if You Are Single

The holiday season can bring on mixed feelings of sadness, loss, and loneliness. The following skills below are helpful in coping with the stress of the holidays if you find yourself navigating this season alone.

ACT Adult Mental Health: The Role of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

ACT adult mental health therapy is rooted in principles that guide individuals to accept, rather than resist, difficult thoughts and emotions. Rather than aiming to change thought patterns directly, ACT fosters psychological flexibility—the ability to live in alignment with values despite discomfort.

Adolescent Anxiety CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Tools for the Future

Adolescent anxiety CBT provides essential tools for teens facing anxiety, empowering them to understand and manage their symptoms. CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, is especially effective for adolescent anxiety due to its structured, goal-oriented approach.

Recognizing Burnout

Burnout is living everyday stretched beyond “natural capacity” otherwise described as “survival mode.” When “survival mode” is the default, burnout is inevitable.

Navigating Mental Health During Transition

Transitions in life are always occurring. It may be a new job, a marriage, or sadly a death in the family. Although some transitions are welcomed and others are not pleasantly reviewed, change regardless of the form can be difficult to manage. Understanding how to maneuver during transition can be instrumental to safeguarding your mental health.

Healing Through Forgiveness Therapy

Forgiveness is often an act to simply let go of a betrayal. However, within the therapeutic realm, forgiveness is a journey to seek personal growth, healing and obtaining an effective method of navigating trauma-related symptoms. It is not something that is found easily, but a process that takes time and patience during therapy sessions.

The Impact of Strong Communication in a Marriage

Communication is essential for a marriage to excel. It is through communication that couples express their thoughts, emotions, relationship needs, and resolve conflict. Although it is the foundation of a productive marriage, communication is often a source of tension within the union.

The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Mental Health

Boundaries are a course of action we create. Furthermore, it sets the tone of how we expect others to treat us and how we manage our daily interactions. Forming these boundaries are important to maintain a sense of balance within our lives.

Tools to Address Autism Anger and Tantrums

Whether an ASD individual is verbal or nonverbal, communication challenges may still arise. In this article, tools will be addressed to assist a child with ASD, who may need support with anger and tantrums.

A Compassion Meditation

This meditation is utilized in Compassion Focused Therapy. It helps to generate a sense of compassion when you are struggling with difficult emotions. It is especially useful when you are having a hard time with self-compassion, because you are drawing the compassion from an outside resource. Enjoy!

Building Adolescent Emotional Resilience

Resilience is the ability to recoup following adversity such as elevated stress or trauma. Resilience does not mean that stress does not affect you or that you avoid struggles in life. Resilience is feeling confident that you are capable of effectively managing challenges and regulating emotions.

Reframing Your Thoughts: A Powerful Tool for Mental Health

Have you found yourself in a cycle of negative thinking that you can’t seem to break? This type of thought pattern, although common, can be destructive to a person’s psyche. Challenging these thoughts and unconstructive patterns is an instrumental component to break this cycle; a technique called reframing your thoughts.

Key Ingredient to Mental Health Wellness: Sleep

For cognitive functioning to perform at optimal level, adequate sleep is important. The brain’s executive functions require sleep to engage in tasks such as decision making, memory and problem-solving.

For the Digital World: Apps for Mental Health

The world today is digital and connected to every aspect via the internet. Therefore, if you are faced with anxiety, depression and/or struggle adjusting to life’s transitions, technology may be a valuable tool to incorporate into your mental health journey.

Self-Agency

So, what exactly is self-agency? It’s the inner strength to pursue our self-defined goals despite daunting challenges and struggle. It’s about overcoming obstacles that seem insurmountable and leveraging neuroscience insights that reveal our brain’s ability to predict actions before they happen.

Self-Transcendence

Building the skillset to self-transcend doesn’t require grand gestures; it starts with small steps, like facing a minor anxiety or taking ownership of a small mistake.

Pack Your Strategies for Campus Life

Transition to college life can be an anxiety-filled period of time. Many of your concerns can be better navigated if you feel emotionally grounded. Here are a few strategies to pack for your campus stay.

Developing Self-Compassion

The term self-compassion is the act of being kind to yourself. Allowing yourself the grace to make mistakes, create an atmosphere free of judgement and to promote positivity inward.

Benefits of Journaling and Types of Journaling

The simple act of journaling lowers one’s breathing and decreases the heart rate, thus fostering a sense of calm.

Benefits of Positive Psychology

Positive psychology works like a lens in which all other psychology can be seen through. It’s not about answering the questions about how to treat diseases or ailments, rather it seeks to answer questions about what makes life good, or worth living.

Flourishing

Flourishing means that we can connect to a sense of meaning in our lives, experience positive emotions, build relationships with people and communities that matter to us, and recognize and appreciate our accomplishments even in challenging moments.

The 8 Dimensions of Wellness

The concept of wellness can be divided into eight distinct dimensions, each playing a crucial role in how we manage stress, interact with others, and feel about our personal growth and environment.

The Impact of Plants on Mental Health and Productivity

The presence of plants in indoor spaces like homes and offices can also have a significant positive impact on mental well-being and work efficiency.

The Importance of Asking for Help for Mental Well-Being

Asking for help can be a daunting task for many individuals due to feelings of vulnerability, shame, and inadequacy.

The Importance of Personal Accountability in Relationships and Professional Success

Personal accountability can contribute to building strong relationships, and increase opportunities for success in the professional realm.

Unlock the Growth Mindset

A growth mindset isn’t just a feel-good notion, or along the lines of toxic positivity! Mindset is a powerful tool for personal development and flourishing.

The Key to Finding Your Tribe

In this short 1.5-minute video, we talk about the importance of having a sense of community, as well as describe three ways you can find it.

Tips to De-Stress After Work

In this 1.5-minute video, we offer simple tips for de-stressing after work, which can be crucial for overall mental health.

Self Care Tips

In this quick, 1.5-minute video, we offer three self-care tips to help improve your mood and everyday life.

Letting Go

In therapy, letting go refers to the emotional or mental release of personal attachments, people, places or things that are holding us back or weighing us down.

Taylor Swift: Empowering Girls Through Music

Taylor Swift, the beloved country star turned global icon, has captured the hearts of millions of fans, especially among young girls and teens.

Adjust Your Crown: 3 Beyonce Hits to Lift Your Mood and Confidence

As women, we face numerous challenges while traversing through life. Oftentimes, societal expectations can impact our self-perception significantly. We are expected to maintain a certain appearance, speak in a particular manner, dress in ways that please others, and so on. This pressure can often lead to losing our identity and feeling hollow. Luckily, there is a prominent figure in our culture who has openly discussed facing similar struggles. She is known as Queen B, the Queen, or simply Beyonce.

Mindful Lyrics: Exploring Hip Hop’s Therapeutic Effects

In an era of unparalleled connectivity through the internet, social challenges are amplified, leading to unrealistic standards and expectations. In such a landscape, providing an outlet for expression that offers an avenue for young people to connect with others authentically and discover their true selves is crucial.