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  • Home
  • Book a Session!
  • Staff
    • Jessica Wilkerson, LMFT
    • Marti Tourville, AMFT
    • Dan Katz, LCSW
    • Emily Emmerman, ASW
    • Joe Acciaioli, LCSW
    • Lauren Heinrich, AMFT
    • Jeremy Gregory, ASW
    • Sara Setzfant, ASW
  • EMDR
  • Blog
  • Telehealth California
    • Telehealth Sacramento
    • Telehealth Bay Area
    • Telehealth Redding
  • Therapy for Teens
  • Contact
  • Client Portal
  • CAREERS
    • Part-Time Opening
    • Full-Time Opening
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8/18/2023 0 Comments

Multiple Emotions all at Once!

By Lauren Heinrich, AMFT
The Complexities of Feelings Checklist
Change is a part of life. Sometimes it feels good, like getting a promotion. Sometimes it hurts, like having to end a relationship. We tend to categorize our transitions as “good” or “bad” and expect the emotions we feel to match. It can really be confusing if our feelings don’t match what we expect. 

Let’s take starting a family as an example. Having your first child is supposed to be a magical, joyous experience. What are new parents supposed to do if they feel mixed emotions about having a child? It doesn’t feel right to admit to being upset that they won’t have the same amount of freedom as they did before their first kid. Or let’s consider the mixed feelings that might come with taking a promotion at work. Who wouldn’t be excited about a pay raise? No one wants to admit they feel anxious about the new responsibilities, or how their relationships with their old coworkers will change.

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6/19/2023 0 Comments

Values: Our Life Compass

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By Joe Acciaioli, LCSW
In his book Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, Steven Hayes compares our values to a life “compass.” Values go beyond goals, because they are more deeply held, and we are never “done” with them. If one of my values is to be loving, that is different than the goal of finding a partner and possibly getting married. Presumably, once I find that partner, or even if I break up with that partner, I will continue to have the value of being loving. 
Especially during these challenging times, I find myself talking to my clients about their values, and the importance of living a values-based life. How do we not lose hope in a time of crisis, a time when we see so much suffering in the world? I believe the answer has a lot to do with living our values day-by-day. 

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6/5/2023 0 Comments

Becoming Authentic - Owning our Choices

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By Jessica Darling Wilkerson, LMFT
"What do you mean, 'owning our choices?' Of course I own my choices!"

Here's the thing, the way we talk to ourselves and to other people can often lead us astray from authenticity and lead us to the same ol' path toward the self-preservation of using our mask.  We mostly do it to protect ourselves from ourselves.
What do I mean by that?

Well, we are humans and in our humanity we can tend to make bad choices.  In that humanity we can tend to be judgmental.  We can easily end up judging ourselves and then subconsciously fear others will judge us with that same standard (or worse).

So we bend the truth:

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4/17/2023 0 Comments

Uncomfortable, but Necessary Changes

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By Jessica Darling Wilkerson, LMFT
Last week I wrote a blog I titled, "Your New Normal."  It's such a big concept that I wanted to touch on another way of looking at the same topic.

When we're growing and changing on purpose there's a lot of emotional labor involved.  Noticing what you're doing that's contributing to pain and dysfunction in your life, trying to change established patterns of thinking and behaving, and navigating relationships around you. That's exhausting!  You're always thinking!

In some of the relationships you're trying to change you are trying to be kinder, less defensive, less offensive, what-have-you.  In other relationships you may be trying to have healthier and stronger boundaries.  Learning to say no - or standing up for yourself in situations you might have otherwise stood back and felt bad.  In these latter examples those relationships are likely going to feel worse before they feel better.

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1/9/2023 0 Comments

Hunger, Nutrition, and Mental Health

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by Jennifer Barzey, LCSW

​Despite having studied nutrition and having developed an understanding of the impact that food can have on our physical and mental health, I still love chocolate. After a stressful experience or difficult day, I still sometimes find myself more enticed by chips or sweets. There are many reasons for this. I grew up associating food with both a way to feel better when sad and a way to celebrate when happy. Turning down food prepared for me was rude and having more was seen as a compliment to the chef. When I didn’t yet have the skills needed to cope with my feelings, food was there.

​Our relationship with food can be quite complicated!

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12/5/2022 0 Comments

Boost Your Confidence in One Easy Mindshift

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By Dan Katz, LCSW
​So, what are you going to do............
Get up and get some exercise, or grab the remote and head for the couch?

We've all asked ourselves this question lots of times. If you're one of the people that usually gets up and gets going, that's great for your physical health, as well as for your mental health.  If you're one of the people that too often chooses the couch, I've got some interesting information for you.
 

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    The various therapists at Inspired Life Counseling contribute to this blog.  Please look for the author of each individual blog to be listed at the bottom of the page for each post.  Thank you.

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(530) 809-1702  -  info@inspiredlifechico.com

Locations: 
​​1025 Village Lane, Chico CA 95926  
​930 Executive Way, Ste 125, Redding CA 96002
Inspired Life Counseling is not a crisis center and is not equipt with the necessary tools to help in an emergency.  Please click below for more information if you or your loved one is in crisis: Crisis Information.  
Inspired Life Counseling
Inspired Life Counseling is owned and directed by ​Jessica Wilkerson, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #104464. ​​
Office Hours: By Appointment                                            ContactContact us!
MISSION: To provide a tranquil and healing space in which people in our community can find calmness internally through the relaxing atmosphere along with respectful and engaging therapy conversations.  To contribute to happier and more secure families by helping individuals, couples, and teens heal within and thereby creating different ways of engaging with themselves, the world, and those they love.

VISION: Creating a new kind of therapy experience in the Chico area in which therapists have smaller caseloads, giving them the flexibility to spend more time with clients as needed - longer sessions, phone calls, client centered advocacy.  Creating a space in our community where clients can go between sessions just to sit, linger, and re-center themselves when they're having difficult days.  A place to belong while they heal their hearts and relationships.  A therapy office that embodies the unconditional love of Christ no matter what a person's gender identity, romantic disposition, or previous life hardships, experiences, or actions might have been.  To be a safe place.
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