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  • Book A Session!
    • English - Book a Session
    • Filipinio - Book a Session
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  • Staff
    • Jessica Darling, LMFT
    • Dan Katz, LCSW
    • Marti Tourville, LMFT
    • Sharon "Sherri" Broome, Asw
    • Mishell Knoess, ASW
    • Elena Diaz, ASW >
      • Elena Diaz - Russian Language
    • Juen Arzadon, AMFT/APCC >
      • Juen Arzadon - Filipino Language
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12/22/2025 0 Comments

Emotions Series Part 1: What's the Difference Between Feeling and Showing an Emotion?

Picture of two teens. Teen therapy, adolescence, feeling emotions, showing emotions, boundaries, communication, EMDR, EFT, couples therapy, marriage therapy, self-boundaries, healing, trauma focused therapy, counseling
Emotions can feel like a mystery, even to those of us who work with them every day. You might notice your heart racing during a difficult conversation, but your face remains completely neutral. Or maybe you've had the experience of someone asking "Are you okay?" when you thought you were hiding your frustration perfectly well. This disconnect between what we feel inside and what others see on the outside is more common than you might think, and it's rooted in fascinating neuroscience.

As a therapist, I see this emotional complexity play out in my office daily. The difference between feeling an emotion and showing an emotion shapes how we connect with others, how we heal, and how we navigate our relationships. That's why I'm excited to start this four-part series exploring the intricate world of emotions and expression.

The Neuroscience Behind Feeling vs. Showing

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2/2/2025 0 Comments

How Bilateral Stimulation Reprocesses Traumatic Memories: The Neuroscience Behind EMDR

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Let's be honest: trauma is a tough topic to talk about. But understanding how our brains process traumatic memories can actually be incredibly empowering. And when it comes to healing from trauma, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has become one of the most fascinating and effective treatments we have.

As a therapist, I've watched EMDR work what seems like magic in the therapy room. But there's nothing magical about it: it's pure neuroscience. The secret lies in something called bilateral stimulation, and what it does to our brains is pretty remarkable.

What Actually Happens During Bilateral Stimulation?

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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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5/1/2023 0 Comments

The Fear of Therapy

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By Jessica Darling Wilkerson, LMFT
I have a tendency to dig right in.

I have to force myself to remember to engage in the expected pleasantries of hello, how are you, how has your day been so far?  This is because by the time my client has shown up to my office I've already been thinking about them - how about I just say "you".

I've been thinking about you. 
I get up in the morning, take my shower, drink my coffee, drop my children off to their respective places, and drive into work.  I listen to the radio while I drive in, but that's mostly background noise.  I think about the people I get to see today.  Their stories come back to me and I start wondering how they've been this week based on how they left my office the previous week.

By the time you arrive, I've already started our conversation hours ago, and I'm ready to jump right in.  But quite often, I'll catch myself, and I'll try to remember to say the hello first...

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10/17/2022 0 Comments

Gottman Couples Therapy

By Deborah Duell-Stephens, LMFT

T​he Gottman Method of for couple’s work is an empirically proven process that is the result of research that began in the 1970’s by psychologist, Dr. John Gottman, which focused on what makes marriages succeed or fail. In studying how couples argued, Dr’s John & Julie Gottman fashioned a method for therapy that accentuates a brass-tacks approach to improving clients’ relationships.

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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
[email protected]
Locations: 
​​1025 Village Lane, Chico CA 95926  
1610 West Street, Ste 4, Redding CA 96001

Inspired Life Counseling is NOT a crisis center and is not equipped 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.  
Crisis Information

By texting Inspired Life Counseling at ( 530) 809-1702, you agree to receive conversations (external) messages from Inspired Life Counseling.  We are NOT a crisis response.  If you are in a mental health crisis or feel you are a danger to yourself or someone else, please contact 911.  If you would like to no longer receive SMS correspondence Reply STOP to opt-out; Reply HELP for support; Message & data rates may apply; Messaging frequency may vary. Visit https://www.inspiredlifechico.com/contact to see our privacy policy and our Terms of Service.

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 and Redding areas 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 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.

Inspired Life Counseling
Inspired Life Counseling is owned and directed by ​Jessica Darling, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #104464. ​​
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