I feel 100% free. My entire life I have been “too much.” Too big, too loud, too much hair, too much makeup, too emotional, too … everything. Now I get to be too much all day every day and don’t care how anyone feels about it. I have finally created a life and business where too much is just enough. I love it.

I still poke around from time to time. 🙂 Love seeing “senior” home schoolers living our best lives. 😝

Go for it! It’s never too late. I didn’t even start undergrad until my youngest finished high school. It took 8 years to get my MSSW and another 2 to get my LCSW. Now I’m a clinical supervisor. Best decision I ever made, hands down. You can do it!!!!

Congratulations!

It just depends on where the therapist is licensed. Therapists can only see clients in states they are licensed in. I am licensed in three states and I know many other therapists who are multi-state licensed. Some states offer fairly painless license reciprocity. If a client moves and wants to keep me as their therapist AND the state offers reciprocity, I'll do it. If the state makes it difficult, time consuming, or expensive . . . I offer referrals.

I provide EMDR online. EMDRIA is the governing body for EMDR certified therapists. Their website has lots of helpful information, including research studies that show online EMDR is just as effective as face-2-face. There is also a directory of EMDRIA EMDR certified providers. Which state you live in determines which providers are available to you. Good luck.

My goodness, I am so very sorry to hear this. Please know you are in my thoughts.

Go to your next appointment and explain that this will be your last session. If you email in advance to give them a heads up, there may be a little termination ritual and/or paperwork to sign. I’m sure they would love the opportunity to celebrate your healing journey with you. Therapists are broken up with all the time. Thick skinned bunch. 🙂

I’m so sorry this is happening. I’m sure it was confusing and frightening when you realized she was serious. I’m glad she is living with people who love her and is getting therapy. I wonder how honest she is being with her therapist. The usual trajectory of this sort of behavior ends with inpatient treatment for stabilization or to prevent injury to self or others. People are willing to resort to violence and self injury when they don’t feel physically safe. *SIGH* I wonder if she is on psychotropic meds? Antipsychotics? I have a family member with a psychotic illness and my “solution” is a daily phone call. I can tell in about 30 seconds if they are taking their meds or not. But I know this is not a family member, so that level of engagement may be overwhelming and/or impossible. Many hugs to all involved. It’s not easy.

I wear full glam when working (4 days a week) and some kind of soft glam if I leave the house. I have a virtual private practice and sit under studio lighting and VERY close to HD cameras. At 50+ years old . . . HD is not kind. Plus I really like makeup. It’s part of my identity and personal “brand.” I find these conversations weird, but, here we all are anyway. 🙂

OMG I have been so emotionally invested in this situation. Hurray and CONGRATULATIONS!

I finally had to replace the jar on my Blendtec after 10 years. Works as good as new.

I’m not sure what your insurance is or what state you are in, but you may consider trying a matching website like Headway or Alma. They can often match you with both a therapist and a mental health prescriber who are in network with your insurance to work together on your treatment plan. Also, for low cost therapy without insurance, try Open Path Collective. It is a directory where therapist offer low cost/ sliding scale appointments. There is a one-time sign-up fee, and after that the price range is $30-$60 per session. But you can search the directory and communicate with someone before deciding to join. Expect fully licensed therapists to charge $50 and provisionally licensed to be closer to $30. Be direct in your initial contact. Describe long- term, treatment resistant depressive and anxious symptoms. Let them know that you need an acceptance based intervention style and someone who understands neurodivergent women. I hear your depression hijacking your prefrontal cortex in your posts. Please remember that depression is a dirty, filthy liar. Don’t believe a word it is saying to you. Many hugs and good luck.

My goodness, it breaks my heart to hear this. So very sad. I wish for nothing but peace to her family, friends, and all of us left to mourn her memory.

Way too far. It’s going to take you an hour or more if there’s an accident. Most hotels near the airport are going to be $150-$200 minimum. There is a La Quinta and a Wyndham Garden near-ish to the airport. You can probably get a room closer to $100. Try to stay near Highway 71 or Montopolis. You don’t want to be north of the river on IH-35 if you can avoid it.

Clinical Social Worker/therapist

My family has been following Leon’s story since the beginning. I could barely sleep when he began molting a few months ago because I was so concerned for him. Ha! He’s a rockstar over here!

I don’t post here much either anymore, but thank you for this update. So very sad. I’ll be thinking of her.

I have the 12” green tea firm mattress. I’ve only been sleeping on it for a couple of months. It is very different than a regular mattress and box springs. It took a couple of weeks to get used to it, but I absolutely love it now. I spent a couple of nights with family and literally cut the trip short to get home and get back to my own bed. LOVE IT! But definitely expect an “adjustment period.”

I had my first one a couple weeks ago. The prep was unpleasant, but not at bad as I expected. I took 3 Dulcolax at 08:00 and then 3 more at 09:00. Clear liquids and water all day. One 10 oz bottle of magnesium citrate at 4 PM. Another at 5:30 PM. Clear liquids and water until bedtime. Procedure at 09:00 next morning and home eating tacos by lunch. Found a baby polyp. Removed it. Benign.

I’m a mental health social worker. You can call anytime to just see what happens. I usually call with new clients who have a history of suicidal ideation or previous attempts. That way their first call won’t be during a crisis. The response will be location specific, so calling to find out the local protocol is a pretty good idea since you are handing that number out at a resource. Just explain who you are and why you are calling.

I view the Confederate Flag as a visual representation of a willingness to engage in violence. It is an aggressive, offensive, full-frontal display of hate. When I see one hanging on a flagpole in the front yard, on the back of a pickup truck, or wherever, I assume there are also firearms nearby and a willingness to use them. I keep my distance. I’m a minority.

I am always asked for photo ID when I vote. In Texas. While Black. Yes, I also have my unexpired Voter ID card, but I am still asked for it.

Yeah, we’re at 13+ hours without electricity. Like @ktgrok said, our house is all electric. So no oven, no hot water, no fireplace, no way to get warm. Looks like our electric company may restore power tomorrow evening. Maybe not. Spouse will probably barbecue on the patio for dinner, but we’ve all been pretty still and quiet today. It’s very cold. It can be hard to imagine, but I’ve lived here over 30 years and never experienced anything like this. We all adapt to our environments. My adaptation usually includes switching from canvas tennis shoes to leather ones to keep my feet a little dryer. I live in chanclas.

Yeah, my folks are near Texarkana and they have power too. Down in Austin, we’ve been without power since around 2 AM. Around 7 hours and counting. We are all electric so no gas heat, no hot water, nothing. Brrrrrr! Just sitting in bed with blankets and trying not to burn up my batteries here, LOL. I’m glad we don’t have anywhere to go, but getting kind of nervous for what the day may bring.