Hello! This is the first post of the QMG Behavioral Health Blog, an online column about all things behavioral health. Here you will find up-to-date content about a wide variety of mental health topics in the form of articles, lists, book recommendations, the occasional Shakespearean sonnet, interviews, and more. You’ll be able to read in-depth about behavioral health services and providers in the area and learn therapist-approved tips for improving your emotional health.

Some topics you can expect to see here include:

  • Stress management
  • How to be the perfect parent (just kidding, that’s not a thing)
  • Child development
  • Issues impacting teens
  • Relationships
  • Aging
  • Mental health disorders and symptoms
  • Grief
  • Parenting (because this is a thing, a thing that is hard)
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Phase of life challenges
  • Types of therapy
  • Caregiver support
  • Seasonally specific topics
  • Local events and services

I believe our job as humans is to use the knowledge, resources, and skills that we have available to face life’s challenges and be our best selves. I also believe it’s our job to return our shopping carts to the cart corral but we’ll get to that later. My hope with this blog is to provide accurate and helpful information that makes navigating some of these obstacles just a little bit easier. Each post will be created with that goal in mind.

I am a licensed therapist at the QMG Behavioral Health department with fifteen years of experience providing therapy services to all age groups for a variety of life struggles. Outside of work, I have a husband that finds my troubling obsession with dinosaurs charming and sometimes even puts his laundry INSIDE the hamper. I also have two daughters who have taught me a lot (mostly that I don’t know anything about anything), a couple of guinea pigs, and a fish named Kevin that has been far more trouble than I could ever have imagined. But that’s a story for another day.

When I’m not working, reminding kids to use their inside voice, or folding all the laundry, I write. I write progress notes, checks, to-do lists, emails, journals, passive-aggressive post-it notes to my husband, and humor essays when the inspiration hits. I’ve been looking for a way to combine my passion for writing with my day job. This blog is the result of my search.

I hope you’ll check back here each week to see what we have to offer. While we can’t address specific questions or offer individualized advice, we’d love to hear topics you’d like to see featured. Feel free to share and comment on our posts and thanks for reading.

Until next week,

Nikki

*The content in this blog should never be considered an alternative to quality medical or mental health care and is intended to be a source of information only.