Individual Counseling

How to Begin Dealing with Abandonment Wounds

, 2025-04-23T08:07:00+00:00April 22nd, 2025|Abandonment and Neglect, Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues|

Abandonment wounds are difficult to deal with because we often don’t realize we have them. We sustain these wounds from childhood, and they remain with us as adults. They affect many different parts of our lives and relationships, shaping the way we feel about ourselves and the things we believe about others. It is possible to identify where our abandonment wound is and how it’s affecting us. As we begin to confront our beliefs and behaviors connected to our wounds, we will find ways to overcome them and free ourselves from fear and mistrust. Where It All Begins Sometimes, it helps to relive our past and talk about our childhood experiences. Certain events that we go through as children leave us feeling unsafe and uncertain. Adults, and our parents especially, are supposed to make us feel seen, heard, understood, and safe, but sadly, not every parent manages to do this. There could be many ways that we felt neglected, abandoned, or even betrayed by our parents, whether they were aware of their behavior or not. Plano Christian Counseling offers compassionate, faith-based support to help individuals process childhood wounds and move toward healing and restoration. The relationships we have with our parents in childhood affect the connections we make as adults. If we feel unsafe and uncertain as children, the chances are we are going to struggle with trusting others in our adult friendships and relationships. If we were left yearning for a stronger bond with our parents or wished they had been more constant in their care of us, we might be clingy and insecure in our adult connections. We might never have framed our parents’ actions as neglectful or damaging, but we still find ourselves triggered by certain things as adults. Sometimes, these triggers are small, like an [...]

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5 Trauma-Informed Beliefs That Can Cause Anxiety  

, 2025-04-23T08:11:39+00:00April 21st, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Trauma|

Many people experience anxiety without knowing where it comes from. While anxiety can be linked to external events or part of a disorder, more often than not, anxiety is connected to the way we see the world and the beliefs we carry. It is possible to gain control over certain types of anxiety. It might require that we face past experiences and rewire our limiting beliefs that are connected to unresolved trauma. In this article, we’ll consider some trauma-informed beliefs that can lead to anxiety. Inside Out: The Way We See the World Our childhood experiences shape the way we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. Some of the things we faced growing up were traumatic, even though it might have felt normal or common. For example, some parents have a rule not to lock doors in the home. They regularly snoop and inspect their children’s rooms. A child who grew up without being afforded trust or privacy will likely struggle with boundaries as an adult and may be anxious as they try to enforce them. Their underlying belief might be that personal boundaries are wrong, dangerous, or only afforded to others, but not themselves. Plano Christian Counseling can help individuals unlearn harmful patterns, establish healthy boundaries, and embrace their worth through faith-based guidance and support. We don’t always frame certain experiences as being traumatic because we were exposed to them as a norm. It is only as we grow and get close to people that they become mirrors that we can look into and see ourselves. A friend, loved one, coworker, or counselor might question a belief that we didn’t even realize was abnormal. This causes us to see ourselves or our beliefs in a new light. Unresolved trauma is at the root of a lot [...]

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Don’t Tough it Out Alone: Thoughts on Grief Counseling

, 2025-04-23T08:16:27+00:00April 21st, 2025|Featured, Grief Counseling, Individual Counseling|

One of the worst challenges one can face is adjusting to life after the death of someone we love. Even though most of us will experience this at some point in our lives, we are never prepared for it and unfortunately, our society does not generally understand grief and doesn’t have a space for it. You may have heard of the stages of grief, but what does that look like in real life, and is it really that simple? Christian grief counseling can help. Grief is Personal Grief shakes our world and is personal, confusing, exhausting, and may cause you to wonder if you are going crazy, if it will ever end, if you are “doing it right” or if anyone cares. There is no timeline for grief, no formula for how to grieve. There is no right way to grieve, but there is a right way for you, and a counselor can help you with this. You are not crazy. Whatever you are experiencing is normal. Grief may not end but it can get easier. How long will you miss the person you love? You will miss them for the rest of your life, but it will be less painful and become a manageable part of your life. The intensity of your grief will reflect the love of the person. You may feel alone in your grief, but remember that God cares deeply, as Psalm 34:18 (NASB) says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Plano Christian Counseling offers faith-based grief support to walk alongside you as you navigate loss and begin to find hope and healing. Because others around you may also be grieving and your usual support system is weakened or shaken, seeing a counselor to help during [...]

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What is Codependency and How Do I Know if I Have It?

, 2025-04-23T08:26:49+00:00April 17th, 2025|Codependency, Couples Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues|

Codependency can be influenced by various factors, including but not limited to low self-esteem, family dynamics, and insecure attachment styles. For example, survivors of traumas may internalize the belief that they are responsible for the happiness and well-being of others, leading to codependent tendencies. What is codependency? Codependency can be defined as an excessive reliance emotionally or psychologically on a person or thing that supports a belief in one’s identity. Part of being codependent is allowing your identity to rely on the validation of others. We all have a natural longing to belong or be accepted. No one wants to feel like they don’t belong or feel rejected. Codependency is often rooted in a childhood experience that has created an idea of who you are. For example, “I am worthy if I make this person smile or happy.” Then you develop ways that you have found work to make others happy or smile; for example, jokes, acting silly, getting good grades, not being late, working hard, and being the peacemaker. As we continue life using these ways to manage the uncomfortable feeling of rejection instead of understanding why we have this excessive need to please others, we can become overwhelmed and exhausted. It would seem to be a natural way to find a way to manage an uncomfortable feeling and make the encounter more comfortable. Perhaps you can think of a time when a parent, friend, or spouse became angry or sad and you sensed either their sadness or anger. Plano Christian Counseling can help you better understand emotional responses—your own and others’—and provide faith-based tools for healthy emotional regulation and relationship support. How does codependency work? Some may think they best manage the uncomfortable situation by avoiding the person. Or they may realize the situation becomes more manageable [...]

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How Anxious-Avoidant Attachment Affects Relationships

, 2025-04-23T09:27:47+00:00April 10th, 2025|Abandonment and Neglect, Codependency, Couples Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling, Marriage Counseling, Relationship Issues|

When you think about relationships, do those thoughts come with warm and welcoming feelings, or are you left feeling on edge? People don’t experience relationships the same way, and how you interact with others and form relationships is influenced by your earliest interactions with others. Depending on what those interactions were like then, you may have trouble forming healthy relationships with people now. How a person relates to others and forms connections is called an attachment style. An anxious-avoidant attachment style is one type of attachment style, and it has a significant impact on relationships. Anxious-Avoidant Attachment Style A person’s attachment style develops early in life, especially during childhood and early adolescence. Your attachment style can change later in life, but many of your main patterns of relating to others are set early on. Plano Christian Counseling provides faith-based guidance to help individuals understand their attachment styles and build healthier, more secure relationships. We form secure attachments when our parents or caregivers provide consistent and reliable care. A secure attachment means a child feels secure and knows their parents or caregivers will meet their needs. An anxious-avoidant attachment style is one of several insecure attachment styles. The anxious-avoidant style is a combination of an anxious and an avoidant attachment style. An anxious style is marked by fear of being abandoned. While desiring closeness, there’s a sensitivity toward rejection. An anxious style is often associated with low self-esteem and the fear of not being wanted around. On the other hand, an avoidant style will often involve being self-reliant and creating emotional distance from others. Being close to others may even feel uncomfortable for a person with an avoidant attachment style, and such individuals often don’t seek support from others. While having people around them, the person with an avoidant style [...]

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Fear of Abandonment: How It Develops and How It Can Affect You

, 2025-04-23T09:29:56+00:00April 8th, 2025|Abandonment and Neglect, Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues, Trauma|

Have you ever had an experience so visceral that to this day it feels like that moment never quite left you? It could be the first time you saw the ocean, the time you fell from a tree, a time when you saw a project come together and felt alive, or perhaps when you experienced a tragic loss. Our bodies and our minds remember the things that happen to us; they leave a mark on us, even if it’s not visible. The experiences that you have will impact you in one way or the other. They may contribute to making you more fearful, adventurous, circumspect, or ambivalent. A fear of abandonment may result from certain life experiences, and it can have a profound impact on how you live your life and conduct your relationships. Fear of Abandonment Explained When a person is said to have a fear of abandonment, it means that they have an intense or deep-seated concern that they will experience desertion, rejection, or otherwise be left behind by someone that they care about a lot. This fear of abandonment can occur due to various factors such as trauma, past experiences of rejection or abandonment, or because of an insecure attachment style. Plano Christian Counseling offers compassionate, faith-based support to help individuals heal from past wounds and develop secure, healthy relationships. The complex emotional issue of fearing abandonment can result in several outcomes, including feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and distress. Instead of feeling like safe places, relationships can wind up feeling like a disaster waiting to happen, diminishing one’s enjoyment of it. There are several different forms and sources of this fear of abandonment. One of them is emotional abandonment, which is when a person feels they’re not being validated by others, or they feel unseen and [...]

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Working Through Anxiety and Intrusive Thoughts

, 2025-04-23T07:38:51+00:00April 8th, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Our bodies and minds don’t always do what we tell them to. You could be on a date, and all you’re trying to do is stay calm and not come across a certain way, but there’s no guarantee that your mind and body are going to comply with this request. It can sometimes feel like your mind is actively working against you and your well-being. That’s certainly the case with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Most people can probably pinpoint a time when they felt anxious, or when a thought entered their mind unbidden. Such experiences can range from being mildly uncomfortable to being downright distressing. The good news is that they can be dealt with effectively, helping to restore calm and peace in your life. Plano Christian Counseling offers faith-based tools and compassionate support to help individuals manage anxiety and find lasting peace. Anxiety and Intrusive Thoughts Anxiety is the feeling of nervousness, fear, or worry that you experience when you’re in a situation that feels unsettling, frightening, or threatening. When you feel anxious, it’s often accompanied by racing thoughts, feeling restless and irritable, and you may even have a rapid heartbeat and be unable to sleep. Anxiety may last for a few moments after you’ve been in a frightening situation, but it can also linger, pointing to an ongoing condition. Intrusive thoughts are distressing and unwanted images, thoughts, urges, or ideas that enter a person’s mind. These thoughts can be unwanted for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the thoughts go against one’s personal values. These two can feed off each other and worsen things. Some of the connections between them include the following: Intrusive thoughts fuel anxiety Having unwanted thoughts piling into your mind can be quite distressing, and because these thoughts come and go [...]

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What to Expect When You’re Grieving: The 7 Stages of Grief

2025-04-23T07:47:50+00:00April 7th, 2025|Featured, Grief Counseling, Individual Counseling|

Experiencing loss can be painful, confusing, challenging, and deeply unsettling. One of the certainties of this life is that we all experience loss. That loss takes various forms, and while it won’t affect everyone the same way, we will all experience it. One of the ways to help you navigate grief is by making use of the seven stages of grief. The Nature of Grief Grief is the process we go through to come to terms with loss. Loss looks different for different people. Typically, we consider the death of a loved one to be a loss, but it’s not the only form of loss there is. It’s a loss if you lose your job or your home, and it’s also a loss to go through a breakup, separation, or divorce. When a person receives a terminal diagnosis or goes through a significant life transition like retirement, that is also a form of loss. When a loss occurs, it changes your life as you know it. The patterns, habits, and relationships that make up your life start to unravel, and the changes loss heralds can be deeply upsetting and unsettling. Grieving helps you come to terms with that loss. You may have heard about the five stages of grief, a model that the Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross pioneered through her work. Those five stages are denial, anger bargaining, depression, and acceptance. However, another model was developed to highlight the complexities of grief; there are often other emotions and thoughts going through a person as they grieve than these five stages suggest. Plano Christian Counseling offers compassionate, faith-based support to help individuals process grief in all its complexity and find hope in the healing journey. The Seven Stages of Grief The seven stages of grief are a way to help [...]

9 Different Ways People Feel Abandoned

, 2025-04-23T07:27:03+00:00April 3rd, 2025|Abandonment and Neglect, Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues|

Abandonment looks different from person to person. People frequently second-guess themselves. They might question if their perception of events. Likewise, they may feel as if they are overly sensitive when others who experienced the same event were not affected in the same way. Sometimes it is the events that seem to be so ordinary and commonplace that cause people to feel the deepest stabs of abandonment. Everyday Abandonment People often imagine that violent or extreme events cause trauma. However, people frequently experience abandonment trauma from subtle things they experience in relationships. These things can seem so slight, or even hard to identify, that we often overlook them, or even make excuses for them. This leads to us feeling as though we shouldn’t feel a sense of abandonment, or that we are being overly sensitive. For example, you may have a friend who cancels plans at the last minute. They gain reputations for being unreliable, and other friends might joke about their inability to commit to anything. They might have a deep reason for being this way, and because their behavior is predictable and joked about, we might make excuses for them or dismiss our frustrations with them. Plano Christian Counseling can help individuals and families explore underlying issues in relationships and foster healthier, more understanding connections through faith-based support. However, if we are honest with ourselves, we might find that we feel more than frustration with them. Their constant cancellation of plans makes us feel less important to them, and we feel like we can’t rely on them anymore. Sometimes it is the common, everyday behavior that friends, family, and loved ones do that makes us feel abandoned. These are difficult things to confront because we can feel self-conscious that we are overreacting to the situation. It is only [...]

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It Takes a Village: The ABCs of Support for Single Parents

, 2025-04-23T08:01:16+00:00March 25th, 2025|Family Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling|

While it may take two to conceive a baby, it often takes a village to raise a child. This African proverb has long been quoted to advise and encourage parents and people around the value of being interdependent. We all need community and viable support systems to do anything meaningful with God and for societal good. This quote’s inherent wisdom reminds us that our children, one of our prized and precious resources, are of such value that we steward them best when we do it together, with shared strengths and support. Heaven’s Help Having help, but also the willingness to receive the help that’s right for us can be transformative. Even in our relationship with God, His Strength becomes most apparent and elevated during our weaknesses. Our needs do not represent an inconvenience for Him, but rather opportunities for Him to Father us. Plano Christian Counseling offers faith-based support to help individuals embrace their needs, receive healing, and experience the transformative power of God’s love. He builds us up not only in our direct relationship with His Holy Spirit but also through the community in which He’s created us to live. As single parents, our journey can get wearisome, but God will send the right people and reveal the right help in the places where we most need it. Life happens to all of us, and sometimes the conditions by which we find ourselves raising children alone can be devastating. We often feel the weight of disillusionment and abandonment, believing that our parenting experience would have been different from our present reality. Some become single parents by choice, and others, by circumstances such as death, divorce, or a partner’s departure. However we arrived, the fact remains that raising a family, whether with or without a co-parent is a tremendous [...]

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