Heather Leahy Hecht

Thank you for your brave question and admission. You should begin with a psychotherapy practice specialized in the treatment of substance use. Unfortunately, our practice is not specialized in substance abuse, but you should be able to find resources here: https://www.samhsa.gov/.

Alcohol addiction can be psychologically and physically dangerous, and you may need to be medically detoxed, given the risk of seizure (and even death!) for people at certain levels of addiction. Having a psychiatrist would be more of an adjunct to your main treatment program which is done by a psychotherapy practice (that may include psychologists). Alcohol addiction is often best treated in temporary residential settings (what you might know as "rehab"), and I would encourage you not to be scared! Going to a rehab facility is like a big dose of care that hopefully nourishes you for a long time.

I am sorry you are going through this, and I wish you all the best in your journey.

Hello -- this question is a hard one for me to answer because as an eating disorder specialist, I look at "obesity" differently than the rest of the world. I believe that we live in a criminally fat phobic culture that shames people into losing weight with attempts at diets despite the actual outcome data of dieting which shows that over 90% of dieters either 1) do not lose weight from the attempted diet or 2) gain back all the weight they have lost if not more. Therefore, when doctors, families, partners, or society say that you need to lose weight, they are asking for something that all evidence says is biologically impossible and therefore only creating shame. Or, they are asking you to adopt an eating disorder and/or a very toxic relationship with food and body that can take over so much of your spirit. So, I teach people about biological set point (the weight your biology and genetics wants you to be), intuitive eating/food freedom, as well as Health at Every Size (HAES). There is a whole evidence-based movement against the idea that people in large bodies are unhealthy. You can learn more here: https://asdah.org/health-at-every-size-haes-approach/.

At Resolve Psychological Services, we orient you to the eating disorder recovery culture. Our work is to figure out how to accept our bodies at their set points, and also validate the difficulty of that given the cultural context in which we live. We are centered in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), so we work on changing the conversation with the self in regards to the self-hating messages that so many of us have internalized. The work is beautiful, as are you. Call us today at Resolve Psychological Services.

https://www.resolvepsychologicalservices.com/

Thank you for your question and for your care for your friend. I am not a medication prescriber, so I am not able to offer medication recommendations. However, a psychiatrist should have really good answers for you.

My practice, Resolve Psychological Services, offers talk therapy for a myriad of disorders, and we use evidence-based practices in our treatments. We would love to care for you or your friend in times of distress. Please don't hesitate to reach out.

https://www.resolvepsychologicalservices.com/

Your question is a perfect question when beginning psychotherapy. When we work with children with behavioral problems, a huge proportion of the work is teaching the parent how to help their child. We call this "parent training," and we love to do it. We use principals of gentle parenting, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and even a treatment called Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) when we help parents help their children. There is so much to learn as parents, and so much evidence-based parenting that truly helps! If you are struggling, reach out to us today at https://www.resolvepsychologicalservices.com/. We would love to have you!

I am sorry to hear of your trauma and trauma response. It is so hard to live with PTSD, especially when you have not had treatment yet. I hope that it is hopeful to hear that psychotherapy is extremely effective for PTSD and that there is lots of scientific support for this assertion. The best treatment for PTSD involve some form of exposure therapy to the story of the trauma. This is really scary for PTSD patients, and understandably so! At our practice, Resolve Psychological Services, we let you lead the way as far as letting us know if and when you are ready to do trauma work. For some people, they may want to take a year in therapy just to be sure that their therapist is safe, before beginning trauma work. That is ok with us. We understand, and we never push you before you are ready. Please stay encouraged, and please take your time in your journey.

https://www.resolvepsychologicalservices.com/

Hello -- this question is a hard one for me to answer because as an eating disorder specialist, I look at "obesity" differently than the rest of the world. I believe that we live in a criminally fat phobic culture that shames people into losing weight with attempts at diets despite the actual outcome data of dieting which shows that over 90% of dieters either 1) do not lose weight from the attempted diet or 2) gain back all the weight they have lost if not more. Therefore, when doctors, families, partners, or society say that you need to lose weight, they are asking for something that all evidence says is biologically impossible and therefore only creating shame. Or, they are asking you to adopt an eating disorder and/or a very toxic relationship with food and body that can take over so much of your spirit. So, I teach people about biological set point (the weight your biology and genetics wants you to be), intuitive eating/food freedom, as well as Health at Every Size (HAES). There is a whole evidence-based movement against the idea that people in large bodies are unhealthy. You can learn more here: https://asdah.org/health-at-every-size-haes-approach/.

At Resolve Psychological Services, we orient you to the eating disorder recovery culture. Our work is to figure out how to accept our bodies at their set points, and also validate the difficulty of that given the cultural context in which we live. We are centered in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), so we work on changing the conversation with the self in regards to the self-hating messages that so many of us have internalized. The work is beautiful, as are you. Call us today at Resolve Psychological Services.

https://www.resolvepsychologicalservices.com/

Hello! What an excellent question. I think that there is a lot of misinformation floating around about how to treat anxiety. It can even seem like children are too young for therapy or medication. However, treatment for childhood anxiety cannot be provided by a chiropractor. The professionals you are looking for are licensed psychotherapists and in some cases, psychiatrists, to prescribe psychotropic medication. Most children with anxiety do not need psychiatric medication, or, if they do, they can receive it from their pediatrician. However, the first line treatment for clinical anxiety in children is psychotherapy.

My practice, Resolve Psychological Services, is specialized in treating children with an array of challenges, including all types of anxiety disorders. The first line treatment for anxiety in children and adults is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). We provide CBT in a developmentally appropriate way for your child, ensuring that they are helped in a way that they can understand based on their age. We love working with children, and we incorporate elements of play in therapy because play is the language of children. When you work with us, you can be sure that you are getting the most evidence-based type of care for clients of all ages, and that we are trained to meet your child's needs based both on their age and their clinical challenges. At Resolve, you are always in good hands, as we prioritize competence, warmth, and results as paramount.

Check out the links below to learn more about CBT for kids, how play is involved in CBT for children, and our practice - Resolve Psychological Services:

https://www.resolvepsychologicalservices.com/
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/cbt-for-kids
https://beckinstitute.org/blog/the-role-of-play-in-cbt-with-children/

I am so sorry that this is happening to your friend. Schizophrenia is best treated with excellent medication management (by a very experienced psychiatrist). Some people with schizophrenia go through seasons wherein they are not able to take care of themselves safely or they can become a threat to themselves or others. In those cases, they will need to have temporary stays in hospital settings in order to get the right care they need, and have their medications tweaked to best help them. I would also recommend that the people closest to your friend get the support they need through support groups and/or psychotherapy. Best wishes to you all.

Thank you for reaching out! I am not a prescriber of medication, so I cannot give advice related to medication. That is an excellent question, however, and so important to not be afraid to ask. I would recommend that you ask your prescriber about what is safe with this or any other medication you are taking. Best wishes to you!