Resources and Knowledge Base

Browse our content to find the answers you need

Self-Care and Coping Skills

Self-Care and Coping Skills

When New Year's Resolutions Go Bad

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthIt’s New Year’s Eve and time to make those annual resolutions. You know, the ones you will break one week from now? Or at least that’s the way it always wor

Living in "Not Enough"? How To Feel About What You've Got

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthWhen we see someone with something fantastic or a stroke of good luck, do we feel happy for them or envious because we want what they have? The angel on on

Acceptance And Change

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthWe live in a world that is dedicated to change, where nothing and no one is good enough. Change is a wonderful thing – it keeps us alive and growing. But i

Why Do We Cry?

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthThis week I had a beautiful session with a client about her grief over her parent’s death. She was able to transform tears of loss for herself into tears of

Surviving The Trauma Of Suicide

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthI write a lot about mental illness. It’s the holidays and I thought it might be nice to change it up a little bit and celebrate all the wonderful things th

10 Of My Favorite Holiday Traditions

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthI write a lot about mental illness. It’s the holidays and I thought it might be nice to change it up a little bit and celebrate all the wonderful things th

Have You Forgotten How To Play?

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental Health“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” — George Bernard ShawLife is hard, let’s be honest. As we get older we f

Letting Go Of Toxic Relationships

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental Health“The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.” — Steve MaraboliRelationships are hard. Intimate relationships, relat

Finding Balance At Work: Loving Your Job While Avoiding Burnout

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthEarly on in my career as a therapist I knew I wanted to specialize in trauma therapy. One of the trickiest part of doing this kind of work is learning how t

5 Tips To Help Your Teen Thrive

Aliayh Kirby is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at Bay Area Mental Health“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their o

You Are Not Your Diagnosis

A diagnosis is just a label – it doesn’t define youEver wonder about how true the statement “You are what you eat” is? It kind of implies if we eat what’s good, we’re good, and if we eat what’s bad for us, we’r

Why Is It Hard To Set Boundaries?

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental Health“Don’t talk to strangers.” For most of us that’s the sum of our training in setting boundaries. There are no grade school classes or college courses on hu

Do You Quietly Live In Pain?

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthWhen I first tell people I am a therapist, they inevitably end up asking for advice and often later tell me painful stories that they typically don’t share.

Surviving An Emotional Crisis One Step At A Time

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthWe’ve all been there.Something happens and your emotions take over. You can no longer think clearly and logic is not an option. You are crying, enraged, hys

Why Can't We Just Get Along? 6 Things That Get In The Way

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthLet’s admit it – relationships are hard. There’s no class about how to communicate with other people and no one teaches us these skills as we grow up. Most

Reach Out And Touch Someone: The Importance Of Companionship For Mental Health

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthWe live in a digital world. Email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… This is fantastic technology and it lets us connect with people across the globe and stay

Am I Crazy? - When Things Fall Apart

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental Health“I found myself curled up into the fetal position, crying. I don’t understand where this came from. Am I crazy?”“I’m falling apart at work. I get angry at t

Providing Trauma Therapy Helps Me Too

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthI was interviewed by Guy Macpherson of The Trauma Therapist Project this week about my “why” for becoming a trauma therapist. I was honored to join the rank

Managing Election Anxiety

Elections are typically anxiety-provoking, but I have been blown away by the responses I’ve seen this year with my clients. Families are fighting and fragmenting – it’s like the Civil War. I’ve also noticed tha

Why Are The Holidays So Stressful?

Dr. Lisa Prosser-Dodds is a psychologist at Bay Area Mental HealthLook at that! We have arrived back to December once more. For most of us, Thanksgiving is now a memory and the march toward the December holida

You Aren't Broken: Surviving And Thriving Through It All

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthI once told my mother that she was a daisy. She said she wasn’t pleased because daisies are simple. I disagree. Daisies can grow in the harshest places a

When Did The Holidays Become Something To Be "Survived"?

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthWhen did the holidays turn from something wonderful and magical to something that is meant to be “survived”? I remember as a kid seeing the freshly cut Chr

Take A Moment For Mindfulness

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental Health“Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment” — Jon Kabat-ZinnMind

Help! Someone I Love Has A Mental Illness

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthDepression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, OCD, ADHD and so on. These words strike fear into the

Gratitude - A Daily Journal

Linnnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthToday I am grateful for so many things in life. I am grateful for my husband and my parents, for my children and my kitties. I am grateful for having a c

Listening And The Art Of Communication: 6 Steps To Being Heard

Linnea Butler is the founder of Bay Area Mental HealthHow often are we focused so much on getting our ideas and needs heard that we forget to listen? Think of a time when the person you were talking to really w