The Good Neuron

The Good Neuron Evidence-based mental wellness for real people with real lives. Mindset shifts & psychoeducation so you can feel more grounded, kind to yourself, and connected.

(Oh, and NCMHCE tips and tricks for counselors because even helpers need help sometimes) My name is Hannah Salazar, the owner and founder of The Good Neuron. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida and a Certified K-12 School Counselor as well as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Ohio. I specialize in neurodevelopmental disorders and pediatric mental health. I am also a mom an

d a military spouse. I have a passion for helping others succeed as well as advocating for the mental health space. Follow along for tips & tricks for the NCMHCE and my random babblings about the mental health field with everyday mom things thrown in. Looking forward to meeting you!

05/27/2026

Let's talk about 3 of the basic things needed for the or any licensure exam for therapists (pretty much).

1. knowledge- this foundation will help you know what is going on and be able to identify the very basics. this will carry you pretty far.

2. application- this is the heavy lifter. it is going to move you from "what" something is into the "how and why" of it. this is crucial to having a deeper understanding and true ability to apply what you know.

3. conceptualization- I might scream this from the rooftops: having strong conceptualization skills is critical! conceptualization will show you where the functional impairments are and what type of interventions to plan. pay attention to those small details.

which one is hardest for you? let me know in the comments 💬

05/21/2026

Volume up & just focus on the bee while breathing.
In for 4, out for 4 🔁 until you feel calm.

I hope you’re having a great week 🫶🏼

05/08/2026

Guys….i can’t. I saw this and immediately could not believe what happened. This woman was suing her employer (Advent health) for pregnancy discrimination claim, so they went ahead and HAD HER THERAPY RECORDS PULLED. Her therapist had to testify as part of the defense strategy but the employer pulled her stuff from talk space.

I just can’t fathom that. Like, what are we doing if a company is profiting off people that need help then turning against them!? Do not work for these companies and do not pay for their services (also looking at you Betterhelp).

Also, A.I will never replace actual human therapists and I feel like any use of it in the therapy space is incredibly murky and needs to be addressed very carefully. How we use it, what we use it for…

The worst part? She didn’t even win the case so all of this worked. Talkspace says that it tells users in the user agreement that it can use clients data for new products. But like, who reads those? This is so wrong on so many levels.

Happy Friday to everyone except Talkspace.
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One of the biggest misconceptions about using validation is that it means approving of someone’s behavior or saying they...
05/06/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about using validation is that it means approving of someone’s behavior or saying they’re right. It doesn’t.

Validation simply communicates: “Your emotional experience makes sense to me.”

You can validate:
•hurt
•disappointment
•fear
•frustration
•grief

…without agreeing with someone’s actions, beliefs, or decisions.

Validation often lowers defensiveness because people are more likely to open up when they feel understood instead of immediately corrected.

Validation sounds like: “I can understand why that felt painful.”

Not: “You were right”

It is a powerful tool to utilize as it helps to say “I’m here, I understand those emotions” which helps someone to sit with whatever they’re experiencing without fear.

Now, what’s the difference between validation and normalization? 💬👀

04/23/2026

A little PSA 📢

So our diagnostic manual (DSM) has been under many revisions over the last few years. This new version of a DSM would be the biggest change that we’ve seen probably since the DSM-IV to DSM-5 revision.

I think this type of look into mental health disorders would be so great, because we’ll be able to conceptualize very differently. We’ll be able to treat more effectively, and people may not end up with a laundry list of disorders from multiple different clinicians. 

What do you guys think!? Is this a step in the right direction? Bonus points if you look up the HITOP theory…because I like that one the best 🙂‍↔️
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I’ve been a licensed counselor since 2022 and I’ve been tutoring since then as well. I have met with counselors all over...
04/23/2026

I’ve been a licensed counselor since 2022 and I’ve been tutoring since then as well. I have met with counselors all over the U.S. and some outside the U.S. There are certain strategies that can help with an exam as big as the

Particularly, I see people lose points when they see a diagnosis and immediately jump to treatment.

But the NCMHCE LOVES to test: “Is this diagnosis actually correct?”

If there’s:

* Recent stressor
* Unclear impairment
* Missing criteria

You should be thinking DIFFERENTIAL — not treatment right away.

No two people will experience their symptoms the same. If you’ve met one person with MDD, guess what? You met one person with MDD. That is why it is so crucial to not only know criteria, but be able to see how someone’s lived in experiences directly contribute to their distress. Understanding > plain knowledge will hit harder every time.

Being able to conceptualize what is happening with the case is also very important, but that may need to be saved for a different post 🙂‍↔️

Save this for your next study session! If you have a particular fictional case you want me to break down, let me know in the comments! 💬

04/15/2026

When double guessing yourself on the NCMHCE, strategy comes into play.

1. Ensure that your answer choice is satisfying ALL components of the question. Double check that it is. Sometimes we can misread or read too quickly and miss relevant keywords that can alter our answer.

2. Check that the answer you chose is relevant to what is happening in the current narrative session. So many people miss this step and end up losing the plot because they’re not aware of the relevancy of the current session. Read, answer, read again. Always keep that in mind.

If double-guessing your answers still is an issue, consider test anxiety strategies. I have some videos on that and a test anxiety infographic on my website thegoodneuron.com

If you have any specific needs, feel free to write them in the comments! 💬

I think we’ve all been there. When everything is fine during the day, but the second your head hits the pillow…your brai...
04/13/2026

I think we’ve all been there. When everything is fine during the day, but the second your head hits the pillow…your brain decides to unpack your entire life. This can especially be true when the world is on fire and we’re taking in so much information every single day.

You replay conversations, overanalyze decisions, start questioning things that didn’t bother you 6 hours ago.

And suddenly… everything feels bigger.

At night, your brain has:
• fewer distractions
• more space to process
• less access to logic and structure

So your emotional mind (hiii amygdala!) gets louder
and your thoughts feel more intense. However…intensity doesn’t mean accuracy or truth.

That’s why the same thought that felt overwhelming at 11pm barely matters at 8am.

Same thought, different nervous system response.

There are ways to manage this that include:

• journaling during the day or before bedtime
• ⁠mindfulness/meditation to help process
• ⁠practicing good sleep hygiene (looking at you doomscrolling or just staring at the ceiling).
• reconnecting with others during the day
• therapy if impairing function

Processing at night isn’t inherently a “bad” thing. It’s more just learning how to mitigate it so that it doesn’t ruin our sleep…as that’s the most important part to mental health.

What helps you combat the overthinking nighttime sessions? 💬
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04/10/2026

Let’s talk verbal vs. non verbal communication and the mental status exam.

Nonverbal communication is about 90% of overall communication (facial expressions, gestures 55%, vocal tone 38%). Whereas actual words only constitute 7% (stats taken from Univ of TX). As clinicians, it is vitally important we understand the use of tools such as the mental status exam when meeting with clients. A thorough MSE can highlight functional impairments we otherwise would dismiss as normal human behavior or behaviors that we are accustomed to depending on our background. The categories like appearance, cognitions, speech, eye contact, affect, mood, etc... all help us to understand what our client may be experiencing. Then, that can inform our treatment protocols.

We also listen for:
-patterns
-contradictions
-emotional shifts
-avoidance

What’s not said is often where the most important work is.

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Hi!! If you’re new here my name is Hannah Salazar and I’m a licensed mental health counselor in Florida and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Ohio. I specialize in neurodevelopmental disorders. I also have helps hundreds of clinicians pass their licensing exams (looking at you NCMHCE); as well as provided coaching on test anxiety.

I am also a mom & military spouse. Follow along if you want to learn more about “how to therapist” and complex psychological concepts (I nerd out from time to time🤪). So glad you’re here!!

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