Lois Pope, PhD Alabama Psychological Services Center

Lois Pope, PhD Alabama Psychological Services Center Effective 11/04/2020 we are closed due to acquisition by Optum. Thank you for trusting us for the last 30 years for your behavior health care needs.

Patients needing medical records from Lois Pope, PhD may email: [email protected] Our Vision is to provide the highest level of clinical care to our patients and to
contribute meaningfully to our respective communities. We take a compassionate
and thoughtful approach to treatment. We seek to create thriving and healthy
communities by delivering state-of-the-art behavioral healthcare to our patients
from our world-class team of providers.

Preparing for transitions: Back to School 🎒 ✏️ 🍎 Be empatheticOne of the most important ways to support your child is to...
08/01/2025

Preparing for transitions: Back to School 🎒 ✏️

🍎 Be empathetic
One of the most important ways to support your child is to consider their perspective. Sure, they may be excited to graduate to a new level, do new activities and meet new people. But they also are likely to feel nervous about the uncertainty change brings. Will they like their new teachers? Will they miss their current friends? Will they remember where the restroom is? Will they be able to manage the schoolwork? Will they feel accepted?

🍎 Recognize signs of stress and anxiety
Change is tough for most people at any age. Moving grades or schools can bring anxious thoughts and stress. Younger children might tell you through changes in behavior. They might get clingy, act out, withdraw or misbehave. They also might show their feelings through drawings and role-play with toys.

🍎 Encourage communication and expression
When they begin sharing what’s on their minds, do your best to listen and give them space to feel what they feel. As a caregiver, you can help them process their thoughts and emotions — and find comfort in the process. Use gentle, age-appropriate prompts to help guide them to think through their feelings and worries.

🍎 Empower decision-making
Giving them age-appropriate choices can also help them feel more in control. For a younger child, it could be picking a book to read or choosing their favorite snack. For an older child, it could be letting them choose their own outfits or supplies. For an adolescent considering universities, it could be narrowing the options based on practical criteria — such as admission requirements, cost, location, fields of study, their interests and cultural or familial considerations — and letting them make the final decision.

Wanting to know more about your mental health?
👉 Find care at: http://spr.ly/61812rm57 or call 1-877-OBC-0013

07/28/2025

Beyond awareness: Take action to support your mental health

Value yourself 🧠
We all start from different places with different experiences, goals and opportunities. Take time to get to know yourself. Why do you believe what you believe? What has shaped you? What things and people do you genuinely enjoy? What are your hopes and goals? How do you want to be treated? And how do you want to treat others?

Make decisions 🧠
If you ignore your thoughts and feelings, they just stay there. Over time, they may add up and grow. But you have the power to decide what to do with those thoughts and feelings to help yourself.
For example, let’s say you have a co-worker who frequently interrupts you during meetings. It’s frustrating. And over time, it becomes more frustrating. You begin to anticipate the interruptions ahead of meetings, which angers you. You then begin to brace yourself to be annoyed during meetings. It keeps building, until you become openly hostile to them, such as snapping at them during a meeting or showing your anger through your body language. In either case, the situation is causing you stress and potentially hurting your work performance.

Let go 🧠
All you can control is yourself and how you react in any given situation. That includes how you interact with other people. So, rather than getting worked up or thinking through something over and over, do your best to pause and consider what’s in your control and what’s beyond it. A good example is standing in an airport security line. Getting upset the line isn’t moving faster won’t do anything but make you angry. Instead, you could decide to go with the flow and amuse yourself with a podcast or visualizing fun memories.

👉 Find care at: http://spr.ly/61812rm57 or call 1-877-OBC-0013

Who are you? 🤔 A combination of factors shapes your self-identity, which is how you see yourself. These include your per...
07/21/2025

Who are you? 🤔
A combination of factors shapes your self-identity, which is how you see yourself. These include your personality, abilities, appearance, interests, culture and more. It also includes the role you play in your close relationships and the larger community. When you feel uncertain about who you are, it can sometimes lead you to do things you don’t want to do or that aren’t in your best interest. It can also make it harder to appreciate your own value, purpose and potential.

Be honest with yourself 😁
It’s important to consider your own perceptions and potential biases that shape how you think, feel and act. It’s natural to feel more comfortable with people who are most like you, to favor information that supports your existing beliefs and to hold onto assumptions. But just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it always serves you or others.

Ask for feedback 😳
Another approach is to ask people you trust for feedback. You could ask them to share qualities they admire in you, as well as areas they think you might consider improving. You could also ask them for their take on experiences you remember strongly or have strong feelings about. For example, you might ask your sister how she remembers the argument you recently had with your parents. She may offer insights into the situation you didn’t consider or don’t remember, which could help you understand the impact of your own actions differently. And you might realize that these actions reflect patterns of behaviors that have influenced your relationships.

👉 Find care at: http://spr.ly/61812rm57 or call 1-877-OBC-0013

Why We Stress 🤔 💭 When you experience stress, your body reacts as though it is under attack and usually you go into figh...
07/14/2025

Why We Stress 🤔 💭
When you experience stress, your body reacts as though it is under attack and usually you go into fight or flight mode. That is, you either defend yourself or remove yourself from the situation. In certain cases, you may also “freeze” or “fawn.” Freezing can feel like going numb, where you can’t think clearly or move. Fawning happens when, for example, you feel threatened by someone and try to calm them down to protect yourself.

In any case, stress motivates you to protect yourself, and then you return to your regular state.

🤝 Control what you can:
When you focus on controlling what you can, it helps narrow your attention and calm you. Once you’re calmer, you’re more likely able to think through how to manage the stress, or at least the parts of it within your control.

👍 Depending on the situation, you may need to:
Find a way to avoid the trigger:
Decide to do something differently if it were to happen again
Remove yourself from the situation
Accept it’s something you cannot change

🧘‍♀️ For example, if your co-worker often tries to get you to reveal confidential information or wants to gossip about others, you could:
-Choose not to engage and instead steer the conversation in another direction
-Tell your colleague politely but directly that you prefer not to discuss such topics
-Limit the time you spend with the co-worker, such as by excusing yourself from the conversation or scheduling shorter meetings

👉 Find care at: http://spr.ly/61812rm57 or call 1-877-OBC-0013

Sunshine, sparkling waves, white sand — it's a picture-postcard day at the beach. And it's a perfect setting to relax an...
07/11/2025

Sunshine, sparkling waves, white sand — it's a picture-postcard day at the beach. And it's a perfect setting to relax and have fun with friends and family. That said, there are a few hidden dangers you'll want to watch out for to help keep everyone safe. 🏖️ 🐠

1. Bring sunscreen (and reapply often)
2. Wear a hat and sunglasses
3. Throw some shade
4. Keep your food cold
5. Read the signs
6. Look before you leap

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Huntsville, AL

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Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 3pm

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+12565339393

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