Dr. Lori Puterbaugh, LMHC, LMFT, NCC

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Dr. Lori Puterbaugh, LMHC, LMFT, NCC I am a mental health counselor, marriage & family therapist, writer and painter. Welcome! I am Dolores (Lori) Puterbaugh, Ph.D., LMHC, LMFT, NCC.

This page can link you to my business website, balancedlifestylecoaching.com, where you can learn more about my counseling practice. Check back for updates and information on mental health, couple and family counseling, parenting and more.

FOMO: Yeah, You WillAnd, there is another email from one of my favorite art supply sources, informing me that it’s my la...
09/16/2026

FOMO: Yeah, You Will

And, there is another email from one of my favorite art supply sources, informing me that it’s my last chance – this is it! – the sale ends SOON. Don’t miss out! A cheerful newsflash: you’re gonna miss out. A lot. On almost everything. All the time. Me, too. And unlike my art supply source, life doesn’t cycle around the same offer over and over....

How spending time in silence clarifies life - and helps you avoid missing out on the important stuff

That’s Smart!Ah, a new school year, and just past the middle of the year, when New Year’s resolutions can seem long ago ...
09/07/2026

That’s Smart!

Ah, a new school year, and just past the middle of the year, when New Year’s resolutions can seem long ago and mildly embarrassing, like an old yearbook picture. It’s a time when we talk to young people about their goals. A former professor advised us, never take your professional knowledge for granted. When you know something long enough, it might start seeming “obvious,” although it is not....

Help yourself and others set goals that are a clear plan forward

For friends and readers who are also of a certain age.
07/14/2026

For friends and readers who are also of a certain age.

I am, apparently, just about at that age where, should some mischief attempt to befall me on a morning walk, perhaps, the news story (as if Seminole ever gets news coverage) would start like this: …

Not Spry. Or Spunky. Perhaps Getting GrumpyI am, apparently, just about at that age where, should some mischief attempt ...
07/14/2026

Not Spry. Or Spunky. Perhaps Getting Grumpy

I am, apparently, just about at that age where, should some mischief attempt to befall me on a morning walk, perhaps, the news story (as if Seminole ever gets news coverage) would start like this: “An elderly Seminole woman defended herself against (fill in the blank – loose dog, unusually defensive coyote, a foolish person, etc.). Dolores Puterbaugh, age (yup), of Seminole, was spry and spunky enough to fight off (problem creature)....

I am, apparently, just about at that age where, should some mischief attempt to befall me on a morning walk, perhaps, the news story (as if Seminole ever gets news coverage) would start like this: …

Critical BoundariesAre you absolutely sick of hearing about “boundaries”? Yeah, me, too, sometimes. And yet, here I go. ...
07/01/2026

Critical Boundaries

Are you absolutely sick of hearing about “boundaries”? Yeah, me, too, sometimes. And yet, here I go. Many of us are also tired of hearing, “I have a right to my opinion.” Yup, we all do – and we then have the right to experience the consequences of sharing said opinion. In particular, I’m thinking about the encroaching that parents of adults routinely make in regard to their independent adult children....

Are you absolutely sick of hearing about “boundaries”?  Yeah, me, too, sometimes. And yet, here I go. Many of us are also tired of hearing, “I have a right to my opinion.” Yup, we all do – and…

Set-Ups, Near Occasions & Solution-Focused Brief TherapyHaven’t we all had times we felt set up for failure? Near occasi...
05/25/2026

Set-Ups, Near Occasions & Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Haven’t we all had times we felt set up for failure? Near occasions. Think of them as set-ups. Human beings are spectacularly good at setting ourselves up, for good choices and for the not-so-good, too. We Catholics refer to near-occasions of sin – the people, places, things and behaviors that we might see as “set ups” for us to make poor choices....

Haven’t we all had times we felt set up for failure? Near occasions. Think of them as set-ups. Human beings are spectacularly good at setting ourselves up, for good choices and for the not-so-good,…

Willpower: Perfect, Free and PermissiveIt’s the nature of psychotherapy that we enter into people’s suffering with them,...
02/23/2026

Willpower: Perfect, Free and Permissive

It’s the nature of psychotherapy that we enter into people’s suffering with them, and there we face together the big, awful questions of life. For believers who struggle (and who doesn’t?) and those nonbelievers whose skepticism and doubt are underscored by the terrible events of life, I offer, not for the first time, a clumsy explanation about the role of will....

It’s the nature of psychotherapy that we enter into people’s suffering with them, and there we face together the big, awful questions of life. For believers who struggle (and who doesn’t?) and thos…

What are they thinking?What are they thinking, we wonder. It’s a question we toss about in conversation. It frequently c...
02/14/2026

What are they thinking?

What are they thinking, we wonder. It’s a question we toss about in conversation. It frequently comes up with someone is doing something that seems self-destructive, or bizarre, or just unexpected. For psychotherapists, like myself, a lot of people seem to believe we have a secret insight into what some particular person is thinking. Of course, I don’t. I have theories, sometimes, based on study and thirty-plus years of experience in mental health and sixty-plus years of experience being human, most of that as a voracious reader....

What are they thinking, we wonder. It’s a question we toss about in conversation. It frequently comes up with someone is doing something that seems self-destructive, or bizarre, or just unexpected.…

Quitter’s Day Part 3: Know ThyselfMicro? Macro? Or just bored? Toe in the water, a cannonball dive, or just hanging out ...
01/26/2026

Quitter’s Day Part 3: Know Thyself

Micro? Macro? Or just bored? Toe in the water, a cannonball dive, or just hanging out poolside? Do you go for a haircut and, if it’s a new-to-you-stylist, ask for a half-inch trim so you can find out whether they actually listen and measure – or just grin and say, “Do whatever you want”? That’s your small vs big change preference in a nutshell....

Micro? Macro? Or just bored? Toe in the water, a cannonball dive, or just hanging out poolside? Do you go for a haircut and, if it’s a new-to-you-stylist, ask for a half-inch trim so you can find o…

Quitter’s Day Part 2So … a week since the second Friday of January, what is sometimes called “Quitter’s Day,” for the fr...
01/17/2026

Quitter’s Day Part 2

So … a week since the second Friday of January, what is sometimes called “Quitter’s Day,” for the frequent demise of New Year’s Resolutions. If you’ve given up, or fallen off track, every moment is potentially a new start. Perhaps you need something a little more manageable: a small step instead of a massive change. Here’s a second suggestion, building on last week’s short post, for a small but potentially life-changing experiment....

So … a week since the second Friday of January, what is sometimes called “Quitter’s Day,” for the frequent demise of New Year’s Resolutions. If you’ve given up, or fallen off track, every moment is…

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PO Box 8550
Largo, FL
33775

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+17275590863

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