Courage Counseling LLC

05/28/2026

The Giving Tree never sat well with me. Having a boundary does not mean you don’t have love. Your love can be unconditional and you can have boundaries at the same time.

This version of the story is waaaay better 🌳

05/07/2026

This is your annual reminder to be gentle with yourself and others this weekend. Mother’s Day is a complicated holiday.
For some folks it a day of joy and love and celebration.
So many people have a mother or are a mother it is hard to make it special for all the moms.
It can be a sensitive day with Big emotions.
Not everybody gets to have a loving and compassionate Mom.
Please be kind. I have too many friends who have mothers who died, friends who want to get to be a parent and they are childless, friends who had awful mothers, friends who are astranged from parents or children, and friends who accepted the duty of parenthood with no joy. Some people have too great of a physical distance to celebrate together and it makes them feel alone. There are many factors that can make Mother’s Day rough. Be thoughtful and offer love where you can. If you can make an extra phone call to tell someone you love them, do it.
Thank you to all the people who do some thoughtful mothering. 💖

05/05/2026

Hantavirus has been making the news. It can spread through rodent urine and f***s that can dry and become dust that can be inhaled. If you are cleaning or decluttering a space that has had rodents wear gloves and a mask. You matter. Always safety first.

05/04/2026

04/29/2026

You are enough and your value is not dictated by your productivity.

04/01/2026

Happy National Counseling Awareness Month! I am aware.
I will be a counselor all month to celebrate. Party on! 🥳

03/26/2026

☀️I'm really good at what I do and often have a waiting list. Right now I do not have a waiting list. If you have been thinking about starting therapy, now is a great time. We should be able to schedule soon. If now isn't the right time for you, reach out when you are ready. Therapists always say that we are trying to work ourselves out of a job. It is our goal to have clients improve. As clients become ready to move on with less therapeutic support, openings will happen again.🌟

02/23/2026

I do not work with children. Blackbird Psychotherapy is where I refer. Alicia is exceptional in her skills with kids.

At Blackbird Psychotherapy, our work is guided by a few core values: playfulness, collaboration, service, growth, respect, and curiosity. These values shape how we show up for children, families, and individuals every day. Therapy here is professional, intentional, and deeply human.

12/26/2025

It’s ok to release it now. Marie Kondo says that sometimes the job of a gift is to be a gift and once it has been given, its job is done. 🎁If it’s done its job it’s OK to let it go.
Did you get a fancy box of hot cocoa mix but you don’t like hot beverages? Did you get peanut brittle in the office gift exchange and you’re allergic to peanuts? Did you get that nougat candy and you have dentures? You don’t have to leave it in the back of your cupboard until it’s best by date has passed. You can give that to a food pantry now.
Did somebody very lovingly give you a pair of socks with your favorite cartoon character but the texture is all wrong and the seams bother your toes? That person does not want you to live with clutter and somebody else could be enjoying those socks now.
Did you get a beautiful warm fuzzy sweater but you haven’t worn a sweater in years because menopause? That sweater could be keeping somebody else warm now.
You don’t have to wait. If anything for any reason is something you won’t use you can let it go now. I don’t want you to be burdened with storing, and dusting, and organzing, and being responsible for things you can’t or don’t want to use. Do your friends and family want you to be burdened with clutter?
Do a google search to see where items can be donated in a way that is easy for you. I typically bring food donations to the Willie Street Co-op North because I’m going there anyway.

12/25/2025

Be gentle with yourself.

Very good advice from the wise J.S. Park

12/18/2025

I got rid of my letter jacket. I haven’t worn it since I was a junior in high school. It was still hard. Why was it not given away long ago? It probably helped that it was in storage in my parents’ closet and so I didn’t encounter it much and I never had to move it. I posted it on a free site. One woman commented that she wanted to tell me not to get rid of it. What pressure! I started to think about the burden of nostalgia. The burden of holding onto the past because I “should.” The burden of glorifying my youth. The burden of all the movies that have grandchildren cleaning out their grandparents attic and encountering the grandparents’ life souvenirs. But what was I supposed to do? Keep it in a dark closet until I died, and have my cousin burdened with putting it in my estate sale? A different woman on the free side commented that it would make her heart happy to wear it. Gosh, it felt good to give it away to somebody who is going to enjoy it. Because I did not enjoy it anymore. Good times were had when I was wearing it, but I haven’t worn it in a very long time. Now it is going to keep somebody else warm and bring her a little joy. Releasing objects gives somebody else the opportunity to enjoy them. Don’t burden yourself with objects you no longer like over some sort of thought of obligation. I have no regrets.