Transitions Counseling

Providing quality mental and emotional health therapy to individuals, couples, and families in a safe, warm and compassionate environment.

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Posted on April 4, 2016

What Does Autism Mean to You?

autism awarenessAwareness

Autism awareness month is here. As I look around at schools or in neighborhoods, I see “Support Autism” signs and homes with blue lights on them. The question I ask myself is, once the month is over what’s next for autism? I do appreciate the month where autism is placed on the forefront of everyone’s mind as a reminder of such a crazy and unexplained epidemic that has taken hold of so many children and families lives. However, I am not one that celebrates the month because I live with it 365 days a year.

Family

My son Jaylon, is a walking billboard of what Autism is. He was diagnosed eleven years ago at age 3 and it has been a roller coaster ever since. I have watched him struggle to form a word to now talking back to me when I asked him to do something. Although I hate when he talks back, I love the fact that he can…

Getting Older

Now that he is a teenager, I find myself wondering about his future. What will he become as an adult and how can I get him to that goal. After years of searching, I still struggle with finding the right school setting that is able and willing to put in the time to teach him. Jaylon is so smart but it takes the right person to tap into his mind and help him learn. Although he is still developmentally behind, he has made tremendous progress that has truly inspired and amazed me.  He is my inspiration and has taught me what true love is…

Help is Here

To those that are raising a child/children with special needs, I understand your heartache, pain, love and commitment to your child/children. We have no clue as to why GOD chose us to be the caregivers to his special children. No matter how hard it gets both emotionally and financially, please know that because we were chosen to care of GOD’s child/children, GOD will always take care of and provide for us. If there’s anyway I can assist you and your family, please give me a call. We are all in this together….

dione_jaylon

This is what Autism means to me….

Dione Simmons, MA, LPC

Transitions Counseling offers flexible scheduling hours to meet most client needs and budget.
Contact us today at 817-680-9218

Filed Under: Children, Help, Parenting

Posted on March 10, 2016

Fairness <,>, or = Self Worth

I believe we have an innate sense of fairness, even from a young age. Little Johnny says, “Tommy hit me and he didn’t get in trouble, that’s not fair mommy”. As adults that innate sense of fairness doesn’t simply go away Just think of all the time at work when you got passed over for a promotion and someone less deserving got it. Or when you are at the grocery store behind someone with a cart overloaded with groceries and several coupons even though you are clearly in the express: “15 items or less” lane. During these times there is a voice screaming in our heads, “THIS IS NOT FAIR!” However, if confronted almost all adults will concede that life is not fair, we realize the concept in our heads but it does not translate to our hearts. Even as adults, we still deep down believe that life and the situations in our lives should be fair. This sense of fairness continues and in our hearts; (my mental picture of it is similar to the scales of justice) it must be balanced. With that idea in mind, if I believe on one side of the scales that I’m worthless and I don’t deserve anything, that I am lacking somehow, or I am broken and don’t deserve good things; then I’m going to balance that by treating myself and allowing myself to be treated in a way that correlates with that. Conversely, if I believe that I am deserving of love and am valuable I will treat myself and insist others treat me accordingly. We become very protective when someone treats our loved ones badly. If you don’t believe me just insult a man’s wife in front of him or mistreat a child in front of their mother. They won’t stand for it. They will demand you treat their loved ones with respect and they may even get a bit hostile in their demands for this respect. Why don’t we (this is the plural You here) deserve the same consideration? How do we begin to treat ourselves better? I mean listen to the voice inside your head, what does it say? “I am not good enough”, “I deserve to suffer”, “I am worthless”, “My opinion doesn’t matter”. How do we make others treat us better? First we have to truly believe that we really do deserve better or it will never happen. What do you think? Are you as a human being any less deserving than any other human being? If you would like help working through feelings of doubt or just dealing with a challenging life situation, give us a call at Transitions.

Christine Jeffries, M.S., LPC

Transitions Counseling offers flexible scheduling hours to meet most client needs and budget.
Contact us today at 817-680-9218

Filed Under: Change, Help, Relationships

Posted on March 2, 2016

Parenting a Child with Special Needs…

Having a child with special needs can be very overwhelming and life can be uncertain. When my son was first diagnosed with Autism, I was so lost and confused as to what will happen to him. As a parent, we all envision our children growing up, going to college, getting married and having children but when you have a child with special needs, your dreams for them are changed. I can remember feeling like a failure of doing something wrong while I was pregnant to cause his autism. Every birthday, I would get depressed because all of the data and stats stated that early treatment is the best outcome of curing or reversing autism.

The past few years, I have been really praying and walking in faith with GOD. I now understand that GOD made my son this way and choose me to be his mother. I remember praying to GOD to heal my son of autism because this is what I wanted. I now pray to GOD to make him the best person he’s sees fit. I know that GOD is in control and as long as I have faith that GOD will allow my son to be the best he can, autism or not, he will be fine in this world. I am here as his mother to allow GOD to use me to help him navigate the life he has and help mold him to be as independent as GOD sees fit. In January my son celebrated his 14th birthday. Instead of being depressed about how far behind he is of “typical” children, I looked at how far he has come and gave all the GLORY TO GOD for blessing me with an awesome child.

If you are caring for a special needs child or just need help dealing with the circumstance that is presented before you, please give us a call at Transitions Counseling so we can assist you in changing your life.

Dione Simmons, MA, LPC

Transitions Counseling offers flexible scheduling hours to meet most client needs and budget.
Contact us today at 817-680-9218

Filed Under: Change, Children, Parenting

Posted on January 7, 2016

Time For Fitness

It’s 2016 and we have so many goals and dreams we want to fulfill. One thing people want to change in their lives is their health. It is important to stay healthy, but it is hard to maintain health. Here are three key points that will help you in becoming and staying healthy.
1. Eating habits.
How many of us have said “At the beginning of the year, I am going on a diet”, but fall off within the first month? Being healthy is more important than dieting; it’s a life style change. We can go overboard with the term “diet”. There are so many different diet craves that may help you lose weight, but isn’t something that is meant to do long-term. If you try to change your eating habits, it can help you lose and maintain your weight. By cutting down on your portion size, eating more small meals throughout the day, not starving yourself, adding a salad to your meal or snacking on fruits and not junk food will help you become a more healthier eater which can lead to you in loosing and keeping the weight off. Remember: Eating healthy is 80% of the battle in weight loss.
2. Exercising.
Exercising is important to becoming and staying healthy. If you have not worked out before, please don’t start working out several days a week. By doing this, you will burn yourself out and exercising will become a chore and not something you look forward to. You should begin with exercising for a few minutes a couple of times a week. Every week you should increase your exercising time by at least 5 minutes. If you are able to join a gym, use the free training session as a way to understand the equipment that is there. It is important to understand how to workout so you don’t injure yourself. Also, exercising should be fun and there are different exercise classes you can attend such as Zumba, Hip Hop, Kickboxing etc. You can work out as a group with your friends or co-workers.
3. Conditioning your mind.
I believe the most important way to loosing and maintain your weight so you can become healthy is your determination. If you put in your mind that you will make a conscious choice to become healthy, it will help you in maintaining your eating and exercising. It is easy to talk yourself out of eating right and working out, but understand that being healthy is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It may have taken you years to become unhealthy so it will take years to become and stay healthy.
Healthy does not mean being a size 6 and unhealthy does not mean being a size 12. Healthy is what you and your doctor sees fit, so please consult your doctor to help you with becoming and staying healthy in 2016.

Dione Simmons, MA, LPC

Transitions Counseling offers flexible scheduling hours to meet most client needs and budget.
Contact us today at 817-680-9218

Filed Under: Change

Posted on January 6, 2016

How Old Is Too Old

Are you approaching the senior citizen age or actually there already? Have you retired from one job or about to? What are your plans going forward as father time creeps up on you? Well I’m glad you asked. There are many individuals that are currently faced with these questions and as yet have not found any answers.

I’m going to propose an answer to these questions that will initially sound daunting, if not flat out scary. May I suggest returning to school? I know that this presents an onslaught of other questions however, before allowing fear and interpretation to close your mind to the idea, consider the following.

It is a well-researched fact that as individuals age, the more he/she stays active mentally, the better that individual’s over-all mental health remains. Involvement in school activities not only helps keep the mind sharp, it increases social interactions in a variety of ways. Meeting new people, experiencing different cultures, being involved in all sorts of activities, and sharing your life experiences with others all lend to a healthier life style in addition to improved mental health. Depending on personal interests, needs and ambitions, returning to school can be an avenue for positive change.

On a personal note, I returned to school much later in life and found that as a non-traditional student
the over-all quality of my life has improved greatly. Avenues have opened up that I would have never imagined, I have gained new friends from all walks of life, and my goals have a much more positive spin other than just retiring and collecting retirement and Social Security. I feel that my life has begun anew.

Sorting out the idea of taking this step, at this time in life and as previously noted may appear daunting and scary. This is where the counselors here at Transitions can be of help for you. We can discuss your concerns and fears, offer some suggestions on courses of action, and walk side by side with you as you begin a new journey in your life.

Harold L. Willis,  MA, LPC, LCDC, SAP

Transitions Counseling offers flexible scheduling hours to meet most client needs and budget.
Contact us today at 817-680-9218

Filed Under: Change

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