Oftentimes, we get so busy taking care of our responsibilities and other people that our own needs come last. While practicing self-care might seem frivolous or like a trendy buzzword, it’s essential for overall health.

Family members depend on each other for physical, emotional, and financial support. Over time, family members develop an overall dynamic - that is, the relationships, roles, and boundaries that shape their interactions.

The family dynamic determines how each family functions as a unit. Some families have an enmeshed system, meaning that family members each have minimal independence. On the other end of the spectrum are rigid family systems, in which there are many boundaries that limit communication, making members feel isolated and separate from the family unit.

Over the last six years, antidepressant prescription rates have increased by 35%. While these medications can do wonderful things to improve mental health, many people report sexual side effects, with a top concern being decreased libido.

Understanding why antidepressants cause sexual side effects can help you determine a path forward, whether that’s choosing to take the medication in the first place or adjusting your prescription. Additionally, there are steps you can take to address these side effects and improve your libido, which we’ll discuss below.

Do you find yourself speaking in extremes about dating? Whether you think that your ideal partner doesn’t exist or all the good ones are already married, this kind of thinking is the perfect example of a scarcity mindset.

With this mindset, you’ll likely remain single or feel stuck with people who aren’t right for you. Let’s discuss how to spot a scarcity mindset, what it does to your dating life, and how you can overcome it by building your self-esteem.

Deciding to start therapy and invest in your mental health is a huge step that you should feel proud to have made. But what happens when you are in therapy and struggle to do the work? For some people, this can show up as avoidance and resistance - avoiding sharing their struggles or resisting the techniques offered by their therapists.

Why do you make the effort to seek out therapy, only to resist or avoid it? What does it really mean about you? And, even more importantly, what can you do about it? We’ll discuss these questions below.

Your partner is someone you love deeply. But if you’re like most people, this is also the person you argue with most. Many people enter arguments with the desire to show their partner their point of view, and ultimately to find that they’re the correct one in the dispute. After all, it’s human nature to believe that your opinion is correct.

But being “right” doesn’t necessarily mean a step forward for your relationship. In fact, sometimes insisting on being right can even be detrimental to the bond you share with your partner - especially if you’re willing to go to extreme lengths to prove your point. Plus, research from Dr. John Gottman shows that 69% of the time, couples argue about unsolvable perpetual problems. In other words, you’re unlikely to resolve the things you fight about most often, typically because of fundamental differences.

Narcissists are overwhelmingly focused on themselves, lacking the ability to empathize and even care about others. If you find yourself in a relationship with a narcissist, you might wonder if the partnership is doomed. Is it possible to have a successful, healthy relationship with someone who is so fixated on themselves? We’ll explore this question in the article below.

When you’re dealing with a tough work environment, what do you do? For many, the answer is to push their feelings aside at work and cope with the adverse effects once they get home. But this approach doesn’t work - we spend roughly a third of our lives at work. At some point, those feelings will catch up with you. And, if you’re dealing with mental health issues outside of work, they will undoubtedly follow you into the office.

To put it simply, advocating for your mental health in the workplace is critical for a healthy life. You spend the majority of your waking time at work, so making it a healthy environment is essential. Here’s how to do it.

Your doctor may clear you to have sex as soon as six weeks after giving birth, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll want to. In fact, having children of any age can affect your sex life. Your physical, emotional, and mental states are different after having kids, all of which play into your sex drive.

Still, sex is a critical part of a romantic relationship. It strengthens the bond between yourself and your partner and helps fulfill the needs of both parties. So how do you get back to your regular sex lives when enjoying sex feels impossible? Read on for my best tips as a trained sex therapist.

It’s easy to lose yourself in a relationship. You may show up to your first date as the best version of yourself, ready to impress and entice the other person. As you grow closer to your partner, the lines between the two of you start to blur. You spend more time together than apart, you make decisions as a team, and you depend on each other to care for your physical, emotional, and mental needs.

By the time your months or years into the relationship, you may find yourself wondering where that “best version” person went. How did you go from being an independent single person to feeling like you’re one-half of a whole? As a matter of fact, you might be wondering where your partner’s individuality went, too.

Dating at any age comes with its challenges. For people in their twenties, finding dates with similar life goals can be difficult. For folks in their sixties, it may seem like there are few age-appropriate matches to begin with. Meanwhile, people of all ages may struggle to find dates with people who share the same values.

So, how can you find dates that are worth the time and effort? Here’s an in-depth guide.

The longer you spend with your partner, the less likely you are to break up. According to one longitudinal study, there’s a 10% drop in the likelihood of a breakup for every year you’re together beyond the 5-year point. Married couples have an even lower likelihood of splitting. That makes sense since the longer you’re with someone, the more challenges you face and overcome together, creating a stronger bond.

So, why do we see a consistent pattern of couples breaking up at the three, seven, and 11-year markers? With all that time invested to overcome hurdles, why end things? While every relationship is different, there are some common themes we can point out.

You’ve likely heard phrases like “go with your gut” and “think with your heart.” While these may seem like simple expressions, there’s actually some truth to them. Neuroscience now shows us that we have three “brains” - the mind, heart, and gut. To put it simply, each of these areas has neurotransmitters, sensory neurons, motor neurons, and ganglia. They absorb, process, store, and access information - just like a brain.

So, when you feel pulled in multiple directions by each of these areas, it’s for good reason. Here’s what the heart, mind, and gut can tell you, as well as which you should listen to.

As you grow up, it’s fairly common to fantasize and imagine what your first time having sex will be like. But what happens after that first sexual experience? Sex requires exploration and practice to figure out what you actually like or don’t like. Yet we don’t often discuss this process.

As you grow up, it’s fairly common to fantasize and imagine what your first time having sex will be like. But what happens after that first sexual experience? Sex requires exploration and practice to figure out what you actually like or don’t like. Yet we don’t often discuss this process.

If you aren’t sure what exactly turns you on, you’re not alone. Many people never give themselves the chance to investigate this topic. Perhaps you’ve had just one partner - or maybe, you tend to stick to the same routine because it’s familiar. Either way, it’s never too late to start exploring.

Have you ever set a New Year’s resolution, only to find yourself failing less than a month in? Or, perhaps you’ve decided you’re finally going to start that side hustle, but then you struggle to get off the couch and take action. Whatever the case may be, we’ve all been there. Motivation - the drive to reach your goals - is so critical for action, yet it’s also fleeting. Here’s how to stay motivated - or, at the very least, get the work done even when you don't feel like it.

The heightened emotions you experience when you enter a relationship with another person can be overwhelming. You likely feel like you have undeniable chemistry - that you’re head over heels in love. However, when you take a closer look at your thoughts and feelings, you might find that you’re not actually in love - you’re strongly attached. So, how can you tell the difference between attachment and love? Shouldn’t you be attached to the person you're in love with? Let’s discuss.

Anxiety is a key human emotion - it’s what helps us prevent and avoid getting into hazardous situations. You might think that anxiety and arousal are completely separate - one is an emotion that warns us of impending danger, the other is a physiological and psychological state that tells us that it’s time to have sex. For some people, anxious feelings can impair sexual arousal and turn them off. For others, feeling anxious can actually mimic the feeling of arousal. In the latter case, it can feel concerning and confusing. Understanding your deeper underlying emotions can help you either accept your sexuality for what it is, or learn to break the cycle if need be.

Experiencing erectile dysfunction can certainly feel lonely and shameful - like you’re the only person with this problem. If you’re in this camp, you might be surprised to find out that erectile dysfunction (ED) is actually incredibly common. In fact, ED affects around 18 million American men ages 20 and up. That number may be even higher, as it’s likely that cases of ED are under-reported.

Most of us are taught that the desire to have sex is intrinsic - that we all just have a naturally low or high libido. A mismatch in sexual desire levels is also a prime reason that couples enter sex therapy. When one person feels like they must always initiate sex and the other never thinks about sex, it can create problematic ripples across the entire relationship. One person might feel undesired while the other feels broken, like something is wrong with them.