Pine Ridge Pastoral Counseling Services

REBUILDING TRUST AFTER AN AFFAIR: How to Maintain Empathy Under Fire. This segment seeks to help couples who struggle with trust after an affair. It especially offers guidance for the offending partner. Specifically, the solution rests on the offending spouse's ability to listen, accept and understand his/her partner's anger. Indeed, defensiveness by the betraying spouse toward his partner's pain is often a major obstacle which blocks the offended spouse from regaining tru...Continue reading

THREE KEYS TO EFFECTIVE PERSONAL JOURNALING. Personal journaling has been a big deal in counseling circles for a long time. So, what's the big deal with journaling ? (Why putting feelings in to words is so important. (www.revmichaelheath.com) It is a mainstay for most stress management strategies. Even the military, after researching its clinical effectiveness, decided to use it to help soldiers who are stressed or suffering from PTSD. Without getting too deep into the neu...Continue reading

BREAKING THE ICE: How to deepen marital intimacy through improved sexual communication. One of the most important emotional blessings of marriage is the experience of true intimacy and trust. Good communication is essential for building the trust which is needed to deal with marital challenges and problems. Knowing and understanding our partner's feelings, opinions and preferences are necessary to resolve conflicts , negotiate compromises and to make joint decisions and fut...Continue reading

Easter as a Psychological Metaphor: The Resurrection of Hope and Meaning. Easter is almost here but, to be honest and especially under COVID restrictions, it is not what it used to be. Even so, it still important even though this holiday means different things to different people. For some, Easter is a celebration of the coming of Spring. For others, it is a playful time for children and their colored eggs and chocolate bunnies. For Christians, it remains a time of spirit...Continue reading

SEX AND RELIGION : CONFESSIONS OF A PASTORAL COUNSELOR Okay, let’s start with a little Rorschach test. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words sex and religion ? Not so good. Certainly not like cookies and milk. They just don’t go together very well. From its inception, Christianity has never been comfortable with the topic of sex. It is important to remember that, when Christianity arose, Roman culture ‘s decadence was at its worst. It is under...Continue reading

MARITAL JOURNALING: HOW TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN EMOTIONALLY REACTIVE COUPLES. Journaling is very big. Everyone from therapists to staff sergeants are recommending it. Likewise there are all kinds of journals. There are food, dieting, workout , writing , prayer , dream , travel, reading, gratitude , pregnancy and creative writing journals, just to name a few. Journaling is popular for a very good reason. It is a very helpful and effective way to clarify , o...Continue reading

INTIMATE LISTENING: THE KEY TO RESTORING MARITAL TRUST AFTER BETRAYAL Certainly one of the most important qualities in a successful marriage is trust. However, when it is broken by dishonesty or betrayal, the emotional damage is so serious that the very survival of the union is uncertain. As a therapist, one of the most commonly asked questions by those seeking marriage or couples counseling is , Can trust be regained ? and Can the injuries caused by the breach ever r...Continue reading

THE CORONAVIRUS BLUES AND OUR OBSOLETE NOTIONS OF RETIREMENT. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may not be known for years but, already, one of the unexpected effects that the virus has had on those who have been forced to shelter-in-place or work from home has been create anxiety about unanswered questions concerning retirement. Retirement ? Hang on. Let me explain. More than one client has expressed similar difficulties which initially involved work restrictions ne...Continue reading

SOME THOUGHTS ON LOVE, ADDICTION AND OBSESSIION Today I want to talk about a common problem which is, unfortunately, unnecessarily experienced by many folks: being in love with an abusive or unloving partner. A common misunderstanding present in these kind of destructive situations is a fundamental confusion about the meaning of love, i.e. where sexual thrills or emotional dependency is mistaken for a mature caring and devotion. In working with individuals and couples for o...Continue reading

THE SURPRISING BENEFITS OF ADDING MORE WATER TO YOUR DIET ! One of the fundamental assumptions of psychotherapy is that, emotionally, we often confuse one thing for another. For example, a man has problems with his boss and then comes home and takes his anger out on his dog or his wife. That phenomenon is called displacement. Another example is when a person is feeling depressed and so they drink too much to numb the pain. That is called self-medicating the symptom. To eff...Continue reading

WE NEED COMPASSION MORE THAN EVER: FOUR STEPS TO INCREASING EMPATHY. Given the heightened level of tension and polarization present in today's world, empathy is, ironically, the thing which is most needed and in the shortest supply. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and care about the feelings of another. It is feeling compassion for someone else. Although neuroscience estimates that 98% of people have the neural capacity for empathy , the current level of so...Continue reading

COVID-19, Boredom and Stress Eating : 7 Tips to prevent weight gain during the coronavirus crisis. As restrictions caused by the coronavirus continue and the frustration they have created mount, one of the common casualties reported by many folks is unwanted weight gain. This phenomenon is especially problematic for those who are sheltered-at-home. Changes and restriction in daily customs and work routines has created situations where folks don't know what to do with la...Continue reading

IS COVID-19 RUINING ROMANCE IN YOUR MARRIAGE ? GET SILLY AND LAUGH ! With more and more people working at home and sheltering, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many couples are spending additional time in physical proximity to one another. This increased togetherness has resulted in many partners taking advantage of the increased opportunity and having more sex....Continue reading

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TELE-THERAPY It's been almost two months since all counseling here in New York State has been conducted via tele-therapy , i.e. over either a telephone or a video platform. At first, speaking with your counselor in this way may seem artificial or odd, but my experience and the experience of many others has been that, with a little practice, it becomes quite natural and normal....Continue reading

UNDERSTANDING AND OVERCOMING THE SELF-BLAME AND SHAME OF SEXUAL ASSAULT. Okay , my apologies for not posting earlier about this. With all the attention given to and disruptions caused by COVID-19, I almost neglected to acknowledge that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. That said , I want to address a serious two headed problem faced by many who have been sexually assaulted: Shame and Self-Blame. Too often, even after many years have passed, many folks who have experi...Continue reading

TIPS FOR COPING WITH SHELTERING-IN-PLACE LIVING Recently, I was interviewed by Spectrum News to help families regarding the challenges presented by shelter-in-place living. Here is a summary of that interview: The threat of the coronavirus has resulted in many new restrictions on our every day living. One particularly difficult change has been the order to shelter-in-place (SIP). Since schools and businesses are closed and other organizations have ordered their employees ...Continue reading

NEW YORK STATE SUSPENDS ALL MEDICAL INSURANCE CO-PAYS AND DEDUCTIBLES In an effort to make it easier for folks to cope during these stressful times which have been created by the COVID-19 crisis, New York’s governor , Andrew Cuomo, has declared that a state of emergency exists. To ensure that folks continue to seek, to receive and to be able to pay for needed counseling , in addition to requiring, non-face to face, tele-therapy sessions, the state has ordered that due to the ...virus crisis: All Insurance Co-Pays and Deductibles Are Suspended until further notice. Rev. Michael Heath, LMHC, Fellow AAPC. www.revmichaelheath/ https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry/circular_letters/cl2020_06

COVID-19 UPDATE: 3 22 2020 . In response to the unfolding coronavirus crisis, I want to re-assure everyone that Pine Ridge will continue to provide the highest quality of psychotherapy and pastoral counseling throughout this ordeal. In keeping with the best medical and public health recommendations, however, all therapy and counseling will be tele-therapy conducted via phone and video platforms.... If you have any questions about how to proceed during these trying and uncertain times, please call us at ( 315 380 1005 ) and I will be glad to help. Rev. Michael Health , LMHC, Fellow AAPC 3 22 2020 .