Open Paths Counseling Center

Open Paths is a counseling center located in Culver City (Los Angeles County) that offers a wide range of mental health services for: adults, children, adolescents, couples, and families. Mental Health services are provided in both English and Spanish. Open Paths also has a variety of groups, and a domestic violence program (Another Way Program). Services are provided by licensed mental health professionals and pre-licensed in-training Marriage and Family Therapists, and are aimed at the clients’ needs and financial situation.

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The Male: Not just the batterer, but also a victim

Author: Alejandro Gaspar

In the story of domestic violence the characters have always been identified in the following manner: the female is the victim and the male is the batterer.  As a result, there is an abundant amount of research that looks at the effects that domestic violence has on females and this research has led to the creation of many support groups for this population. This is all fine and good because it is important to look at how domestic violence can affect the female victim, but why are we only focusing our attention on the female character of this story? What happens when the roles change?  If the victim is the male and the batterer is the female, does the male get the same help and attention?

This may sound strange, but this role change occurs more often than you think. Approximately 25-50% of males go through this role change. These numbers are for the United States alone, and do not reflect any other nation.  So if the percentage is this high for male victims in one nation, then why is there such little research done?  Can it be that we have stereotyped the gender roles in this type of situation?

Male victims go through a different type of domestic violence.  These victims suffer from intimate terrorism (IT) – a form of intimate partner violence (IPV) that is characterized by intense violence and manipulative behaviors.  As a result these individuals have been classified as part of the common couple violence (CCV) – this form of IPV is normally classified as: lower level of abuse. There is limited amount of work done that explores the victimization of males in a domestic violent situation.  Domestic violence is a two way street, and males face two different issues when reporting domestic violence.  One issue is that they do not report their current victimization in the abusive relationship, and two is that there seems to be little to no assistance for the male victims after reporting the abuse by their spouses. Some research has shown that alcohol consumption is one of the outreaches that many males take when being victimized in an abusive relationship. There is also an increase of drug abuse, and medication abuse as a way to cope with the abuse at home. Other researchers have found that there are some levels of discrimination within the judicial system that make the male victims not want to report their abuse or get a restraining warrant against their female abuser. This is because some judges see this type of abuse as the lowest level of domestic violence. Another problem that male victims face in seeking help is the very limited amount of resources that are available to them. In some cases, it is suggested that these victims should join a female support group due to the lack of resources. Finally, we see that even in the LGBT community there are other obstacles that the male victims face. In a relationship where both members are male and domestic violence is present, the male victim gets little to no support due to the stereotype that we all have developed for the roles of the batterer and the victim.  This means that the victim does not fit the “typical” role of the victim.

It is important that another look is taken in the way we view the roles in domestic violence.  As expressed, there is not much work done with the male victims of domestic violence. Organizations should also look at this population and provide services for these individuals.  As therapists it would be a great benefit to obtain additional training in working with all domestic violence victims, and having an understanding of the different struggles that the male victims have to endure. There needs to be more awareness so that when a domestic violence situation is brought to attention, there is not the assumption that the victim can only be one specific gender.

Blog contributor Alejandro Gaspar is a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Nancy Sisti MFC 39677. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish.  If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Therapy

Being a therapist can be an amazing profession full of challenges, heartaches, and celebration. We see you at your worst and see you at your best, but there is no better reward to see you succeed.

Great article for therapists and clients, alike.

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The past does not have to be your prison. You have a voice in your destiny. You have a say in your life. You have a choice in the path you take.

Max Lucado (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

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10 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be A Good Spouse

I had decades of research at my fingertips to help my spouse and me figure out what it really means to be a good spouse. Why not harness those resources for our wedding?...

Here is an excellent article on making your relationship work!

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Ellen Page Joins HRCF's Time to Thrive Conference

These are such powerful, and inspirational words.

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Intimacy with Ourselves: Part II

by Danny Chazanas

By slowly cultivating a space that allows anxiety (or any other distressing internal experience) to simply exist as part of life, one learns how to gently receive unpleasant experience. Rather than try to silence the voice of distress, we listen to it. Rather than reject it, we give it room to express itself. At our own pace, we allow the beach ball to rise to the surface, getting to know it more intimately. Exploring our pain in the present  moment may seem like the last thing we want to do, and there’s no blame in that; it sure isn’t an ice cream sunday carnival ride. But it does lead to some place new, a place where we’re no longer running away from ourselves, forever escaping towards an imagined salvation that never comes. 

A psychotherapist is someone who can help us stop running away by holding our hand with compassion as we slow down, pause, then slowly turn towards what we’ve been scared of for so long. A skilled professional is someone who holds that space of courage and care where our fears can be known and felt all the way to their core. Over time and at our own pace, we can become intimate with all aspects of our experience by learning how to peacefully coexist with everything we once fearfully rejected. 

The need to run far and fast gradually falls away because what we’ve been running from has been finally and mercifully unmasked. When the true nature of these fears have been known, they no longer pose a threat because they are recognized as the wounded aspects of ourselves, finally brought into the healing embrace of our kind attention. 

We may gratefully come to learn that behind the masks of anxiety and depression often lie the converse qualities of peace and joy. Though this process may move swiftly at times, it usually takes time, patience, and commitment to fully bear fruit.

Along this journey we may come to learn that, paradoxically, suffering provides the doorway into the very thing we’ve been yearning for; a true and lasting redemption from our personal “problems.” 

If we follow this path of gentle, gradual self-exploration, we let go of the twin struggles of fighting and fleeing, which only distance us from what we really need by keeping us in perpetual conflict and separation.

Choosing acceptance over rejection, mercy over judgement, courage over avoidance, we come to rest ever deeper in a greater totality of our being. That which was once hated, unwanted, and feared is finally known and integrated into our being, providing lasting transformation and coloring our worldview with greater joy, wisdom and compassion.

Blog contributor Danny Chazanas is a BBS registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, IMF #74768, being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Kristen Farish MFT, MFC 52665. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission of the center is to provide the highest quality treatment to the community at affordable rates.  If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy or counseling, visit http://openpaths.org.

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Can you remember who you were before people told you who you ought to be?

unknown

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Federal appeals court upholds Calif. ban on reparative therapy for minors

SAN FRANCISCO --A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its ruling upholding a California law that prohibits psychological counseling aimed at changing a minor's sexual orientation.

This is a major win. California's ban of reparative therapy on minors is still upheld.

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Meet Our Therapists: Danny Chazanas, M.A.

I work together with my clients to cultivate authenticity, awareness, and compassion in order to find practical solutions to whatever is on the table for them, no matter how impossibly dire a current situation may appear. My understanding of wholeness and well-being is drawn directly from the variety of personal challenges I’ve faced in my own life. Oftentimes, what underlies our suffering is a longing to fulfill universal human needs; the need to feel truly connected to self and others, to experience the joy, love and freedom of an open heart, and to relax into one’s natural presence. Forming a trusting, safe, and collaborative therapeutic connection is at the foundation of my work. I draw from mindful awareness, somatic psychotherapy, psychodynamic and transpersonal theory, along with cognitive-behavioral therapy to create a holistic therapy that is attuned to my clients’ specific needs. Areas of specialty include traumatic stress, anxiety issues, intimacy challenges, OCD, and personal growth. Se habla Español.

Danny Chazanas, M.A., is a Marriage and Family Therapy Intern, IMF #74768, Supervised at Open Paths by Kristen Farish, MFT, MFC 42665. He also co-facilitates our Social Anxiety therapy group with Hanako Lee, M.A., and is a contributing writer at Open Paths Insights. Visit http://www.openpaths.org for more information.

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Intimacy with Ourselves: Part I

By Danny Chazanas

When someone seeks out a therapist, it’s usually because they’ve identified “problems” they want help with. They experience a psychological difficulty or life challenge that somehow stands in the way of their contentment. The identified problem can really be just about anything within the conditions of human suffering. The person seeking help (client) typically experiences the problem as simply too much for them to handle alone. Hence, they reach out for help, often seeking out a “professional” in the form of a counselor or therapist. The client hopes that the therapist will do something to diminish their pain and suffering.

Usually, the therapist indeed does something to try and help – some kind of intervention that could help to diminish the client’s suffering. Simply listening to the client with an empathetic ear is one such intervention. Another might be to help the client take apart their problem in order to understand it better, perhaps finding it’s origin; the rationale being that deeper insight may lead to a lessening of suffering. Yet another strategy may be to encourage the client to get in touch with repressed feelings in the hopes that this will resolve the client’s distress. While all these interventions may temporarily diminish the severity of the client’s problem, there is another way to relate to human suffering which is all too often overlooked.

This way begins by exploring our relationship to suffering; how we identify something as a “problem,” then work hard to get rid of it. For someone with anxiety symptoms, great efforts may be made in order to not feel anxious. This anxious person may take medication, enroll in yoga classes, meditate, make positive affirmations, eat the right foods, learn to express their feelings, and explore their childhood for the source of their anxiety. While all these actions may indeed reduce anxiety, they also - and perhaps most importantly - set up an anti-anxiety orientation where “anxiety” becomes something to get rid of as soon as possible. The suffering person is then standing in direct opposition to his anxious symptoms.

With an anti-anxiety orientation firmly in place, an inner conflict has now been created. A showdown between the sufferer and his “problem” follows, which we will soon see, only fosters more suffering. The sufferer then reaches for a variety of strategies to diminish or destroy the anxious symptoms. While these strategies may work in the short term, they ultimately only serve to strengthen anxiety over the long haul.

Why is this? Because when we look closely at many good-faith strategies to diminish anxiety, we realize we’re actually saying “NO” to anxiety. How often have you heard someone say, “I just hate feeling this way?”

What’s at play here is a subtle yet powerful form of rejection, with the anxiety sufferer rejecting a very personal aspect of his experience through a kind of hate. This anti-anxiety stance only strengthens the anxiety, because resistance to unwanted experience keeps that very experience alive.

Think of trying to hold a beach ball under water: The further we push it down, the more pressure it exerts in trying to rise up. The more we resist something, the more it nags and persists for our attention. This is not to say that external problems, such as being abused by an intimate partner, require mere acceptance. A situation like domestic violence requires a sober recognition of the problem and decisive action steps on the part of the victim.

However, when it comes to distressing internal experiences, such as anxiety, anger, or depression, there is another way to respond to this “beach ball” that keeps on pushing upward . Gradually, we can let it rise up and be here in this moment. We can notice the degree of fear we may have about simply allowing it to be in the here-and-now. Perhaps there’s even terror that our anxiety, depression, or anger will totally consume us, leave us wounded, dead or insane.

The question then becomes whether we can gently let ourselves feel into the edges of this pain, getting to know it’s flavor in our body and mind. This is not an intellectual exploration where we analytically talk about and around our “problems,” seeking a mental solution, but rather a direct sensing into how pain expresses itself in this very moment, in our bodies and minds.

Right now, can you trace pain’s contours and listen to its words? Can you feel its unique rhythm and vibration? Take note of how much you don’t want these thoughts and feelings, how much you unconsciously push them away when they arise; and how they keep on arising day in and day out, despite your best efforts to be over them already.

(Part II of this article will further explore this skillful, more effective way to relate to our pain - a way that leads us to a life of greater peace and freedom.)

Blog contributor Danny Chazanas is a BBS registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, IMF #74768, being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Kristen Farish MFT, MFC 52665. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission of the center is to provide the highest quality treatment to the community at affordable rates. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy or counseling, visit http://openpaths.org.

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Grief and Loss Written By: Stephanie Mora

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about grief. It has struck a chord within me personally because a few months ago I suffered a loss; the loss of a relationship. It is this personal loss, and some words people have said to me regarding my loss that has me pondering grief in its entirety.

Grief is a universal word because it is one that we are all familiar with. We are all familiar with the feelings that accompany grief. We have all been struck with this sadness, and pain that seems to affect our entire being. For me, the feelings of sadness and pain can flood my mind so quickly that I can actually feely my entire body physically ache. We all experience feelings of anger and frustration, also. It is as if grief has this way of almost forcing us to question everything, and this can spiral into an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness.

If you google the word grief the majority of pages that come up refer to bereavement which indicates mourning the death of a loved one. Now, I know how incredibly devastating death is. Most of us have experienced first-hand what it is like to try and function in the aftermath of death. I am not in any way minimizing bereavement; I just want to make the point that grief encompasses more than just bereavement.

It is invalidating to try and limit grief to just one kind of loss. I have had more than one person say to me that they don’t think they have the right to be upset because after all, it is just a job loss or they knew they should not have gotten involved with that person to begin with. I say that this is unfair; why must we be so unfair to ourselves? There are many different kinds of loss that people experience: from the end of relationships or friendships to unemployment to ill health to being estranged from one’s family. Really, what grief signifies is some sort of loss whether it be tangible or abstract.

It is also important to remember that there is absolutely no time table on grief. Over the holidays, after someone asked me about the end of my relationship, I started crying. I could not help it. When this person witnessed the way that I had reacted to their question they said, “It has been three months. Shouldn’t you be able to talk about this without crying by now?” The answer is quite simple. Who are you to tell me how I should be feeling or how quickly I should be healing?

I know that in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) there are a lot of time frames set for specific symptoms, but quite frankly the idea of someone being able to determine how long a person needs to grieve is ridiculous. We are all different people, and we all grieve in different ways. I am sure that everyone has heard that before, but it is true. We all grieve in different ways. Each person will have their own unique process, and some may need more time than others.

No matter what kind of loss you are experiencing there will be good days and bad days. Some days will be better than others and you will feel perfectly fine, but there will also be days where the smallest thing will trigger you and the grief will just hit you hard. I know that it will be difficult to do, but try not to be so hard on yourself. You are allowed to grieve, and you are allowed to be sad and angry. Most importantly you have the right to grieve no matter what the loss may be, and you have the right to take your time with your own healing process. Blog contributor Stephanie Mora is a BBS registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, IMF #77700, being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Nancy Sisti MFC 39677. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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Getting Therapeutic in School By Open Paths MFT Intern Nicole Casimiro -

I have had the great opportunity of working in the School Program for Open Paths Counseling Center, and am now starting on my second school year. Since 1998, Open Paths has been offering one-on-one counseling to at-risk students in our local community. We provide free services to children and adolescents from kindergarten all the way up to high school. A few of the schools we currently work with include Westside Global Awareness Magnet, Mar Vista Elementary, Venice High, Braddock Drive Elementary and Playa del Rey Elementary.

Because I can’t speak for all of the other therapists who have worked in the program, I will be more than happy to describe my own time there. It has certainly been an eye-opener to say the least. I have discovered that children and adolescents themselves can be very interesting, intelligent, complicated, liberating, and quite profound. Of course there are many issues that come to the forefront that therapists work with, including children of divorce, abandonment, aggression, depression, bullying, hyperactivity, abuse, self-harm, grief, peer-pressure and loneliness. Counseling offers a safe environment where they can freely express their thoughts and feelings, that they otherwise might not have the chance to do so elsewhere.

Play therapy and art therapy are greatly utilized, sometimes as an adjunct, and other times as the main form of expression, especially for those who are not as adept in verbal communication. More specifically, mediums like clay, drawing, painting, pipe cleaners, puppets, masks, games, and other projects have been included in sessions. One of the great things about the school program is that therapists are free to be as creative as they wish in helping children and adolescents express themselves, something both parties can definitely appreciate.

In addition to one-on-one counseling, Open Paths also offers group counseling at the school sites as well. I myself conducted an all-girls, anger management group last year at Venice High, and will be starting the next one very soon. As some students have attested to, group experience can be very life changing. For a student to share her deepest insecurities in front of her peers, and still get support and acceptance from them, can be enormously therapeutic and comforting.

If you are a child at heart, some more pronounced than others (raises hand), there are few things in the world that can be as satisfying and fulfilling than working with children and adolescents. Sure I haven’t played video games since I was young and may not be up to date with the trends and times of the youth, but who knew I could acquire so much knowledge about Minecraft in just one session? Their spirit can be infectious, which makes it that much easier to be passionate about this line of work. This program offers the privilege to be able to really look into the soul of children, which can be both heartbreaking and beautiful.

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Open Paths Parenting Group

Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs, hands down. At times it can even be a thankless job. Parents juggle several different tasks in order to do what is best for their children; hence the birth of the term “super mom.” To be fair the term should be coined “super parent” because the majority of fathers juggle different tasks as well. Then, of course, life has a way of throwing in curve balls that come in the form of marital discord, divorces, single parenting, domestic violence, deaths in the family, and many more unexpected situations that occur that make parenting that much more difficult. Really, parents deserve more credit where credit is due.

For those curve balls and unexpected situations that arise, Open Paths Counseling Center provides a Parenting Group. Often times when there is marital discord, divorce, and domestic violence parenting classes become court mandated. The Parenting Group at Open Paths is court approved based on the curriculum we use, and any parent can fulfill their court requirement by attending the group. The facilitators of the group also know that having a court mandate is one extra unexpected occurrence, and are there to make the time and process easier.

The Parenting Group at Open Paths are also open to any parent that feels like they need the extra support, and wants to learn some new skills. Parenting Group is an excellent way for parents to share their experiences, hear experiences and new perspectives from other parents, and learn new skills to add to their pre-existing parenting toolbox. In the end it comes down to the added support for parents because with everything that parents have to manage now a days having that extra support is important.

Parenting is a 12 week class, but it is an ongoing, weekly group so parents who need to come more than 12 weeks can fulfill their requirement by attending as groups as needed. It is not necessary to attend all 12 classes in a row to complete; parents can miss a week if necessary and just pick up with the class the following week. Half of the group is process and the other half is curriculum. During the process part of the group parents can share what’s happening in their lives and with their children, and their hardships. During the curriculum part of the group a certain topic is covered each week, and the facilitators give the information for each topic. However, parents are asked to participate in the discussion of curriculum as well by sharing their own experiences.

Before any can start the Parenting Group, they have to complete an intake with one of the facilitators. An intake is simply the chance for one of the therapists to sit down with you one on one, get to know you better, and understand your unique situation.

Parenting Group at Open Paths is held on Tuesday mornings from 9-10:30. For more information or to get started contact: Stephanie [phone] or Jodi [phone].

Blog contributor Stephanie Mora is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern Applicant being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Kendall Evans MFC 18694. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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When Communication Breaks Down

There is nothing like a Government shutdown to remind us of the importance of communication. Open communication is the key to functional relationships, and when it breaks down the results can be ugly, costing individuals and institutions valuable time, money, and sanity. In some cases it can even lead to violence and legal troubles.

At their core, communication breakdowns are often centered around three principles; power, control, and fear. Whether at home or in the workplace, the following examples are some of the most common communication breakdowns that occur in our day-to-day relationships, and some tips on how to identify them and become better communicators.

Building a Wall -- “Stonewalling” is a term used to define a person or institution that simply refuses to communicate at all. They use silence as a weapon, and gain power and control by not engaging in any discussions or negotiations on the matter at hand. Many people who use stonewalling as a defense also feel extremely threatened by confrontation and have likely built up resentments over a period of time. If you struggle with stonewalling as your communication defense, then it might help to identify feelings that trigger you before the walls go up. What are you feeling? Anger? Resentment? Hopelessness? Perhaps the first step in fighting your urge to stonewall begins with communicating your honest feelings to the other party. Let them know you are becoming frustrated and need time to think about an issue before you get back to them. If you feel they are not listening to you, communicate to them that you do not feel heard when you voice your concerns. The key is to remain engaged in communication as much as possible, even if it is uncomfortable to do so.

Texting Tragedies -- In the age of Twitter, texting, and email, more people are communicating with each other than ever before. These resources can be a great way to do business and keep up with friends and family, but they can also create significant communication breakdowns. Texting and email are quick and abbreviated forms of typed communication that are void of the physical (face and body language) or verbal (voice tone) cues. Physical and verbal cues help us create a context for how to interpret the message being sent. Without these cues we run the risk of misinterpreting the message because of the lack of important emotional information inherent to the medium. Two tips; Always ask for clarity if you are unsure of the meaning of the message, and never discuss critical issues using texting and email as your only source of communication. If it is important, it is at least worth a phone conversation.

Blog contributor Niki Moore is a BBS registered Intern #IMF 68104 being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Kristen Faris MFC 42665. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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When Communication Breaks Down

There is nothing like a Government shutdown to remind us of the importance of communication. Open communication is the key to functional relationships, and when it breaks down the results can be ugly, costing individuals and institutions valuable time, money, and sanity. In some cases it can even lead to violence and legal troubles.

At their core, communication breakdowns are often centered around three principles; power, control, and fear. Whether at home or in the workplace, the following examples are some of the most common communication breakdowns that occur in our day-to-day relationships, and some tips on how to identify them and become better communicators.

Building a Wall -- “Stonewalling” is a term used to define a person or institution that simply refuses to communicate at all. They use silence as a weapon, and gain power and control by not engaging in any discussions or negotiations on the matter at hand. Many people who use stonewalling as a defense also feel extremely threatened by confrontation and have likely built up resentments over a period of time. If you struggle with stonewalling as your communication defense, then it might help to identify feelings that trigger you before the walls go up. What are you feeling? Anger? Resentment? Hopelessness? Perhaps the first step in fighting your urge to stonewall begins with communicating your honest feelings to the other party. Let them know you are becoming frustrated and need time to think about an issue before you get back to them. If you feel they are not listening to you, communicate to them that you do not feel heard when you voice your concerns. The key is to remain engaged in communication as much as possible, even if it is uncomfortable to do so.

Texting Tragedies -- In the age of Twitter, texting, and email, more people are communicating with each other than ever before. These resources can be a great way to do business and keep up with friends and family, but they can also create significant communication breakdowns. Texting and email are quick and abbreviated forms of typed communication that are void of the physical (face and body language) or verbal (voice tone) cues. Physical and verbal cues help us create a context for how to interpret the message being sent. Without these cues we run the risk of misinterpreting the message because of the lack of important emotional information inherent to the medium. Two tips; Always ask for clarity if you are unsure of the meaning of the message, and never discuss critical issues using texting and email as your only source of communication. If it is important, it is at least worth a phone conversation.

Blog contributor Niki Moore is a BBS registered Intern #IMF 68104 being Supervised at Open Paths Counseling Center by LMFT Kristen Faris MFC 42665. Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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What to do if you or someone you love engages in self-injury

Self-injury is a sensitive topic, and self-injurious behavior is widely misunderstood by almost everyone, including professionals. It is important to know that cutting is not the only form of self-injurious behavior, others include: burning, scratching, head-banging, over-dose (pill taking), and self-embedding (placing objects under the skin.) Other widely held assumptions by the public are: people who self-injure are suicidal, people who self-injure are attention-seeking, if the wounds are not that bad it is not that serious, people who self-injure could stop if they wanted to, and if a person self-injures they have a Borderline Personality Disorder.

People who self-injure are usually just trying to cope with their current pain. This leads directly into the next myth; self-injury is done purposely to seek attention. Self-injury is used as a coping mechanism as opposed to an attention seeking behavior. In fact, most people desperately try to cover up their wounds, and they experience feelings of shame and guilt surrounding the self-injurious behavior.

In the United States, the number of reported self-injury cases is on the rise especially in adolescents. Self-Injury is a subject that requires more attention and more understanding by mental health professionals and the general public, as to not shame or guilt people who self-injure even further.

Self-injury is a sensitive subject to approach, but it is of utmost importance to ensure that the person engaging in self-injury is not put down or shamed for their behavior. It is most likely that they are just trying to cope with a difficult situation or feeling, and shame themselves enough already. If your teenager or a loved one is engaging in self-injury it is beneficial for them get treatment as soon as possible so they have a safe place to share their feelings. What you can do for your teenager or loved one is to let them know that you are available to listen to them with out judgment. Do not ask them why they have resorted to self-injury and try not to minimize what they are going through. Instead encourage them to discuss their feelings with you or a mental health professional so that their emotions can be expressed in a healthy way.

Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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Open Paths Offers Groups

In addition to therapy for individuals, couples and families, Open Paths offers groups for parents looking to improve their communication skills (also for court-appointed parents), a social anxiety group that addresses participants fears and teaches useful tools to overcome the challenges some of us face in social situations, anger management groups and more.

Open Paths offers services on a sliding-scale basis depending on your net income. The mission is to provide affordable, accessible treatment to the community in English and Spanish. If you are dealing with issues that might be helped through talk therapy go to http://openpaths.org.

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