HOPE IS HERE

WE ACCEPT INSURANCE NOW!

Finding Hope Wellness Center is proud to announce that we are continuing our mission to provide more HOPE to children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families as we accept insurance now! And we even became in network with a new insurance recently!

See below for a list of insurances we are currently in network with:

• United Healthcare

• Optum

• Aetna

• Cigna (New!)

We accept insurance for individual counseling (children, teens, and adults), couples counseling, and psychological evaluations.

Contact us HERE for insurance and appointment inquiries, as well as to schedule a FREE 15 minute phone consultation with one of our amazing providers.

THERAPY OPENINGS NOW WITH: MRS. LEXI SAMUEL-LOPEZ

Mrs. Lexi is a practicum student at Liberty University actively working towards her Master’s degrees AND she has available appointments now!

Mrs. Lexi has experience working with children and adolescents in child welfare, as well as those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), developmental disabilities, and behavioral disorders. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Healthcare from the University of South Florida, with a concentration in Children’s Mental Health and a minor in Applied Behavior Analysis. Mrs. Lexi is passionate about helping young people who have experienced trauma find healing, resilience, and HOPE through a supportive therapeutic relationship. Mrs. Lexi is even offering discounts this fall!

Student Discount: Starting this fall, Mrs. Lexi is offering *Student discount for self-pay clients. See below for more information:

• Intake (First) session: $75; All returning sessions: $30 (savings of $20 per session!)

• Discounts applies to only students

• Discount valid for appointments from September 1, 2025- December 31, 2025

• *Must schedule with Mrs. Lexi to receive discount

Contact us HERE to learn more about Mrs. Lexi, as well as to schedule an appointment or a FREE 15 minute phone consultation.

THERAPY OPENINGS NOW WITH: DR. JANICE TORRES

Dr. Torres is one of Finding Hope Wellness Center’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Intern, who also has openings now.

Dr. Torres’s path into counseling has been shaped by a life of service as a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, school principal, mother, and the founder of a nonprofit dedicated to bridging faith and mental health. These experiences have given her a deep appreciation for the strength it takes to seek help and the healing that can come from being truly seen and heard.

Veterans Helping Veterans: Starting this fall, Dr. Torres is offering *Military & Veterans discount for self-pay clients. See below for more information:

• Intake (First) session: $75; All returning sessions: $30 (savings of $20 per session!)

• Discounts applies only to Military personnel and Veterans

• Must be able to show you are in the Military or a Veteran

• Discount valid for appointments from September 1, 2025- December 31, 2025

• *Must schedule with Dr. Torres to receive discount
  
  

Contact us HERE to schedule an appointment or a FREE 15 minute phone consultation with Dr. Torres.

National Suicide Prevention Month

September is an important month as it is National Suicide Prevention Month that emphasizes the need to raise awareness, and provide resources, help, and HOPE.

Having suicidal thoughts can be alarming and by reaching out to a loved one, trusted adult, or professional we can avoid devastating outcomes. Even having suicidal ideations, or thoughts without the intent of suicide, can become dangerous overtime. Some examples of suicidal ideations include “I wish I wasn’t here,” and “Nothing matters/ I don’t matter.” These thoughts can occur at any age. Below are some statistics of suicidal thoughts among youth and young adults from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):

• In 2023 about 12% of young adults (18- 25 years old) in the U.S. report having thoughts about suicide in the past year

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youths (10- 14 years old) in the U.S., and the third leading cause among people between the ages of 15- 24 years old

• 20% of high schoolers report having thoughts about suicide

Below are some warning signs of suicide:

• Talking about suicide/ having suicidal ideations

• Increased drug and alcohol usage

• Withdrawing from loved ones, family, friends, community

• Increased mood swings, irritability, anger

• Feeling trapped or hopeless

• Changes in one’s normal routine (i.e. sleeping more, eating less, etc.)

• Engaging/ Increasing in risky behavior

It is important to receive professional help when anything related to suicide is involved (suicidal thoughts, ideations, etc.). Below are some prevention measures from the Mayo Clinic to help one from feeling suicidal:

• Get Professional Help & Treatment. It is crucial to treat the underlying cause of one’s suicidal thoughts because if not then they are likely to return. Seeking professional help allows you to learn more about mental health, create a safety and support plan, and most importantly help keep you safe.

• Establish a Support Network. Reaching out to friends and family to discuss feelings of depression or suicide is crucial as it lets the people who care about you know what is happening and that you need support. Getting help from places of worship or support groups can also provide a sense of community and support network as feeling connected to others can help reduce suicide risk.

• Remember: Suicidal Feelings are Temporary. It is important to remember that suicidal feelings are temporary and treatment can help you regain perspective, provide help for difficulties or challenges you are facing, and life will improve. Just take one step at a time. One day at a time. One change at a time.

There are ample resources available that are completely FREE. Some resources include:

• Suicide Prevention Resource Center

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

• SAMHSA’s National Helpline

  • 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Here at Finding Hope Wellness Center we have providers who have openings NOW that can help bring back HOPE, especially if you are struggling with depression or are having suicidal thoughts. Contact us HERE for scheduling inquiries. Visit our website to learn more about our providers.

~In life threatening situations or injuries, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room

More episodes of Dr. Frey’s podcast, Mental Health Without Borders The Global Wellness Podcast, were released last month. And Dr. Frey even released a bonus episode with Dr. Thomas Phelan!

August 7: We virtually traveled back to India as Dr. Frey interviewed Dr. Richa Khanna, a U.S.-trained Counseling Psychologist who is now practicing in Mumbai, India. With a global client base of Asian Indians ages 20–40, Dr. Khanna brings an intentional, culturally grounded approach to therapy that skillfully blends Eastern wisdom with Western psychological frameworks.

August 12: Dr. Frey released a BONUS episode where she interviewed Dr. Thomas Phelan, a clinical psychologist and educator, whose work has transformed the way parents and professionals approach child behavior management. He is the author of the parenting books 1-2-3 Magic series; a simple, effective, and evidence-based parenting program that has helped millions of families worldwide create calmer, happier homes. In this episode, we explore:

• The origins and evolution of 1-2-3 Magic

• Practical tips for parents raising children in today’s fast-paced, high-stress world

• Insights into misophonia: what it is, how it develops, and tools for managing it

• Why it is so important for parents to take care of themselves for the betterment of their children and the relationship with their children

August 21: Dr. Frey met with Hannah-Valeria Grishko, a compassionate therapist from Israel. Hannah is an internationally recognized psychotherapist and Certified Trauma Specialist, whose career has spanned Ukraine, the UK, France, and now Israel. With decades of experience and a passion for trauma-informed care, grief work, and Jungian Sandplay Therapy, Hannah brings a powerful lens to emotional healing across cultures. In this episode, Hannah and Dr. Frey explore the transformative power of SandPlay Therapy in trauma and grief work, how Hannah supports immigrants and families navigating major life transitions, and what it means to heal across cultures, languages, and generations.

Click HERE to subscribe and listen to previous episodes and stay tuned for the next episode!

MENTAL HEALTH SPOTLIGHT:

Colton Miller, LMHC

Owner, Blue Skies Brain Health

Not-Enoughness: The Silent Epidemic of Modern Manhood 

By: Colton Miller, LMHC 

Anyone who knows me knows I’ve always been a competitive person. Some of that certainly comes from my experiences in sports growing up, especially being raised in a highly competitive wrestling town in Pennsylvania that treasures its local team like my grandmother treasures her old photo albums. The rest of it, I believe, can be chalked up to the many social and psychological factors that encapsulate the title of this article. While I’ve learned to value this competitive nature by harnessing some of the positives it’s brought to my life, it took years to understand the pressure I put on myself. Today, as a licensed mental health counselor and owner of Blue Skies Brain Health, I’ve come to realize that the vast majority of men I’ve worked with feel a similar type of pressure in their lives. Where does this pressure come from? Why are we constantly feeling like nothing we do is good enough? 

Let’s dive in. First off, it’s important to understand how our brains learn to think. How we think is learned over the course of our lifetime, but is especially malleable in our childhood. When we use a certain way of thinking over and over, those neural pathways grow especially strong in our brain. So what kind of thinking was used over and over in our childhoods that led to all this pressure we put on ourselves? Somewhere along the line we were clearly telling ourselves that what we were doing was not good enough. It all starts with how we received love and learned to process our emotions. 

A phrase that always rings in my head from my childhood is “suck it up!” It always felt so normal hearing that from my dad, grandfather, coaches, uncles. I don’t hate that phrase - I actually find a lot of value to this day in being able to persevere during hard times and feel comfortable gritting my way through when life requires some grit from me. What I don’t like about the phrase is that it doesn’t leave room for feeling validated or supported in your emotional experience, and does not allow for healthy emotional processing. This was the piece I was always missing. Rather than being upset and having your internal voice tell you “it doesn’t matter, you have to push through” or “this doesn’t affect me,” honoring your own emotions may sound like “I feel really upset and I’m allowed to feel upset - let me process this, understand where this is coming from, and have a positive response to this emotion.” 

Where does this “suck it up” culture come from in the first place? Survival. My grandparents were born in the Great Depression Era and, knowing what we now know about mental health, their brains were constantly living in survival mode. When your brain is in the “fight-or-flight” survival state, there is no room for emotional processing. Now I wasn’t there, but I could imagine that in 1930 when you have a household of 5+ kids with little to no money and little to no hope - there’s probably some yelling and “tough love” that goes on. They were surviving but there was no space to sit back and process their feelings in a healthy way. Guess what? The tough love that my grandparents received became wired in their brains and was then passed down to my parents when they were growing up. While my parents had more and more space to process

their own emotions over the course of their lives, they still passed down some of this “tough love” to me and my brother. It’s not their fault and I love them dearly. And, quite frankly, having this broader understanding allows me to love them even more. 

But when I didn’t have this understanding? I felt not good enough when I wasn’t holding the flashlight in quite the right spot. I felt not good enough when I didn’t achieve what my brother achieved. I felt not good enough when I lost a wrestling match (and cried hysterically when it all bubbled over). And that made me feel weak because men don’t cry. You can see how the brain starts to wire for some of these thoughts. Once the brain is wired this way it’s easy for it to keep wiring this way. In my teenage years I felt not strong enough when my peers hit puberty before me. I felt not attractive enough when I got broken up with. When adulthood came? I felt not smart enough when peers were making more money than me. I felt not lovable enough when others had long-term partners and I didn’t. I felt not entertaining enough when I hadn’t yet found my core social circle. And I definitely felt not good enough when what I saw on social media made it all look so easy. You get the idea. 

So men, what does the “not good enough” epidemic look like in our lives? It could look like getting defensive when your partner asks you to do something, working way too many hours to prove your worth professionally, becoming obsessive over physical appearance (where are my gym bros at? - yup, that was me, too), people-pleasing and not saying “no” to plans, jealousy towards other men, reacting with anger in moments of shame, and maybe even avoiding your feelings with substances, screens, or sex. All of this is rooted in not receiving love in healthy ways as a kid. That doesn’t mean your parents don’t love you - it just means that maybe you received more reprimands or punishment when you did the wrong thing rather than “atta boy’s” and “I love you’s” to reward positive behavior. 

You’re a man but you’re also a human. Humans have emotions. Stop acting like you don’t. For healthier emotional processing, start by naming your emotions: I feel hurt, I feel rejected, I feel shameful about my behavior. Try to do this especially when you’re feeling angry. Anger is just the mask we put on when we have other things we’re feeling because anger is one of the few emotions we were programmed to view as acceptable for a man to express. Next, practice self-compassion. You’ll need to reprogram your inner voice to have more self-compassion. Work towards noticing when the voice in your head is being really harsh and, instead, try speaking to yourself like how you’d speak to someone you love. Along with self-compassion, it’s very important that you interrupt the loop of overworking or overperforming. Ask yourself: “Am I doing this to feel good enough or does it truly serve me?” Then, replace this attempt to be perfect with presence instead. Take an hour break to do something that brings you joy with no outcome involved. Know that taking this break will allow you to be even more present and focused when you return. Say no to plans with friends when you’re feeling tired. Then, the next time you’re feeling social, know that taking that break to recharge is what will allow you to feel even more present and connected to your friends. 

In other words, gentlemen, more isn’t always better. I’d rather have one delicious, perfectly ripe apple to eat than 10 mangled, bruised-up apples. Don’t let your brain’s childhood programming

lead you to a personal life, work life, love life, and social life that are all bruised-up, mangled apples. Less is more, give yourself grace, and recognize the pressures that lead you to your current way of functioning. I assure you, with a little reprogramming - there is a happier, calmer, and more fulfilling way to live this life. Talking to a therapist can be a great way to start reprogramming and know you’re headed in the right direction. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It doesn’t mean you need help. If it does feel that way - this, too, is just outdated programming from generations past. All seeing a therapist means is that you care about the optimal functioning of your brain and, consequently, your life.

We HOPE you have a great month!

Contact us to schedule an appointment now at:

admin@findinghopewellnesscenter.com

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