Renteria Counseling and Wellness

I've been working in the mental health field now since 2013. I've finally hit my 10 year mark! "Am I bonafide yet?" I ask my imposter syndrome. Over the last ten years, I've hit some gems that seem to resonate with almost everyone. I find myself repeating these things to clients over and over again- sometimes to the same client! If you've worked with me before, these have probably come up in our sessions. I think there's a reason these things get repeated-- because they are important things we all need to pay attention to.  So, here's my top 5 things I most often say to my clients:  1. Breathe When in doubt, breathe. The more we can tune into our bodies and our breath, the more regulated we become. Our breath is the fastest, most accessible, easiest way to get into our bodies and still our nervous systems. We take breath work for granted so often, but it is such a beautiful skill to learn and practice.  2. Where do you feel that in your body?  I've...

 You may have heard about Intuitive Eating. What exactly is it, and how can it benefit you on your journey to heal your relationship with food and your body?  I have yet to meet a client who hasn't struggled at some point with their relationship with their body, and most of the time with that comes a difficult relationship with food. And it's no wonder: our culture is entrenched with messages specifically designed to make us loathe the skin we're in. Diet culture exists in capitalism to make us hate our bodies so that we buy products to make ourselves smaller. In 2022, the diet industry raked in $142.6 BILLION in the United States. They are making bank at the cost of our mental health and wellbeing.  Okay, let's get one thing out in the open: it's hard to love our bodies all the time. Everyone you've ever met, even the most beautiful/sexy/hot/perfect person you can think of, hates their body some days. But the relationship we have with our bodies is the longest ...

 For those who haven't met my canine co-therapist, let me introduce you to her:  Meet Fender. She's a two and a half year old Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix. She's small, but has a HUGE personality. She's imperfect. She barks during session when someone walks by the door. She struggles with boundaries because she loves to give clients kisses. And she gets away with it because she's so cute (most of the time, anyway). So, why do I have a dog as my co-therapist? Because she brings something to the table that is uniquely powerful. She invokes a relationship between human and animal that is disarming and healing. Let me explain.  Animal Assisted Therapy is an evidenced-based treatment modality in which animals are included in an intentional manner for the purpose of therapeutic benefit (ie, Fender's not just there because she's adorbs, she's there for a reason--because it's shown to be therapeutic). Many studies have shown the benefits of utilizing Animal Assi...

 Not sure about ya'll, but I'm feeling the effects of Daylight Savings Time coming to an end! I bet you are, too. The other day, I started seeing clients at 10 am, and I swear I looked at the clock assuming it was 2 pm, only to find it was 11:30. Three days out of the week, I work pretty late into the evening, so I'm used to it being dark when I leave. But during my early days, when I head home, it's pitch black outside! Miss you, sunshine. 💔💔💔 Daylight Savings Time, and when it ends in the fall/winter months, has a profound effect on our circadian rhythm (read: our body's internal clock that's always running in the background). When our circadian rhythm gets disrupted, we feel it by having difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking early. We might even experience lower quality sleep. The whole circadian rhythm thing also affects our appetite and our mood. This is because less exposure to sunlight causes a dip in serotonin (feel good b rain chemical...

 Hi Everyone! Long time, no blog. I wanted to provide an update about a new service that I'm offering: trauma-sensitive yoga. This past year, I've been up to lots of things, but my focus has primarily been on obtaining my yoga teacher certification. Why, you ask? What business does a therapist have offering yoga classes to the public? Well, lots of reasons.  First and foremost, have you seen the research out there about yoga and mental health? It's pretty compelling. In his book The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van der Kolk talks about how trauma has real physical effects on our bodies. Folks with trauma disorders or anxiety disorders are more likely to suffer from chronic pain, autoimmune disorders, insomnia, fatigue, unexplained headaches, stomach aches, and chest pain, and a general feeling of disconnection from their bodies. Heart rate variability (HRV), the tiny fluctuations between our heartbeats, is also affected by trauma. When our autonomic nervous system (the part...

  Anxiety disorders affect about 20% of the population. We all experience anxiety from time to time- it's part of being human and it's a normal part of life. But if anxiety isn't managed and creates problems in your work/school life, relationships, or daily functioning, it can become really problematic. It's hard to deal with anxiety when you're in the midst of it. It can feel like your heart is racing, your mind is scrambled eggs, your body is tense, or like something bad is going to happen. It's exhausting. Below, you'll find 10 quick tips I often share with clients to use when anxiety creeps up. These aren't your mama's coping skills. Try them out and see what works for you. Keep 'em in your back pocket to pull out the next time you feel anxious.  1. Five-Four-Three-Two-One This one helps to ground you by getting you out of your head and back into the safety of the present moment.  Remember your five senses? Go back to kindergarten with me for...

Meeting our own needs. It's simple. But simple doesn't always mean easy.  One thing that I've been thinking about lately is how intuitive our minds and bodies really are. We need sleep? Our eyes feel heavy, almost as if they are closing up shop, telling us it's time to go to bed. We're hungry? Our bellies growl, signaling their emptiness and indicating their need for nourishment. We're feeling sad? Tears well up in our eyes, notifying us of our need to have a good cry and let it out. We're happy? We smile. We laugh. We feel warm and content.  Our bodies and minds are pretty instinctive. They know what they need. It's just that we don't always listen to them. We fight them and argue with them that we know what's best, not them. But when we hear them out? When we surrender to them and meet their needs? Something really awesome happens.  There are lots of reasons why we may not listen to our minds and bodies, or tune them out. Maybe what our minds o...