Greer Therapy Services

07/26/2025

I see you 💕💕

05/03/2025

03/12/2025

02/23/2025

Due to some medical issues last year, I paused my Menopause Certification training but have resumed it. I'm going to wait until I've completed it to start back up with Menopause Mondays, but that will be coming in the near future!!

For the training, I am in need of someone to be my "case study client". This would entail six free sessions where:
1. We complete a a health screening form and address goals and obstacles.
2. Discuss the stages of menopause and where the client is at in the stages as well as their symptoms and why they are occurring.
3. Focusing on sleep as well as their highest goal in addition to discussing the benefits of certain diets.
4. Accountability. What have they done, what has worked, what has not worked, and problem solving this with potential solutions.
5. Liver and gut health education.
6. Behavior changes and problem solving how to best fit this into their lifestyle.

The qualifications for this case study client are very flexible. It can be a current or past client, a colleague, a friend, anybody really. I just need you to agree to do six free sessions with me, be currently experiencing what you have been told by a medical professional or believe to be symptoms due to peri-menopause, menopause, or post-menopause that you find are negatively impacting your life, and be willing to share your feedback about the experience of working with me. If you are interested or know of someone who would be interested, please PM me or email me at kathy@greertherapyservices.com. I can only have one case study client so if multiple people reach out, I will choose somebody by literally putting everybody's name in a hat and pulling it out. Please email or PM me if interested by 5:00 pm Friday 2/28/25. I'll let everybody know on Monday 3/3 if they were or were not chosen.

Once certified, I plan to build a program around providing workshops as well as training for other clinicians, both in physical and mental health as they definitely go together! Feel free to reach out if you are interested in future workshops on this subject. And please reach out with any questions, suggestions, or recommendations as I venture further into this journey.

I appreciate you all SO much......my friends, family, colleagues, and clients. You all push me to want to know more!!

11/06/2024

Please visit https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/contact for additional crisis services resources.

10/12/2024

I didn’t write these words, but I fully support them. Some of this advice I wish I would’ve learned earlier on my own parenting journey, but unfortunately some life lessons can only be learned by experience……..

Kids aren’t your husband or life partner; they’ll have their own life and eventually their own partner.

As parents, it’s easy to feel as though we are the center of their world, but that’s only true for a small window of time. Our role is to nurture them, guide them, and equip them to face the world, but never to hold them back from spreading their wings.

As they grow, we must remember that the foundation we lay for them is meant to give them strength, not chains. They will form their own dreams, passions, and relationships that will shape the course of their lives.

And while we are there to support and love them unconditionally, they are not ours to possess or control.

It's important to let them experience life on their terms, even if it means stepping back when we'd prefer to hold on tighter.

One of the hardest lessons in parenting is learning to let go. It’s an act of trust and faith — faith in the upbringing we’ve given them and trust in their ability to navigate their journey.

Our children aren’t meant to fill the voids in our lives or compensate for unmet expectations we may have. They are unique souls on their own path, and our job is to walk alongside them for as long as they need us, not to walk in front of them or carry them.

We also must realize that, in a way, children reflect what we show them in our relationships. If we pour everything into them at the expense of nurturing our partnership with our spouse, they may grow up with a distorted view of what love and commitment look like.

By maintaining a loving and supportive relationship with our life partner, we demonstrate the value of partnership and the balance between familial bonds and romantic ones.

The relationship we have with our children will evolve over time, shifting from one of dependency to one of mutual respect and admiration.

They will move forward, forging their own paths, and one day, they may become the parents in the same role we are in now. The cycle continues, and it's essential to accept that this natural progression is part of life's beauty.

It's vital to prepare ourselves emotionally for that day when their primary attachment will no longer be us, but someone else. It doesn’t mean we lose them; it just means their circle of love expands, and we need to make space for others in their lives.

Being able to celebrate their growth, their partnerships, and their future families is a testament to the love and trust we’ve nurtured over the years.

As parents, we may find ourselves adjusting to an emptier house or less frequent calls, but that doesn’t diminish our role in their lives. The bond between parent and child is timeless, and no amount of physical or emotional distance can break that.

What we must aim for is a relationship built on mutual respect, where they feel empowered to come to us when they need guidance, not out of obligation or guilt, but out of love and trust.

In our role as life partners, it’s essential to maintain the connection with our spouse. When the children leave, we are left with the person we chose to build a life with, and that relationship deserves as much care and attention as any other.

It's crucial not to lose sight of this bond during the busy years of parenting, for it's the love between partners that will carry us through all phases of life, even when the children are no longer in our care.

Parenthood is a journey of giving — we give our love, time, and effort to raise the next generation, but we must also take care of ourselves and our own relationship.

As the kids grow and go, we need to remain grounded in our connection with our spouse, ensuring that this relationship stands strong as the central pillar of our family.

The greatest gift we can give our children is the example of a healthy, loving relationship between their parents.

This allows them to form their own strong bonds in life, knowing that love, independence, and mutual respect can coexist.

Our kids aren’t our life partners, but through our example, they learn what it means to build meaningful, lasting relationships of their own.

- Abhikesh

10/10/2024

When life breaks you, it is because you are ready to be put back together differently. Every piece of you that feels shattered is a piece that will find a new place, a new purpose, a new meaning.
Trust that the cracks are where the light gets in.
And sometimes, in our brokenness, we find our greatest wholeness.
We find the courage to rebuild, to reimagine, to redefine what it means to be strong.
You are not broken; you are breaking through.🥀🌷

— Unknown

10/08/2024

Apparently this topic has officially changed it's title to "Menopause Monday on Tuesday" lol Again, illness set in, and Monday got away from me.

But today, the discussion around menopause is going to be on the importance of sleep!

Not sleeping is now recognized as one of the main contributing factors to changing health as we move into our post-menopause years and a factor in post-menopause heart disease as well. If women aren’t sleeping, their heart and immune system stay under stress all day long, particularly when they are regular exercisers or have busy, stressful jobs or home environments. Sleeping through the night helps to reduce worsening symptoms in menopause.

Our immune system is under programmed senescence. This is the term which describes programmed biological aging. Think of autumn leaves discoloring and falling from a tree. This is an example of programmed senescence in plants. Because women are aging, our immune system is as well. As such, it doesn’t produce as many immune-fighting lymphocyte cells in our bone marrow. When we don’t sleep, we are behind the eight-ball with our immune health even more. Sleep deprivation makes a living body susceptible to many infectious agents too. Not sleeping blocks fat-loss mechanisms overnight and causes increased hot flashes because blood pressure and cortisol remain higher during the day when we don’t sleep. Cortisol that does not follow the normal daily diurnal sleep/ wake pattern can trigger blood sugar imbalances, food cravings and fat storage, especially around the middle. As women move into menopause, it’s this hormone which needs to be settled, especially in the context of inflammaging. Cortisol is one of the chronic stress hormones, and it’s important to women in menopause who aren’t sleeping because it works in synergy or partnership with their sleep hormone melatonin. If cortisol levels are too high when they go to bed, then they won’t produce enough melatonin to keep them asleep for the healing hours between 2-4am. Then if melatonin levels are lower than normal, women either can’t go to sleep, they wake up in the night, or don’t sleep deeply enough to have the restorative sleep that they need to keep their energy levels up. Researchers state that our white blood cells, called leukocytes, don’t reach the levels that they should due to lack of sleep and this makes us vulnerable to sickness, flu and immune system health changes. When women don’t sleep and their sleep-wake cycle is affected, then their nervous system is also affected leaving them feeling more anxious and ‘wired’. Overnight our nervous system and immune system work together – this is why when women are going through menopause and are waking up night after night, they feel wired, they feel hotter than normal and their muscles and joints remain sore or they put on weight. In other words they remain ‘inflamed’ but many, become frustrated when exercise doesn’t help them to lose weight but leaves them injured instead.

The good news is that in more recent years, scientists have opened the door on the positive changes that we can make to our daily lifestyle to reduce the speed of inflammaging. It is becoming known that the progression of many chronic diseases can be slowed or even reversed. Scientists are also gaining new insights into how exercise may be an effective strategy to mitigate the effects of inflammaging. An important factor is to assist women to stop exhausting high intensity exercise until they are sleeping all night. This for numerous women is the main contribution to their frustration with exercise not helping them to lose weight!

Much more on sleep, exercise, and weight loss to come!!

Please feel to reach out with any comments or questions! kathy@greertherapyservices.com
Information originally from W. Sweet, PhD

10/02/2024

My childhood best friend died in a car accident one year ago today.

Sometimes it helps to remember that underneath our grief, there is love. It was there before, it’s there now and it will still be there afterwards.

I share this poem because I think it encapsulates that idea of grief simply being love in disguise:

“I held a party the other week and grief came.

She wasn’t invited but she came anyway - barged her way in through the door and settled down like she was here to stay.

And then she introduced me to the friends she’d brought with her - Anger. Fear. Frustration. Guilt. Hopelessness.

And they sang in the loudest voices, took up space in every corner of the room, and spoke over anyone else who tried to talk.
They made it messy loud and uncomfortable.
But finally, they left.
And long afterward, when I was all alone,
I realized there was still someone here.
Quietly clearing up after the rest.
I asked who she was and she told me, “Love.”
And I assumed that’s why she looked familiar - because I had met her before.
“Or perhaps,” she said, “it’s because I’ve been here the whole time.”
And I was confused then because I hadn’t seen her all evening.
But when I looked more closely,
when I looked into her eyes,
I realized quietly that she had been here.
All the time.
She’d just been dressed as grief……..”

10/01/2024

So today it's Menopause Monday.....on Tuesday! I've had a little bout of sickness and had a long late night in the office, so here it is!

Today we are going to discuss inflammation! The most important message to those dealing with menopause or working with those dealing with menopause is that worsening menopause symptoms are not only due to the changing hormones as women age, but they can become worse due to the build-up of inflammation in the liver, gut, muscles (including cardiac muscles) and blood vessels.

We must remember that over the last 40 years, we have been the "guinea pig" generation for foods, medicines, chemicals, high impact sport and exercise, and other pollutants, which have led to cellular changes in our cells and tissues. Post World War II in the 1960s and 1970s was the beginning of mass production of food and the introduction of Round-Up and other chemicals into our food sources. By the time menopause arrives, much of this "invisible" inflammation is switched on as the hormonal environment changes with age. That's why, to turn around symptoms, we have to reduce the effects of their inflammation. And yes, it can be done!!

Something I would really like to stress here is that while hormone replace therapy has its place, not everybody is a candidate; and I, like probably a lot of you, are so tired of taking pills for symptoms that just cause other symptoms that I take more pills for and on and on and on. SO many of the things our bodies need we can get naturally. I'm sure this will offend some people, but it needs to be said. The US has a consumerism culture, and capitalism is the name of the game. You do NOT need to purchase expensive products to help with weight loss, hormonal regulations, and other symptoms of menopause. And please, please please don't buy into the MLM hype of products. There is no oversight over these products. The FDA makes me nervous enough with all the medications they approve to later find out unknown effects. We can find these supplements and nutrients in the foods we eat if we put the time and energy into it. As always, though, follow her primary care physician's recommendations regarding medications, supplements, and vitamins. I am not a medical doctor!

The nutrients for reducing inflammation come from olive oil - especially the nutrients oleocanthal and vitamin E. Adding olives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the diet is crucial to reducing joint pain and improving cardiac health in women. Vitamin E is unique among vitamins because the biological activity of it varies considerably and for its adequate absorption, it requires fat digestion to be functioning normally. The recommended daily intake from the FDA in America is 15 mg daily. Avocados, almonds, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts are high in vitamin E as is sweet potato.

More info next week! I'm learning so much. What I'm passing on here is just a few small snippets. Once I'm certified, I will be offering differing options, including individual therapy with menopause symptom management as a goal, potentially group therapy, workshops, and trainings for other practitioners.

Please feel to reach out with any comments or questions! kathy@greertherapyservices.com

Information originally from W. Sweet, PhD