Megan Linden-Haataja, LCSW LMFT

07/28/2025

Her words are a reminder that vulnerability is not weakness. Talking about mental health, asking for help, and naming what you’re feeling is a powerful and brave act.

In 2016, actress Kristen Bell shared her struggles with depression in a piece for Time Magazine. In it, she wrote: “When you try to keep things hidden, they fester and ultimately end up revealing themselves in a far more destructive way than if you approach them with honesty.”

She continued: “For me, depression is not sadness. It’s not having a bad day and needing a hug. It gave me a complete and utter sense of isolation and loneliness. Its debilitation was all-consuming, and it shut down my mental circuit board. I felt worthless, like I had nothing to offer, like I was a failure.”

She added: “It’s a knee-jerk reaction to judge people when they’re vulnerable. But there’s nothing weak about struggling with mental illness. You’re just having a harder time living in your brain than other people.”

03/24/2025

Sometimes the first step, is the most important one.

Remember these wise words as you head into your week!

12/11/2023

🙏

The holiday season can be a difficult time for those who are grieving 💔

We like to remind our families that they are never alone. At Valerie's House, families always come first. We are grateful that they trust us with their grief and are always here to listen.

View the graphic below to see how to cope with holiday grief ~
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10/11/2023

End the stigma!

03/23/2023

Definitely ❤️‍🩹

Thanks for the great post.

We may be under the same storm but different boats still.

12/24/2022

The Holidays aren’t always happy for everyone, try to remember that 🤍 Sending love to you all 🤍

12/16/2022

12/12/2022

❄️

✅ Day 42/60. Are you still going strong with your cold showers? ❄️🚿

08/29/2022

So powerful and very true.

Martina Navratilova was once asked, “How do you maintain your focus, physique and sharp game even at the age of 43?"

She gave a humble reply, “The ball doesn’t know how old I am”. You need to stop yourself from stopping yourself. Every game in life is actually played on a 6-inch ground – the space between your two ears. We don't live in bungalows, duplexes, or flats. We live in our mind which is an unlimited area. Life is great when things are sorted and uncluttered there. Keeping the mind messy with hatred growing on the table, regrets piling up in the corner, expectations boiling in the kitchen, secrets stuffed under the carpet, and worries littered everywhere ruin this real home.

The key factor to performing well in life and in every arena is the ability to control the quality and quantity of your “internal dialogue”. Performance is potential minus internal interference. Live in peace, not in pieces.

12/23/2021

A very special person shared this on her page. I thought it was important to re-share it during the holiday season.

BLESSING FOR THE LONGEST NIGHT 🙏

All throughout these months,
as the shadows
have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.

It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory,
by touch,
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.

So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you,
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;
it will find you,
even though you cannot
see it coming.

You will know
the moment of its
arriving
by your release
of the breath
you have held
so long;
a loosening
of the clenching
in your hands,
of the clutch
around your heart;
a thinning
of the darkness
that had drawn itself
around you.

This blessing
does not mean
to take the night away,
but it knows
its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots
along the path,
knows what it means
to travel
in the company
of a friend.

So when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.

This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.

—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief