Melissa Kachin, Professional Counselor

04/11/2025

03/30/2025

Proud to be a part of this group of women. I have been blessed by each of them, as they share their stories and wisdom they have gleaned. Each of them empowers women in their own way which is a blessing to witness.

03/18/2025

Someone asked me recently why I became a counselor. This meme says it so much more poetically than I ever could, but here's the answer.

08/17/2024

Boundaries. Social media has a lot to say about boundaries these days. Most of it has been teaching us how to have boundaries with someone who is toxic. But most boundaries and most relationships are not with toxic people. They are with ordinary people who mean well, but maybe did not know your needs or made a mistake, and the boundaries intended for toxic people can actually erode the goodness in an otherwise healthy relationship.

Here is an article that accurately describes healthy boundaries for healthy people. Let's add some shades of gray to this not so black-and-white topic.

Five years ago, I was exhausted from a lifetime of over-giving, and I relied heavily on social media for the encouragement I needed to start setting boundaries. My Instagram feed was awash with quotes like “If they don’t like your boundaries, cut them out !” and “You never have to explain yo...

07/03/2024

Recently, I had the privilege of joining the staff at Parkview Chrisitan Church to discuss trauma. Checkout their Resources page to find the whole thing.

03/07/2024

Self-diagnosing.

We all do it sometimes, but at the end of the day, is it helping or hurting??

Remember when WebMD first came out? It was a neat concept: punch in your symptoms and get your diagnosis. Save time and a trip to the doctor, right? Then we all had that moment when we punched in our symptoms and became convinced that we were dying. This was not saving time or money. It just added a bunch of stress.

Over time, we have learned that many of these medical sites are not good at diagnosing and are just adding anxiety to your list of symptoms. Doctors have discouraged us from using these sites, and encouraged us to just seek a medical professional's opinion instead. Sit down with someone you trust who can listen to your symptoms, consider differential diagnoses, order tests and develop a treatment plan for you. So much kinder and better self-care, right?

But have popular social media platforms done the same thing with psychological issues?? Are you diagnosing yourself with OCD, ADHD, or autism?? Are you judging yourself as a bad parent because you can't live up to gentle parenting's impossible standards?? Or are you discontent in your relationships because suddenly everyone looks toxic?

These platforms are not diagnostic tools, and most of the people on them are not licensed professionals. They are heightening everyone's stress and anxiety. Be kind to yourself and seek professional evaluation if you have concerns. A professional can listen without judgment to your symptoms and concerns, give you an accurate diagnosis, help you process your feelings about it, and develop a plan to help you change. Social media really is the harshest way to receive diagnosis--alone.

TikTok is the new WebMD.

Be kind to yourself. Save your nervous system the stress and panic. Get a good night's sleep, and ask a professional in the morning.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/2023/08/social-media-and-self-diagnosis #:~:text=Using%20social%20media%20platforms%20for%20self-diagnosis%20may%20lead,a%20result%20can%20cause%20unnecessary%20stress%20and%20anxiety.

Increasingly, mental health professionals observe children and teens “self-diagnosing” mental disorders after watching influencers discuss them on social media platforms. Jennifer Katzenstein, Ph.D., provides tips for families on how to talk to children and teens about the mental health-related ...

02/05/2024

A beautiful way to approach this month. ❤️

01/13/2024

The path is not linear. It is a process of returning and relearning, again and again.

01/10/2024

What's your favorite movie?!

I love reflecting on our favorite stories as a way to imagine a hopeful ending. One of my favorites is The Lion King. We all run away from overwhelming and traumatic experiences in our youth, and we forget who we truly are. Healing comes when we go back and confront those scenes and remember who we are meant to be, thus embracing and accepting our story.

01/03/2024

Our self-talk is SO powerful. So much of our anxiety and depression is rooted in negative beliefs about ourself. Using EMDR, I help clients develop better self-talk.

Strokes