Barbara S. Robinson, LPC

11/01/2025

09/01/2025

And so begins the season of letting go.

Consume and stockpile all of summer’s bounty as she waves farewell for another year. Thank her for generous warmth and abundance.

New month. New chapter. Let go.

And let’s go…

Donna

❤️

08/27/2025

Peace begins when you stop trying to control what was never yours to control.

This image is a powerful reminder of something many of us forget in our daily lives: most of the things we stress over, argue about, or lose sleep over are simply out of our control.

Think about it:

You can’t control what others think of you.

You can’t control their behavior, their opinions, or their choices.

You can’t control the past or guarantee the future.

You can’t stop time or aging.

Yet we carry these burdens like heavy stones in our hearts, wondering why we feel exhausted.

But here’s the truth… freedom begins when we shift our focus to what IS in our control.
🌿 How I speak.
🌿 How I respond.
🌿 My boundaries.
🌿 My attitude.
🌿 My self-talk.
🌿 Who I choose to spend time with.
🌿 The way I treat others.
🌿 How I process my emotions.

This is where your true power lies. 🔑

When you focus on what you can control, life becomes lighter. You stop being a prisoner to other people’s actions, and instead become the master of your own energy. You learn that peace isn’t found by changing the world, but by changing how you move through the world.

💡 Next time you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself:
👉 Am I stressing over something outside my control?
👉 If yes, what can I shift my focus to within my control?

That’s where strength, peace, and growth live.

🕊️ Stop fighting battles you were never meant to win.
🕊️ Start tending to the garden you were always meant to nurture — your mind, your words, your actions, and your heart.

That’s how you reclaim your power. That’s how you create peace.

05/11/2025

Verbal Abuse in Childhood Rewires the Developing Brain

New research reveals that verbal abuse in childhood can alter the developing brain, leading to long-term emotional and cognitive consequences.

Harsh, demeaning language from adults activates the brain’s threat system, making children more likely to interpret neutral cues as threatening.

At the same time, the brain’s reward system becomes blunted, reducing responsiveness to praise, affection, and positive experiences.

These neural changes can impair relationship-building, self-worth, and mental health well into adulthood.

Verbal abuse increases the risk of anxiety, depression, substance use, and difficulty with emotional regulation.

Experts urge greater awareness and prevention, emphasizing that nurturing, respectful language is essential for healthy brain development and lifelong wellbeing.

https://neurosciencenews.com/verbal-abuse-child-brain-28886/

01/24/2025

Seen on a friend's timeline 🙂

01/17/2025

🙌🪐🍀 Everything is temporary.
The one thing that will change your life forever is accepting that everything is temporary. Happiness. Pain. Failure. Success. Your relationships. Your entire existence is temporary and the fact that you can't be sure whether you will live another day is enough to show you that whatever it is you're stressing about —it will pass.
Happiness and pain are both fleeting, sprinkled throughout the larger chapters that make up our entire lives. Lives that can pass with a blink of an eye. So, what's the point of comparison? Of wanting what other people have and feeling like a failure if you don't get it? What is the point of holding grudges and letting your ego direct your behaviour, and letting your mind take hold of your relationships in a way that your heart wouldn't? Knowing that this exact moment will never come back should be enough to urge you to pick up the phone and make that call. It should be enough to make you realise that if you're in a difficult place right now hurting, frustrated, upset over something that you don't have any control over give yourself time. You won't be here forever. Neither in pain, nor in happiness. So, make the most of it. Forgive more easily, learn to push away the bad stuff, and accept growth in ways that benefit not just you but everyone around you. Let go of all the negative feelings and animosity and be kind. Be soft. Be gentle with other people. And remind yourself that if today was painful, if today was awful, if today was nothing like what you had hoped it would be — tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow will be better.

11/28/2024

Our hearts are with all who are feeling alone or sad this holiday weekend. 🍂

👉🏽Find support and connect with others on our Community Forum at forum.allianceofhope.org
(or LINK in BIO).

11/27/2024

Mental health matters just as much as physical health. It's okay to ask for help.