Core Values Counseling

08/12/2025

In Part 1 of this series, we explored what it means to love a parent who may not be able to meet your emotional needs. Now, we’re turning our attention to parenting your own children while navigating that same dynamic.

This can be one of the most emotionally complex roles to hold: to be both a child of a strained parent-child relationship and a parent trying to break generational cycles. The tension is real — and so is the courage it takes to parent with intention...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/family/loving-from-a-distance-part-2-parenting-while-navigating-a-fractured-relationship-with-your-own-parent/

Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
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Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

08/01/2025

It’s a painful truth for many of us: the realization that a parent we love deeply may not be emotionally available in the way we need. We want to feel seen, supported, and understood — but instead, we often walk away from interactions feeling dismissed, misunderstood, or even blamed.

It’s common for adult children to carry guilt or self-doubt here. We ask ourselves: Am I asking too much? Should I be more patient? Am I being ungrateful? But the truth is, emotional connection is a basic human need. Wanting warmth, validation, or attunement from a parent isn’t wrong — it’s deeply wired into our nervous system. And when that need is consistently unmet, it hurts...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/counseling/loving-from-a-distance-part-1-when-your-parent-cant-meet-you-emotionally/
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Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

07/25/2025

There’s a quiet ache that can settle into long-term relationships: the feeling of coexisting rather than truly connecting. You’re raising kids, building careers, caring for aging parents — and somewhere in all that hustle, the person you once felt closest to starts to feel more like a roommate than a beloved. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. And more importantly, you’re not stuck...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/couples/from-coexisting-to-connecting-rekindling-emotional-intimacy-in-long-term-relationships/
Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/join-our-newsletter/
Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

07/16/2025

In our closest relationships — whether it’s your spouse, your college-aged kid, or a friend — taking a pause when emotions run high is one of the kindest things you can do.

We’ve all had those conversations where everything escalates. A small disagreement becomes a huge misunderstanding. That’s often because our prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain responsible for logic and empathy, has gone offline. We’re in fight, flight, or freeze.

That’s why I love having a shared pause ritual...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/counseling/the-power-of-the-pause-part-2-cultivating-calm-in-adult-relationships/
Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
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Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

07/15/2025

Our counselors are now taking OHP Insurance. Call our office at 503-869-8108 to learn more about counselor availability.

We have counselors who provide Gottman Method couples counseling, individual counseling, sports counseling and family counseling, as well as counseling for teens and children.

Contact us today, or fill out our New Client Counseling Form for more information: https://corevaluescounseling.com/new-client-get-started/

07/09/2025

One of the most powerful tools we have as parents and caregivers is simple: the pause.

It’s not something most of us were taught growing up. Many of us didn’t have caregivers who paused; we had people who reacted. But choosing to pause — to stop, breathe, and respond with intention — can change the dynamic in your family, especially when emotions are running high...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/parenting/the-power-of-the-pause-part-1-helping-kids-regulate-through-connection/

Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/join-our-newsletter/

Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

07/01/2025

As parents, we so often feel the pressure to be calm, steady, and composed — especially when we’re struggling inside. We want to protect our children from our hard emotions, to shield them from the anxiety, sadness, or overwhelm we carry. But the truth is, trying to hide our emotional world from our kids doesn’t make them feel safer — it just makes them confused.

One of the most powerful things you can do as a parent is to model what it looks like to have big feelings… and care for yourself through them. That’s how we help our children learn resilience. It’s not about perfection — it’s about presence...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/counseling/how-to-support-your-child-through-your-own-anxiety/
Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/join-our-newsletter/
Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

06/25/2025

In Part 1 of this series, we explored what can happen when one partner has gone through a season of personal growth — and the other hasn’t. It’s more common than you might think, especially in long-term relationships. Sometimes one of you reads all the books, goes to therapy, dives into a new spiritual or intellectual path…while the other is in a different rhythm altogether.

The good news? You don’t have to be on the exact same path to have a strong and meaningful connection. But it does take some intention, curiosity, and kindness to realign...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/counseling/when-one-partner-grows-and-the-other-doesnt-navigating-relationship-imbalance-part-2/
Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
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Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

Feeling disconnected from your partner’s growth path? Learn 3 practical steps to bridge the gap and move forward together with joy and clarity.

06/20/2025

No more money stress—ever! It’s possible when you know how to handle your finances. Join our virtual Financial Peace University class, and we’ll learn how to dump debt and build wealth. You won’t even have to leave home.

Learn more and sign up for our 10-week class here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/product/financial-peace-university-class/

06/12/2025

It’s a situation I see often in couples counseling: one partner embarks on a journey of personal growth — through therapy, spiritual practice, a career shift, or a big life transition — and the other seems to stay in place. At first, the couple may feel closer than ever. But over time, a quiet tension can build, and that beautiful growth in one person starts to create space between them.

Sometimes couples return to therapy after a few years away, and I’ll hear something like, “I’ve changed so much, but they haven’t.” One partner may feel proud of the work they’ve done, while the other feels left behind — or worse, judged. When unspoken, this can lead to resentment, distance, and even contempt. And as I always say in marriage therapy: contempt, one of what the Gottmans call the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is one of the biggest relationship killers.

If you’re in this place, here’s what I want you to know: you are not alone. And there’s a way forward...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/counseling/when-one-partner-grows-and-the-other-doesnt-navigating-relationship-imbalance-part-1/

Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/join-our-newsletter/

Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

06/03/2025

Summer has a way of getting away from us, doesn’t it? One minute we’re talking about warmer weather, and the next thing we know, school is starting again and the chaos of fall is creeping in. That’s why now is the perfect time to plan — not just for vacations or activities, but for connection...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/family/plan-a-summer-of-connection-meaningful-getaways-inspired-by-the-eight-dates/

Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/join-our-newsletter/

Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching

05/29/2025

In the first post of this series, we explored the importance of accepting influence in relationships. Now let’s look at how this principle can completely shift the way we experience conflict with our partner.

When couples seek out couples counseling, it’s often because the same fight keeps happening over and over. What if I told you that the goal isn’t to win the argument but to stay connected during it?

Conflict isn’t the problem — disconnection is...

Read the full blog post:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/counseling/repairing-conflict-with-openness-and-softened-stances/

Subscribe to our weekly blog/newsletter here:
https://corevaluescounseling.com/join-our-newsletter/

Learn more about our counseling services here: https://corevaluescounseling.com/counselingcoaching