Lee Wong-Holland, PsyD

Learned about an opportunity for people to learn about trauma with wonderful providers! This is a 1-session Trauma and PTSD Workshop. Open to anyone, 18+ who has experienced a traumatic or distressing event and would like to learn more about symptoms of and common reactions to trauma. The workshop will include some concrete coping tools and discussions about treatment options. Cost is $10 but if cost is a hardship, please contact us at: [email protected]

The workshop will be offered every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month from 3-3:45pm Eastern Time (*no workshop on 11/25 or 12/23). Register at EventBrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/trec-dc-trauma-ptsd-information-workshop-tickets-195273597587

Excited to announce that, earlier this month, I received PsyPact authorization!

The interstate pact agrees to honor licenses in good standing and permits telehealth services across state lines. This authorization allows for greater continuity of services and increased access to care. I'm very pleased to provide this option to all my current and future clients.

So honored to speak today at East Asian Inclusion Summit to address AAPI Mental Health.

Your work to highlight the experience of the AAPI community is inspiring and I am thankful to have been a part of it.

A neat summary of ways to reduce your stress, improve your mood, and increase healthy habits!

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a drastic increase in prevalence rates of anxiety and depression in the Asian American community. Despite over 40% reporting struggles, Asian Americans are 1/3 less likely to seek mental health services.

If you are worried about your mental health, please know it is not a path need walk alone. Reach out to the services and resources there to help.

FREE WEBINAR: An ACT Approach to Parental Burnout : Praxis Continuing Education and Training

With nearly 2 months of sheltering-in-place behind us, many families have struggled with the overwhelming, ongoing demands of parenting, crisis schooling, and work-from-home. For anyone feeling burn-out from the stress, here is a FREE resource that may offer helpful strategies to manage your needs in addition to everyone else's.

Topics covered will include:

Starting where you are: Acknowledging how hard things are and being gentle with yourself

Create Your own Safe Harbor: Ways to build a support group

How to carve out time for yourself during the day

Mindful awareness and acceptance practice

A focus on allowing yourself to feel anger, sadness, stress, and also choose to not act on it/react to it. (It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. We all are.)

Learn defusion exercises to help you step back from your thoughts

Methods to engage in self-compassion, shift your expectations, and let yourself off the hook. (The world has tilted on its axis – it is not upon you to fix it.)

FREE WEBINAR: An ACT Approach to Parental Burnout : Praxis Continuing Education and Training Parental burnout is a specific syndrome resulting from enduring exposure to chronic parenting stress. It is not ordinary stress, and signs can include exhaustion in one’s parental role, contrast with previous parental self, and emotional distancing from one’s children. To date, research on paren...

With nearly 2 months of sheltering-in-place behind us, many families have struggled with the overwhelming, ongoing demands of parenting, crisis schooling, and work-from-home. For anyone feeling burn-out from the stress, here is a FREE resource that may offer helpful strategies to manage your needs in addition to everyone else's.

Topics covered will include:

Starting where you are: Acknowledging how hard things are and being gentle with yourself

Create Your own Safe Harbor: Ways to build a support group

How to carve out time for yourself during the day

Mindful awareness and acceptance practice

A focus on allowing yourself to feel anger, sadness, stress, and also choose to not act on it/react to it. (It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. We all are.)

Learn defusion exercises to help you step back from your thoughts

Methods to engage in self-compassion, shift your expectations, and let yourself off the hook. (The world has tilted on its axis – it is not upon you to fix it.)

We are proud to announce that Dr Lisa Coyne and Dr Evelyn Gould are partnering with PRAXIS to offer a free webinar next week for parents - ACT strategies for dealing with parental burnout. Register here: https://www.praxiscet.com/events/free-webinar-act-parental-burnout/

70 Ways to Cope with COVID-19 Anxiety

The country has been through many terrible times before, and has been able to be resilient in the face of those challenges. With so much that feels uncertain, here are many ways to focus on managing your own mental health.

We will get through this together.

70 Ways to Cope with COVID-19 Anxiety Managing feelings, practicing self compassion, and embracing distraction.

Time to Come In, Bear: A Children's Story About Social Distancing

A wonderful resource found and shared by speech therapist, Marci Britt of Small Talk.

Time to Come In, Bear: A Children's Story About Social Distancing Written by Kim St. Lawrence Read by Ryan St. Lawrence Note from the author: No children's story should be written in a weekend, but I wanted to get this out ...

These extraordinary circumstances have thrown parents into needing to juggle work, parenting, and homeschooling. This impossible combination of tasks is undoubtedly overwhelming. I hope this can serve as a reminder that we may often expect too much from ourselves and our children. Here's to wishes for patience and connection, for yourselves and your little ones!

Overwhelmed by all the ideas? We put them in one place for you, by subject.

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" - Mr. Fred Rogers

The world, and the news, became rather scary this past week. Through all the uncertainty and worry, I was moved by how people all over the country tried to help one another. Doctors, nurses and health aides work tirelessly. Delivery people and grocery stores try to manage demands. Artists and teachers opened their homes virtually to children. The influx of resources for parents suddenly homeschooling has been overwhelming. This resource may be helpful to organize what may benefit your child.

As we continue to work through this national crisis, let us continue to help one another so that our kids also see the helpers and not just the fear.

Overwhelmed by all the ideas? We put them in one place for you, by subject. All the ideas. In one place. This week has been nothing short of incredible, in the best and worst meanings of the word. On the one hand, our lives have been turned upside down. And on the other, our friends and neighbors are stepping up in ways we never thought possible. Virtual field trips! Daily....

When the world feels out of control, we can quickly become overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety, irritability, and agitation. A shift in focus to what is controllable within one's own life can help reduce the stress and make even these tough times feel more manageable.

Tangled-When will my life begin

As a psychologist in the DC-metro area, several of my families are frequently over-scheduled and often over-stimulated. Being homebound, and the subsequent feelings of restlessness, can be a novel experience that brings up some discomfort.

One creative (and lighthearted) way to help kids understand this feeling and how to recognize it is to watch Rapunzel from Tangled sing "When Will My Life Begin". The entire song is of Rapunzel listing the things she does to pass the time in her tower.

The best part? She’s the princess of a kingdom called *wait for it*
Corona!!!

Discuss with your young children how Rapunzel stays busy and what are some benefits to her time in the tower, as well as what she looks forward to when things change. This can help them identify strategies to entertain themselves and ways to maintain a positive perspective.

https://youtu.be/K_AyUovLL7Q

Tangled-When will my life begin Tangled-When will my live begin...... 7 AM, the usual morning lineup: Start on the chores and sweep 'til the floor's all clean Polish and wax, do laundry, an...

Anger is considered one of the six "basic emotions", along with disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. While anger can arise on its own, often it is expressed as a way to protect oneself from other vulnerable feelings hidden underneath.

Learning how one uses anger, as both a basic emotion and a protector of other feelings, can help families converse more effectively and understand one another better.

How do you feel today?

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | The Gottman Institute

"Communication" is the most common reason couple's give for wanting to start couple's therapy. What they usually mean is that their interaction has become more strained and conversations either leave them dissatisfied or insulted.

From more than 40+ years of research, Dr. John Gottman identified four interaction patterns that were predictive of divorce. He named these the "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse". With focus on these patterns, after listening to a couple disagree for 10 minutes, he could predict with over 90% accuracy whether a couple would divorce.

Here is a great summary of the four horsemen and their antidotes. Do you hear anything familiar? Even long-standing behaviors can be changed for the better. While it may not be easy, it can be very much worthwhile.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | The Gottman Institute Certain negative communication styles are so lethal to a relationship that Dr. John Gottman calls them the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They predict rela...

10 Easy Ways to Foster Your Child's Emotional Intelligence at Home

Emotional intelligence (EQ) has been repeatedly shown to predict future success in health, relationships, and quality of life. Kids with high EQ perform better in school, make healthier choices, and serve as better leaders. High EQ has even shown to be a greater predictor of career success than high IQ.

Emotional Intelligence is how one can identify, understand, and manage emotions in an effective and positive way. Here are some great tips about increasing your own EQ and helping your kids learn it as well!

10 Easy Ways to Foster Your Child's Emotional Intelligence at Home We now know that the role of emotional intelligence in life and academic success is far greater than we realized. An emotionally intelligent child stands a higher chance of achieving happiness in life

Heartbreaking photo of Australia wildfires. Hoping the brave people fighting this stay safe.

The Surprising Way Suppressing Emotions In A Relationship Can Impact Your Health

"When we suppress emotions it means that the internal physiological arousal of that emotion doesn’t have an outlet."

The Surprising Way Suppressing Emotions In A Relationship Can Impact Your Health While it isn't necessarily a good idea to say exactly what's on your mind 24/7, it isn't great to go the other way, either, and suppress emotions in your relationship. If something's bothering you, and you don't let your partner know, it can…

New year and new adventures

2020 kicks off a decade of new beginnings and great adventures. It is with incredible excitement that I announce my Lansdowne office officially open and ready for business!

Contact me today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs!