Hill Country Family Therapy

04/28/2026

With Tom Segura – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

04/12/2026

What's on your mind? Are you feeling stressed? Are communication problems causing trouble in your relationships?

Life is complicated and messy. We all need help sometimes. Someone who will listen and help us through things.

Martin Noel LMFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist who sees individuals, couples, and families. If you need help, call him at 512-553-5141.

03/26/2026

03/26/2026

One of the weirdest trauma survivor experiences is that quasi-dissociative thing where sometimes we're not quite sure we even EXIST.

It can come from decades of invalidation— the
important people in our lives literally behaving like we DON'T exist.

(You do exist, btw.)

03/25/2026

If you’re always “on edge,” there’s a reason.
After trauma, we can become hyper aware of our environment and the people in it because this is what it takes to feel safe.
Our brains and our bodies are trying to protect us from experiencing more trauma.
Hypervigilance isn’t anxiety without cause. It’s your body saying, “We’ve seen this before.”
It’s instinct, not imagination, and definitely not overthinking.
The first step in PTSD recovery is understanding our symptoms and giving ourselves grace.
Be patient with yourself.

03/25/2026

03/25/2026

New business cards

03/14/2026

NEWS OVERLOAD

Do you find yourself checking the news on-line multiple times a day? Do you feel increased stress every time you see a report of a new crisis? Do you “doomscroll” through pages and pages of bad news?

These are common problems, especially when there are many global events occurring. It's easy to get overloaded and become overwhelmed, exhausted, and paralyzed. It can be terribly stressful when the media floods them with conflicting headlines and violent images. We feel that we can't control any of these problems and it leads us to feel helpless.

Our brains are not really designed to sustain continuous exposure to excessive violence. We simply can't handle all the news of everything happening in the world.

One approach is to just disengage completely and refuse to pay any attention to the rest of the world, but that is not very healthy either.

Working to reach a balance can be important. Set boundaries on yourself as to how much time you spend on the media reports. Try to avoid distressing news before bed as it can have a negative effect on your sleep and cause problems with your daytime functioning.

If you want to be engaged, try identifying just one or two key issues that are important to you to read. If there is something you can DO, try to find an action to help decrease the feeling of loss of control. If you have strong feelings about an issue, donate to a cause, volunteer to help, or share information. Make sure that you have accurate information about the situation by reviewing different sources so you don't end up spreading incorrect info.

Definitely work on your own self-care. Get rest, eat health foods, stay hydrated, exercise, practice mindfulness, and stay involved with your own friends and family. Taking care of yourself can lessen the stress of media overload as well.

Send a message to learn more

02/16/2026

Wise words

Healthy relationships are shaped by everyday choices: those small, consistent actions that build trust, connection, and mutual respect over time.

Our February Psychology for a Better You newsletter explores research-backed ways to keep relationships strong, communicate better, and stay connected with the people who matter most.

Learn more: https://at.apa.org/lt2