Hilary Norris, MSW, LCSW

10/10/2025

Today is World Mental Health Day. 🌎💚Mental health is a human right — everyone deserves care, support, and community.

This day brings us together to share stories, advocate for change, and ensure quality mental health care reaches everyone.

Join the global conversation ➡️ nami.org/MIAW

10/10/2025

Today is World Mental Health Day!💚 Take a moment to prioritize your mental well-being and remember that you deserve love, recognition, and support.

09/17/2025

Hispanic Heritage Month is is held every year from September 15 - October 15. This year's theme is Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future.

This , we honor the strength and resilience of Hispanic and immigrant communities and celebrate the traditions, languages, and legacies that continue to shape our shared identity. At the same time, we cannot ignore the intimidation, fear, and intolerance created by recent raids, deportations, and policies that separate families.

As social workers, we are guided by our Code of Ethics and NASW policy positions to challenge injustice, protect human rights, and affirm the dignity and worth of every person. This month is not only a time of celebration but also a call to action to advocate for families and to elevate and center those who have been historically silenced. Learn more: https://www.socialworkers.org/Advocacy/Policy-Issues/Immigration

06/10/2025

It’s okay to:
✅ Feel insecure
✅ Ask for help
✅ Cry
✅ Be vulnerable

Men deserve the full range of human emotions — and the support to navigate them.

Find help and support here: nami.org/menshealthmonth

06/01/2025

Happy Pride!

05/11/2025

Don’t be mad at the wasp. The wasp doesn’t even know he is a wasp. No amount of energy and time concerning ourselves with the existence…

05/03/2025

May is 💚

A time to remind ourselves (and each other) that it's okay not to be okay, and there are ways to feel better. Everyone goes through tough days, even if they don’t always show it. The good news? You don’t have to deal with it alone.

Here are 3 simple things you can do to support your mental health:

1️⃣ Talk to someone you trust. A friend, parent, teacher, or counselor—sharing how you feel can really help.

2️⃣ Take a break. Go outside, listen to music, draw, or just do something that makes you happy and helps you relax.

3️⃣ Ask for help. It’s brave to speak up, and our team is here to support you whenever you need it. 💬

You are important. You are not alone. And no matter what you're facing, there is help and hope.

Get support >> https://www.sarangapsychiatry.com/

03/26/2025

03/04/2025

Welcome to School Social Work Week 2025! From March 2–8, we’re celebrating the passion and impact of school social workers across the nation. Join us as we honor those who light the way for brighter futures. Stay tuned for a week of inspiration and impactful stories.

03/03/2025

Gratitude is more important for our everyday lives than it is for the one day out of the year that we set aside for it. Gratitude is often spoken of, and given great value, in the mental health field due to its powerful ability to fight depression. Practicing gratitude is key in 12-step recovery. In AA, it is said that gratitude “turns what you have into enough.” Most religions incorporate gratitude into their teachings and have blessings and prayers specific to thankfulness. Gratitude can promote self worth, provide relief from hopelessness, and requires nothing more of a person than to reflect and be present.

Gratitude gives us perspective. It helps us to notice the sheer abundance that surrounds us, which we take for granted we have become so accustomed to it. There is no greater medicine for hopelessness than acknowledging the presence of clean running water, electricity, air conditioning, technology, a hot shower, shelter, food, clean air; the “basics” we overlook each day. A wise woman once told me, “you can be thankful for the work you have in front of you, the long walk down to the bathroom, and that you can talk out loud about your problems.” It is all about perspective.

Gratitude grounds us and is a mindfulness practice. I can be thankful in this very moment, in real time. I can take 10 deep breaths right now and notice what is good or right within me and around me. It is called “practicing gratitude” because it is in fact, a practice. It is an intentional effort to train our minds to notice the positive which helps to replace automatic negative thinking that is a symptom of, and catalyst for, depression. One can practice gratitude in word (prayer, blessings, words of affirmation), in writing (a note, journaling, making a list), in giving to others (a smile, a compliment, a flower), or by simply thinking, reflecting, and being present. We can be thankful for big things (our health) and small things (a cup of coffee); for what is present in our lives (love) or what is missing (financial troubles). We can be thankful for things both tangible (roof over our head, water/food) and intangible (experiences, relationships, love).

So try it, just practice. Find something to be thankful for every single day, then multiple times a day. Make it a part of your routine. Leave yourself reminder notes. Journal. Write thank you notes to others. Thank your work for the distraction it provides you. Express your appreciation to others. Let's leave Thanksgiving Day for the celebration of all the days that we have given thanks throughout the year.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie

02/28/2025

Something you’ve been wrestling with for a long time, maybe even years, can suddenly just click for you out of the blue. It churned and churned in your head, battled with your heart, and you ruminated on it day in and day out. Then, out of nowhere when you aren’t expecting it, you are hit with the peace that you sought for oh so long.
Life works on its own time. It's not something we can direct, although we try really hard to control it to make it the way we think it should be. But, really, what information, or clarity, or answers, come in time if we give time time. Give time time. Stressing and obsessing will give you a false sense of control while time passes, but is not going to bring relief any more quickly, will make us sick in the process, and may even delay the desired outcome. Staying mindful and present, living life day to day while doing our best to care for our emotional and physical wellbeing, will inevitably bring us resolution. If we keep our minds and hearts open, if we are still, it will come. The relief will come, the answers will come, the closure will come, and there will be peace.