Soothing Connections Counseling

10/21/2025

True strength isn’t in holding it all together, it’s in letting yourself be seen.
Vulnerability isn’t weakness; it’s the heartbeat of connection and healing.

Blog Post:
“The Courage to Be Seen: How Vulnerability Deepens Connection.”

www.soothingconnections.com/emotionally-focused-therapy-for-couples-and-individuals/the-courage-to-be-seen-how-vulnerability-deepens-connection/the-courage-to-be-/the-courage-to-be-seen-vulnerability-and-connection

Discover how vulnerability creates stronger emotional bonds in relationships. Learn how Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) helps individuals and couples in St. Charles, IL, build safety, trust, and deeper connection.

10/16/2025

Healing asks for tenderness and compassion.

10/07/2025

>>>The real enemy in relationships isn’t your partner, it’s the painful cycle of disconnection. When we get stuck in the negative cycle, both people feel unheard and alone. The good news? Together, you can step out of the cycle and back into connection.

>>>The cycle can change. Every small step of turning toward each other builds a new dance, one rooted in trust, safety, and emotional closeness. Connection creates a positive cycle where love feels alive again.

>>>We all need anchors of security, moments where we feel safe, seen, and steady together. Through coregulation, partners can become a calming presence for one another, building trust and deep emotional safety.

10/07/2025

Letting go of someone’s healing is its own kind of heartbreak...
and it’s also how you start tending to your own healing.

Beautifully spoken by Bluebird Counseling Center LLC in acknowledgement of the grief that needs soothing.

There’s a quiet kind of grief that comes when you stop trying to do the inner work for someone else.

You realize:
You can’t heal for them.
You can’t force insight, growth, or change.
You can’t carry their pain and yours.

And when you finally let go,
you may find yourself grieving the relationship you hoped would one day feel balanced, mutual, whole.

Grieving the version of them you imagined.
Grieving the future you dreamed of together.
Grieving the hope that love alone could be enough.

It’s okay to feel that loss.
It’s okay to mourn what never came to be.
Let yourself feel it.
Let yourself heal.

You deserve relationships where the work is shared, and the healing is mutual.

10/02/2025

Pause. Notice. Choose your pace.

Like a traffic light, our emotions send signals.
Red says stop. We need to pause before reacting.
Yellow invites us to slow down, reflect, and notice what’s really happening. Green gives us the chance to move forward with intention, connection, and care.

In couples work, slowing down interrupts the negative cycle.
For parents, it creates room to attune instead of react.
For individuals, it’s a path to self-compassion.

Slowing down isn’t weakness, it’s the strength of choosing connection over reactivity.

It’s okay to slow down if you’re unsure about what to do next.

09/23/2025

💜 EFT is not about “fixing” you.
It’s about guiding you back to the secure, connected version of yourself that’s already there, waiting to be seen, felt, and embraced.

✨ Change doesn’t happen overnight, but with patience and compassion, you can create a deeper sense of safety and connection within yourself and in your relationships.

🔗 If this speaks to you, know that you don’t have to walk this journey alone. www.soothingconnections.com

09/23/2025

09/23/2025

🌱 Change feels scary… but staying stuck is scarier.

Every season of growth requires courage.
Fear will whisper, “Don’t move,” but your heart knows that the only way forward is through.

💡 Remember: You don’t have to do it all at once.
Even small steps toward healing, connection, and growth are brave steps.

✨ Share this with someone who needs a little reminder today:
Fear doesn’t get the final say, your growth does.

“Change can be scary, but you know what’s scarier? Allowing fear to stop you from growing, evolving, and progressing.” (Mandy Hale)

Feeling scared is natural. Growth happens when we gently move forward despite fear. 🌱

09/22/2025

✨ Connection heals what disconnection wounds. ✨

When we feel seen, safe, and close to others, our nervous system can finally exhale.

💞 Healing isn’t about “fixing” yourself alone. It’s about finding the connection that helps your heart settle and your story feel held.

🫶 You don’t have to carry it all by yourself.

09/15/2025

💙 You deserve to be loved.
💜 You are worthy of love.

These aren’t just words, they’re truths that so many of us forget. When life feels heavy, when relationships feel distant, or when anxiety takes hold, it’s easy to doubt your worth.

At Soothing Connections Counseling in St. Charles, IL, I hold space for you to reconnect with that truth: that you matter, your needs matter, and love and belonging are yours.

👉 If you’re ready to feel seen, supported, and understood, therapy can be the place where that begins.

09/15/2025

✨ You are worthy of love. ✨

Not because of what you do. Not because of how much you give. Simply because you are you.

So many of us carry quiet doubts about whether we truly deserve love, comfort, and belonging. Sometimes trauma can impact the way we view ourselves.
Therapy can be the place where you begin to believe your own worth again. 💙💜

At Soothing Connections Counseling in St. Charles, IL, together, we create a safe, compassionate space where your worth is never in question.

👉 Ready to take a step toward connection and healing? Let’s start together.

ℹ️🌿 TO HEAL TRAUMA, FREE YOUR MOST COMPASSIONATE SELF |

The experience of trauma makes a profound mark on a person. It doesn’t matter whether the injury is grave and evident, as the bruising of a battered person, or hard to see, like the emotional neglect of someone detached and withdrawn. Whatever the cause, when a person feels threatened, helpless, and unable to escape, that person knows trauma.

The overwhelm of trauma often leaves survivors feeling out of synch with the rest of the world. Unresolved anxiety, turmoil, and emotional pain create a sense of “being different.” So, trauma survivors often turn to isolation and self-criticism in an effort to cope. The analytical brain goes into hyperdrive, trying to second-guess, explain, adapt. “I must deserve this. What can I do better? How can I stop hurting? What’s wrong with me?”

Read the Full Article: https://cptsdfoundation.org/2021/04/28/to-heal-trauma-free-your-most-compassionate-self-2/

09/12/2025

Connection creates a sense of safety in our relationships and within ourselves. The small, consistent moments of presence, empathy, and care are what help us feel truly safe.

It's not just avoiding physical danger; it’s about feeling seen, understood, and supported.

If you’re noticing a lack of connection in your life or relationships, therapy can help you cultivate a sense of safety through meaningful connection.
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“Safety is not the absence of threat, but the presence of connection.”
(Gabor Maté)