Westport Family Counseling

09/12/2025

Grief can reshape how we see the world, and how we feel in it. Support doesn’t fix it, but it can help you carry it.
Therapy for adults, adolescents, couples, and families in Westport, Connecticut.
Explore our services at westportfamilycounseling.org

08/29/2025

Sometimes the buildup of small, everyday stressors can make anxiety feel more intense. Pausing to notice patterns—like sleep, caffeine, screen time, or overcommitment—can help us understand what adds to the load and what lightens it.

08/14/2025

When you're feeling tired, overwhelmed, or unable to manage simple tasks, ask yourself: Am I having a bad day, or is this burnout?

07/28/2025

Healthy boundaries in real life means staying balanced and respected, rather than feeling overwhelmed or resentful.

Family: “I need some quiet time after work before we talk.”

Work: “I’m not able to respond to emails after 7pm.”

Dating: “I want to take things slow and get to know each other before meeting friends.”

Boundaries help us let in love, respect, and support, and keep out guilt, manipulation, and burnout. They protect your energy, prevent overextending, and show others how to treat you. Each one is a quiet reminder that your time and space matter.

07/10/2025

We tend to idolize dramatic changes: quitting the job, moving across the country, starting from scratch. But the most profound new beginnings often happen in silence, not in the noise of action, but in the stillness of recognition. It’s choosing therapy after years of internalizing pain. It’s cooking your first solo dinner after leaving someone who always handled it. It’s writing an apology you’ll never send, not for closure, but for your own peace.

We spend so much time healing from trauma that we rarely ask: Who am I without it?Not despite it. Not because of it. But truly—without it.

07/05/2025

Summer can bring longer days and more light, but that doesn’t always mean relief. For some, mood shifts, irritability, and restlessness grow in the heat. You’re not alone, and it’s not just “summer blues.”

07/02/2025

There comes a time in every adult’s life when they realize that “No” is not only a complete sentence, but possibly the most liberating word in the English language. Whether it’s your boss asking for “just one more thing,” a friend inviting you to a weekend getaway you don’t have the bandwidth for, or your mom wondering (again) why you’re still single, boundaries are your quiet anchors.

But let’s get one thing straight: boundaries aren’t walls. They’re not emotional moats filled with alligators and passive-aggressive drawbridges. Healthy boundaries are more like fences with gates—you choose who gets in, when, and under what conditions. And yes, you can absolutely hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on that gate when needed.

It’s very common to feel like setting boundaries means you’re being mean or selfish, but actually, boundaries are a healthy way to care for yourself and your relationships.

06/30/2025

Social media can make it look like everyone else is thriving, connecting, doing it better. It’s not the full story. Give yourself room to be human, messy, tired, imperfect, and to take care of what actually matters.

06/23/2025

There’s a glaring gap in postpartum care. While new mothers are regularly asked about depression at checkups, screening for anxiety is not as common, despite being just as prevalent.

The good news? Postpartum anxiety is treatable. Therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can be incredibly effective.

And if you know a new mom, check in on her. Not just the baby. Ask the mom how she’s sleeping. How she’s eating. How she’s really feeling. Let’s normalize the messy, raw, and real parts of motherhood—and create space for women to share their truth without shame.

06/12/2025

The “Happiness Season” Myth.
We’re culturally conditioned to associate summer with carefree living. School’s out, vacations are in, and warm weather is supposed to lift our spirits. But mental health doesn’t follow the seasons.

The belief that we need to perform happiness during the summer months can be incredibly isolating and one of the most pressured times of the year.

06/03/2025

We’ve all heard it.

“They’re just being dramatic.”

“They won’t talk to me anyway.”

“Everything seems fine. I would have known.”

These aren’t bad parents. They’re overwhelmed, scared, and often trying to make sense of something that doesn’t look like what they were told distress would look like. One of the quiet challenges in family and adolescent therapy is helping caregivers recognize that a teen’s withdrawal or reactivity isn’t rejection, it’s communication. Not always clear, and not always easy, but meaningful all the same. Sometimes we’re working with more than one story at once: the teen in the room, and the parent remembering what it was like not to be understood.

Sometimes both are speaking, just not in the same language.

The work isn’t about getting teens to talk. It’s about creating conditions where they don’t have to perform or protect. Where listening matters more than fixing. Where slowness is allowed. There’s a real reward in watching that shift happen, for parents and teens alike. It rarely looks dramatic. But it changes everything.

05/29/2025

“I thought something was wrong with me. Everyone kept telling me I should be happy—so why did I feel like I was unraveling?”

This is the quiet voice of postpartum anxiety (PPA), an often overlooked and misunderstood condition that affects thousands of new mothers every year. While postpartum depression has—rightfully—gained attention and compassion in recent years, postpartum anxiety remains largely in the shadows, whispering doubt, dread, and fear into the ears of women who are often too ashamed or afraid to speak up.

It’s time we shed light on this hidden struggle.

While postpartum depression has—rightfully—gained attention and compassion in recent years, postpartum anxiety remains largely in the shadows. Learn More.