Abbie Ames Counseling LLC

Abbie Ames Counseling LLC EMDR therapy for women and moms in Columbus and across Ohio.

That immediate guilt you feel after you set a boundary can feel loud and convincing.But believe it or not, it’s not a si...
05/22/2026

That immediate guilt you feel after you set a boundary can feel loud and convincing.

But believe it or not, it’s not a sign you made the wrong choice. 🤯

It’s actually your nervous system reacting to the possibility of disconnection.

If you were conditioned to keep connection by accommodating others, your system learned that “no” can feel unsafe, even when it’s healthy.

In the moment after you set a boundary, try this:
→ Pause before you respond to the guilt.
→ Name it: “This is guilt, not danger.”
→ Bring your attention back to your body (slow exhale, hand on chest, feet on the ground).

Instead of immediately fixing the discomfort by taking the boundary back, you start teaching your system that you can feel this and stay here anyway.

💪 And over time, that reaction gets quieter.

If you’re realizing this isn’t just “bad boundaries” but a deeper nervous system pattern, this is exactly the kind of work we do in EMDR therapy.

✨ More info is in the link in my bio.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy."

05/20/2026

Anyone else traumatized by this scene from Final Destination 2, every single time they get behind the wheel?
(please tell me it's not just me 😅)
.. You’re just driving, nothing’s wrong, and then out of nowhere your brain is like: “but what if.”

Cue the full-body tension, the quick mental image, and the split-second dread like it’s already happening.

And then just as fast… you’re back. 😮‍💨

It might feel random (or even a little ridiculous), but this is actually a really common anxiety pattern. Especially if you tend to carry a lot of responsibility, or your nervous system is used to staying a little on edge.

So no… you’re not “crazy” for having those thoughts pop in. It’s just your brain doing its job a little too well. 🫠

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

Sometimes you know exactly why you feel the way you do… and you still don’t feel different. 😭A lot of the healing people...
05/18/2026

Sometimes you know exactly why you feel the way you do… and you still don’t feel different. 😭

A lot of the healing people describe after EMDR therapy or intensives isn’t “new information”.

It’s their body no longer reacting like the past is still happening.

EMDR therapy and other trauma-focused approaches help the brain and body actually reprocess stored experiences, not just understand them intellectually.

So instead of staying in the loop of “I get it, but nothing changes”...

People often start noticing: “I feel lighter… calmer… like it’s no longer gripping me the same way.”

Save this if you’ve been starting to wonder whether understanding it has been enough on its own.

05/15/2026

Sometimes what looks “irrational” on the surface actually makes a lot of sense underneath.

Spending money you didn’t plan to, numbing out, avoiding, overdoing, shutting down, or repeating the same thing even when you know better. 😮‍💨

Your brain is trying to cope the best way it knows how, especially if something in that moment feels overwhelming, heavy, or familiar in a deeper way.

So it reaches for something that brings relief, distraction, or control… even if it doesn’t make sense later.

🤯 That’s why talking about it can only take you so far.

You don’t just need more insight.
Your brain + body just need to actually process what’s underneath the pattern.

EMDR therapy helps uncover what's underneath.

Instead of just understanding the behavior, we start to shift the 'why it keeps happening' part.
So you’re not stuck in the same loops, wondering why nothing is shifting.

If you’ve done years of talking and still feel like nothing’s actually changing… let’s do something different.
🔗 Link in bio to learn more.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

😅This will either make you love me or hate me as a therapist…→ I’m going to gently ask if what you’re doing is actually ...
05/13/2026

😅This will either make you love me or hate me as a therapist…

→ I’m going to gently ask if what you’re doing is actually working for you.
→ I might point out patterns you didn’t realize were there.
→ I’ll notice when your inner voice is being really harsh and call that out.
→ I’m human in the room (yes, iced coffee included), not a brick wall.
→ And I will challenge you… but in a way that still feels safe.

So yeah… it’s not everyone’s style. 🤣

But here’s the thing, it’s not about being “direct” for the sake of it.

Real healing usually means doing something different, and that often requires stepping outside of what feels familiar.

Patterns don’t change by just talking around them.

They change when we can actually see them clearly and do something different in real time.

And I’m not asking you to go somewhere I haven’t been myself.

I’ve done this work too… on the other side of the chair.

So I know how uncomfortable, vulnerable, and also how life-changing it can be.

Which is why my goal isn’t to just make you feel better in the moment...

It’s to help you actually experience something different.

😅 Be honest… did this make you feel relieved or slightly called out?

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

05/11/2026

You’ve done the talking, you understand your patterns, you can explain where it all comes from...

And somehow… you’re still reacting the same way. 😤

That’s the frustrating part.

But... it’s usually because you’ve been working at the insight level, NOT the processing level. 🤯

Your brain understands what happened, but your nervous system is still responding like it’s happening.

It still feels the same, so the patterns keep showing up.

➡️This is where EMDR therapy comes in.

We’re not just talking about your experiences. We’re helping your brain actually process what it hasn’t been able to let go of.

So instead of just understanding your triggers, they start to lose their intensity, and things don’t hit the same way they used to. 🥹

If you’ve been feeling like you’ve “tried everything”, this might be the missing piece.

👩‍💻 Link in bio to learn more about EMDR therapy.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

Millennial moms, you’re holding a lot that no one really sees. 😮‍💨You’re the default for everything… all the time.You’re...
05/08/2026

Millennial moms, you’re holding a lot that no one really sees. 😮‍💨

You’re the default for everything… all the time.

You’re trying to be present and patient, but somehow you’re still questioning if you’re the problem.

It’s a heavy place to live.

And it’s not because you’re doing anything wrong.

It’s what happens when you’ve been carrying more than you were ever meant to carry… for a long time.

With Mother’s Day coming up, there’s a lot of pressure to feel grateful and happy.

And you might be…

But that doesn’t cancel out the mental load, the exhaustion, or everything your body is holding underneath it.

Both can exist at the same time. 🥹

Which is why self-care isn’t just about squeezing in a break when you can.

It’s about actually feeling supported in the life you’re living, not just temporarily escaping it.

✨ Therapy counts as self-care too.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy."

Hi, I’m Abbie!I’m a therapist in Columbus, OH, and a mom to two boys… so when I say I get this, I mean it. 🙃Most of the ...
05/06/2026

Hi, I’m Abbie!

I’m a therapist in Columbus, OH, and a mom to two boys… so when I say I get this, I mean it. 🙃

Most of the women I work with are:

→ Running on empty but still pushing through.
→ Snapping or shutting down and immediately feeling guilty.
→ Overthinking everything they say or do.
→ Constantly trying to hold everything together for everyone else.

I use trauma-focused therapy approaches to help your brain and body stop responding like old experiences are still happening.

Here it's all about what it actually looks like to change the patterns underneath the overwhelm, not just cope with them.

🫶 So follow along if you’re a mom who’s done pretending she’s "fine".

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

05/04/2026

😅 If you’ve been putting off therapy because you’re worried your therapist might analyze everything you say, think “that’s not a big deal”, or somehow expect you to show up as your best self...

Let me be very clear.

Therapists are not sitting there expecting you to impress them.

We literally trip over our own feet, run late, and have very real human moments, too. 🤣

In therapy, we’re not judging you. We’re helping you understand what’s going on underneath, so you don’t feel like you have to filter or perform.

We want you to show up as you actually are... Messy thoughts, awkward starts, not knowing what to say. All of it.

(Plus it’s , so we’re leaning ALLL the way into that today)

🫶 If you’ve been holding back because of that fear, you’re safe here.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

Sometimes what we call “mom stress”… isn’t just stress. 🤔It’s the bedtime battles where you feel yourself snapping faste...
05/01/2026

Sometimes what we call “mom stress”… isn’t just stress. 🤔

It’s the bedtime battles where you feel yourself snapping faster than you want to.
It’s being so touched out by the end of the day that even one more need feels like too much.
It’s shutting down, overthinking everything you said, or wondering why am I reacting like this...

A lot of moms I work with will say:
“I just need to be more patient.”
“I should be able to handle this.”

🤯 But usually, that's not what’s actually going on.

What’s happening underneath is a nervous system that’s been pushed past its capacity for too long.

Sometimes that looks like anger or snapping, like your body sounding an alarm that something isn’t okay.
Sometimes it’s walking away, shutting down, or feeling completely flooded.

And when it keeps going unaddressed, it can turn into a cycle:
Pushing your needs down → holding it together → exploding → feeling guilt and shame → then doing it all over again.

It makes sense so many moms minimize it.
A lot of us were taught this is “just part of motherhood”, that you’re supposed to handle it and push through it.

When moms actually start working through what’s underneath, not just coping... but healing, things begin to shift.

There’s more capacity, more patience, and less guilt.
This deeper, steadier belief of: I’m allowed to have needs too.

🫶 If this shifted something for you, especially during Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, you’re not alone in it.
Share it; someone else may need it too.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

04/29/2026

This is for the mom who makes it look effortless...

We all know this sh*t is not. 😅

She shows up every day, keeps things running even when she’s exhausted, makes it look like she has it together, and most people don’t see how much she’s actually carrying.

😮‍💨 It’s a lot.

What looks “easy” from the outside is usually a nervous system that’s learned to push through.

→ To keep going.
→ To hold it all together.
→ To not let everything underneath show.

And over time, that becomes the expectation.

She’s tired, but she needs to know she deserves to support herself the way she supports everyone else.

❤️ If a mom came to mind while reading this, send it to her. She probably doesn’t hear it enough.

*All information on this account is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not clinical advice or a replacement for mental health care or therapy.

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951 High Street Suite 202
Worthington, OH
43085

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