Counseling and Therapy for Individuals, Teens, Couples, and Families in South Tampa

I understand it takes bravery to seek help from someone new, but rest assured, I aim to quickly bridge that gap. A client recently offered a touching compliment that deeply resonated with me:

"I've been in counseling for years. You stand out as the best counselor I've known. Why? Because I sense your sincerity."

I offer counseling and therapy for individuals, teens, couples, and families. As a South Tampa Counselor, I've assisted countless clients through various approaches, including individual counseling, marriage counseling, relationship counseling, affair recovery and grief therapy… and much more!

Being a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), I don't use a standard approach; I tailor my methods to suit your distinct needs. My toolkit includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Emotion-Focused Therapy, Family Systems, Person-Centered, and Strength-Based approaches, ensuring adaptability for your benefit.

Clients appreciate my hands-on approach at my South Tampa office. As your counselor, I take an active stance in assisting you to reach your objectives, steering clear of merely asking, "How does that make you feel?"

Are you seeking life's purpose or feeling stuck? Let me equip you to harness your thoughts. Together, we can strengthen your confidence and unearth your potential through psychotherapy.

Want to deepen your connection with your partner? Relationships define our joy when they're in harmony. I can steer you toward love, understanding, and healing through marriage counseling and couples therapy.

Whether you're an individual grappling with anxiety, depression, grief, or self-esteem, or a couple seeking intimacy, I'm dedicated to aiding you in building a happier, more fulfilling life.

Book an initial Intake to start making positive changes! 

https://SouthTampaTherapyBOOKAPPT.as.me/initialintake

Text Dr. Liz on her cell phone 813-240-3237

Navigating the Holidays: A Guide to Managing Family Dynamics

The holiday season is a time of joy, but for many, it can also be filled with challenges, from juggling competing family events to navigating tricky dinner table conversations. Kaitlin Lowey, Supervised Therapist at South Tampa Therapy, recently appeared on BLOOM to discuss strategies to help you gracefully handle tough decisions, diffuse uncomfortable inquiries, and build a holiday support toolkit to navigate the season with compassion and resilience.

TAMPA (BLOOM) – Mental Health professional Kaitlin Lowey joins Gayle Guyardo the host of the nationally syndicated health and wellness show Bloom to talk about strategies for navigating around family drama during the holidays. Kaitlin offers tips for competing family events, navigating uncomfortable topics and arming yourself with good coping mechanism skills – building your own “holiday mental health toolkit”.

Balancing Competing Family Events:

The holiday season often brings a flood of invitations, and sometimes, tough decisions must be made. It's essential to find a balance between compassion and setting boundaries. If you can't attend an event, communicate openly with family members, expressing your disappointment and assuring them of your love. Consider alternative ways to show you care, such as sending a thoughtful gift or a recorded video message.

However, declining an invitation may not always be received well, and it's crucial to address any hurt feelings with empathy. Engage in a conversation, acknowledging the emotions involved and expressing your love for the family member. If the conversation becomes especially challenging and combative, it's acceptable to gracefully end it, emphasizing the need for a healthier discussion in the future. Remember, it's impossible to meet everyone's expectations, and you are not responsible for managing others' emotions. Firmly, yet politely, set boundaries if a conversation becomes overly guilt-tripping or berating.

Deactivating Uncomfortable Conversations:

Navigating personal inquiries and avoiding political clashes at the holiday dinner table requires finesse. When faced with uncomfortable questions, employ humor, change the subject, or kindly request a shift in conversation. By addressing the discomfort directly but respectfully, you can redirect the dialogue to more pleasant topics.

In a politically charged climate, choose your battles wisely. Thanksgiving dinner may not be the ideal setting for heated debates. If a hot-button topic arises, acknowledge the other person's passion and gracefully steer the conversation elsewhere. If the issue persists, express your desire for a peaceful gathering and propose revisiting the topic at a more appropriate time. If it’s not possible to shift the conversation, you can simply gracefully exit the conversation.

Building Your Holiday Support Toolkit:

Creating a toolkit for navigating the holiday season can provide valuable coping mechanisms. Here are a few ideas:

• Identify a trusted person to lean on, whether it's a cousin or a spouse, as your go-to support. Having someone to vent to or seek solace from can make a significant difference.

• Plan in advance for triggering topics, deciding on responses that maintain harmony, such as using humor, redirecting the conversation, or finding an exit from the interaction. 

• Develop personal mantras to reinforce your self-worth and resilience during challenging moments. Whether it's reminding yourself that you’re exactly where you need to be on your life journey or acknowledging that you are not responsible for managing others’ disappointment regarding your choices, mantras can be powerful assets. 

• Finally, if all else fails, allow yourself a moment of respite. Sneak away to the bathroom for a few minutes to collect your thoughts, take deep breaths, or engage in a quick meditation. Prioritizing your mental well-being ensures a more enjoyable holiday experience.

The holiday season is a time for joy, connection, and celebration. By employing these strategies, you can navigate the challenges with grace, fostering positive relationships and creating lasting memories. Remember, your well-being is paramount, and with a thoughtful approach, you can make the most of the holidays while maintaining your peace of mind.

By: Kaitlin Lowey

Helping Our Teens Navigate a Changing World

It is so easy as parents to assume we understand our teens’ current struggles because we’ve “been there, done that.” Puberty, peer pressure, and parental expectations are challenges we all had to face on our way to adulthood and independence. But our children’s world is vastly different from the one we grew up in, and we need to adapt as parents in order to help guide our teens through their unique place in history.

How A Teen’s World is Different

It’s no secret that our kids spend multiple hours a day on screens and less time engaged in activities with family and friends. And in our busy adult lives, it’s hard to limit their access to social media, video games, and YouTube, especially when we have our own eyes on screens working, responding to emails, and entertaining ourselves. Gone are the days when homes had one screen – a television – that we all watched together. Telephones were hardwired into the wall and we were forced to go out into the world to seek friendship and entertainment – it wasn’t delivered to us via a small gadget in our hands. Today’s technology pulls us apart and isolates us. Covid made these trends even worse.

Our teens are also inundated with continuous images of unrealistic standards of beauty, wealth, intelligence, and fame. Internet “influencers” post choreographed videos portraying perfect lives to our children who may be sitting alone in their rooms. Earlier generations were also presented with images of beautiful models and glamorous lives in magazines, television and movies, but these sources of unrealistic standards had limits on our attention. Monthly magazine issues had limited numbers of pages. Television programs typically aired between 30 minutes to an hour, and movies were under 2 hours long. Our childhood entertainment wrapped up their endings and sent us on our merry way. Today, streaming services and apps feed continuous loops of content to teens who have little capacity for self-regulation due to their immature prefrontal cortex. Studies show that our teens feel worse about themselves after spending time on social media, but they still can’t stop themselves from returning to the content.

Parents today are also different from those who came before us. Often with good intentions, we are guilty of wanting to shield our teens from failure and disappointment. Teachers and coaches are barraged with emails and phone calls from parents who seek to ensure successful outcomes for their children. Unfortunately, we are also robbing their teens of the opportunity to grow through resilience and perseverance. Teens aren’t learning how to cope when things don’t go their way. And think about it, what deeper message are we sending our kids? That they can’t succeed without us.

We also live in an uncertain world where catastrophe feels imminent and real. Teens experienced Covid lockdowns and may have witnessed severe illness or death of loved ones. This taught them that life can be turned upside down at any moment. And warnings of climate change, leadership failures at state and national levels, upticks in crime and unrest, and growing concerns of an AI takeover all come together to paint a scary future. Every generation has its struggle, but this generation of teens has a unique, front-row seat to a world that feels like it’s spiraling out of control.

How Parents Can Adapt to their Teen’s World

This new reality for our kids requires us to adapt as parents. While we shouldn’t always hover and rescue them from the cruelties and disappointments of life, we also don’t want to tell them to just “get over it” and assume they’ll successfully muddle through life’s challenges on their own. Data shows that teens are experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide than ever before. We need to be plugged-in and aware of what’s going on in their lives

One important step we can take is to normalize stress for them. Don’t hide your bad day or failures from them. Let them see that life knocks us down and it hurts. Show them that emotions (good and bad) are a normal reaction to events in our lives – and we can manage them. Stop trying to be perfect in front of them. Show them that it’s sometimes okay to just be “good enough.” This will encourage them to share their own stresses and imperfections with you. Show them that you accept them as they are.

Also, don’t rescue them from failures. Teens need to experience the consequences of a missed school assignment, a poor test grade, or sitting on the bench during a game. This is how they learn to become self-motivated and begin to sort out their personal values that will guide them through life. They will find their tolerance for shame and disappointment and take steps to avoid it in the future. We need to give our teens room to stretch and learn. Better now when they still have us to lean on rather than when they are adults with real responsibilities and navigating the unpredictable world around them. 

It's also a good idea to set screen time boundaries for them, and perhaps even for ourselves. They won’t thank us for pulling the plug on access to their world, but their mental health will benefit. They will have a chance to daydream again, which is shown to reduce stress and anxiety by allowing the brain to relax and roam freely. These mini-escapes give space for their imaginations and creativity. And if we agree to limit our own screen time, we’ll gain the same benefits plus some meaningful free time to spend together.

And a final piece of advice – don’t be afraid to open up a dialogue about tough topics such as peer pressure, sex, anxiety, depression, suicide, and their future. We want our teens to feel safe coming to us rather than an influencer on TikTok. And look for opportunities to have deeper, meaningful conversations with them. Bring up current events and share your thoughts and ideas with one another. Your teen is on the cusp of adulthood, so you are nearing the end of your influence on the person you are sending out into the world. Use this time wisely and begin shifting your role in their life – your value to them will soon be that as mentor and fellow-traveler of this big planet. Be present for them and enjoy.

Author: Lana Phillips

Book Appointment: https://SouthTampaTherapyBOOKAPPT.as.me/LanaPhillips