Americans Are 5 Times More Likely to Say Our Level of Stress Increases During the Holidays

Available for Interviews: John Rodriguez, MD

Dr. John Rodriguez is a Chief Medical Officer of Healthcare2U, and he is passionate about the care that is provided to their patients. He manages all the care providers in Healthcare2U’s network of clinics and oversees care protocols and training.

What Dr. Rodriguez can say in an interview about
5 Coping Mechanisms to Alleviate Holiday Stress:

A study conducted by the American Psychiatric Association in 2021 found that Americans are severely more stressed around the holidays.¹ Why does it seem like everyone is stressed, anxious, or depressed around this time, the supposedly happiest time of the year?

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Factors to Consider When Ending Your Marriage

Available for Interviews: Teddi Ann Barry

Teddy Ann Barry, Esq. is a family attorney and writer who has been serving families through divorce and custody and has been practicing family law for over twenty years, and also comes with a wealth of experience in mediation and collaborative law. She is also the author of The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Divorce in Colorado.

What Teddi Ann Barry can say in an interview on
Divorce
:

Too often a client comes in and says, “I just want this to be done.” The marriage, the fighting, the emotional toll, and the financial unsettling—all of it.

Before you decide to Divorce, make sure to understand the long-term effects, the ongoing drama after the Divorce, and the possible financial reality of the Divorce.

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How to Be More Happy :)

Available for Interviews: Dr. Colleen Cira

As a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Trauma, Dr. Cira worked with hundreds of people on how to increase happiness in their lives, even after they experience the unthinkable.  We all have a certain happiness set-point, but there are things we can do to encourage our set-points to move in a better direction.


As we close the chapter on the pandemic story of 2020, thankfully, things are slowly starting to become more hopeful as the vaccine makes it way to more and more people. Although anxiety and stress is still extremely high for millions of Americans, deep down we know that this is all temporary and a new healthier dawn is on the horizon.

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Suicide Is Not a Choice and Other Myths Debunked

Interview: Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D.

Dr. Cira has worked with hundreds of people struggling with suicidal thoughts. Unfortunately, she also had a family member commit suicide, so she understands the tragedy of this both personally and professionally.

What Dr. Colleen Cira Can Say in an
Interview About Suicide
:

Suicide is so confusing and difficult to understand because suicide sounds awful to someone who isn’t in tremendous amounts of pain. The idea of taking your own life sounds terrifying to most of us and then all of the consequences that come with suicide (loved ones grieving, feelings of failure, etc) make it sound pretty unappealing if you’ve never been in so much pain that death sounds like a relief. But someone’s profound pain coupled with the hopelessness of feeling like the pain is never going away can make death sound/feel like an answer. The problem is that most pain DOES go away, but sometimes it takes a lot longer than what is ideal which leaves people in a tough position.

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Lessons Learned During the Pandemic: 7 Ways We Can Strive for Happiness

 

Available for Interviews:  Dr. Colleen Cira
Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Women and Trauma and has worked with hundreds of people struggling with mental health issues.

As a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Trauma, Dr. Cira worked with hundreds of people on how to increase happiness in their lives, even after they experience the unthinkable.  We all have a certain happiness set-point, but there are things we can do to encourage our set-points to move in a better direction.

What Dr. Cira Can Say in an Interview on
Lessons Learned During the Pandemic:

During the peak of the pandemic, our stress and anxiety were at an extreme high. Although there were many aspects of this crisis that was (and still are) out of our control, there are still strategies we can employ to keep this in check and experience happiness.
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Let’s Have an Open Dialogue About the Stigma of Mental Illness

Interview: Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D.

Dr. Colleen Cira is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Cira Center for Behavioral Health, PC. She is an anxiety and trauma expert as well as a consultant, supervisor, speaker, writer and advocate.

Talking points for an interview:

How Stigmas and Misconceptions on Mental Illness Impact Quality of Life, Opportunity, and Wellness
      • For the longest time, mental health difficulties have been equated to being “crazy.”  Women who struggle with mental health are typically seen as “hysterical” or “weak” and men can be perceived the same way or as “aggressive” and “angry,” depending on the presentation.  And when we decide that someone’s experience isn’t valid for whatever reason (weakness, vulnerability, being “hysterical” being angry, etc.), not only do we disempower them, we also devalue them as a human being.
      • That experience—of constantly feeling sidelined, not taken seriously, and devalued—can create a vicious cycle where people feel destined to fail or be misunderstood so they stop trying, which only increases people’s negative perceptions which only increases that person’s hopelessness and lack of effort to change things.
      • I dream of a world where tears are a sign of strength, not weakness.  Where genuine human connection, with your clients and colleagues, is seen as an asset, not a liability.  Where being honest about the things that matter to you is seen as courageous, not unprofessional. Where vulnerability is seen as brave, not as overly sensitive or unhinged.  Where periods of anxiety, sadness, or relational upset, are seen as HUMAN, not pathological.
        Acceptance Versus Judgement
        in Today’s Society
        • Old habits die hard, don’t they!  America, and the world really, has a long history of stigmatizing folks who struggle with mental illness and because we’ve been doing that for a long time, it’s built into our brains, our places of work, our families and every other system we can think of.
        • When a problem is systemic—like this or racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.—it takes a lot of very conscious and deliberate effort by lots of different people over the course of decades to make individual changes and systemic changes that eventually lead to societal changes.
        • Like most things, we’ve gotten a lot better about understanding mental health and therefore being more accepting of it, but we still have a long way to go.

 

Available for Interviews: Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D.

Dr. Colleen Cira received both her Masters and Doctorate from The Illinois School of Professional Psychology and is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Illinois.  She’s the Founder and Executive Director of Cira Center for Behavioral Health, PC, a boutique group practice specializing in Women and Trauma with locations in Chicago and Oak Park.

She was named one of the “Top 100 Women in Chicago Making a Difference,” by Today’s Chicago Woman. Dr. Cira is a trauma and anxiety expert, clinical supervisor, writer, speaker, consultant, activist, wife, and Mommy to two little ones.

Contact:
Jo Allison
PR Managing Editor
MEDIA AMBASSADORS
Success In Media, Inc.
Jo@SuccessInMedia.com

4 Signs You Might Benefit From Taking Anti-Anxiety Medication

 

Available for Interviews:  Dr. Colleen Cira

Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Women and Trauma and has worked with hundreds of people struggling with mental health issues.

Talking Points from Dr. Cira on
Anti-Anxiety Medication:

1) You are having a difficult time just doing life.
    • You might be so stressed out at work that it’s hard to think, having panic attacks with regularity where you lose time during your day to deal with them and recover, it may be difficult to get out of bed every day because you are so filled with dread or your worry may be causing problems with your partner, friends or family.

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5 Ways to Survive the Winter Blues

Available for Interviews: Dr. Colleen Cira

Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Women and Trauma and has worked with hundreds of people struggling with mental health issues.

What Dr. Colleen Cira can say in an interview about
How to Cope With the Winter Blues
:

“Winter Blues” is a pretty straightforward phenomenon that most of us are familiar with: this idea that our moods tend to tank a bit in the winter. Between January and March it’s tough to keep our moods elevated. Other than taking a Sabbatical to Mexico, what’s a person to do? Here are a few ideas:

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Couples May Divorce Over the Vaccine Conflict

Available for Interviews: Teddi Ann Barry

Teddi Ann Barry, Esq. is a family attorney and writer and has been serving families through divorce and custody and has been practicing family law for over twenty years, and also comes with a wealth of experience in mediation and collaborative law.

What Teddi Ann Barry can say in an interview on
The Conflict Between Couples Over the Covid Vaccine:

Though the percentage of Americans who have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is slowly climbing amid the rise of the Delta variant, some have firmly made up their minds not to get the shot. Reasons for refusing the vaccine may vary, but one common byproduct has become clear: seriously strained relationships with loved ones on the other side of the heated moral and ideological debate. (The Guardian, 2021)

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Addressing the Root Causes of Anxiety to Find the Best Treatment

Available for Interviews: Dr. Alice Fong

Alice Fong, ND, is an integrative naturopathic doctor specializing in stress, integrative medicine, diet & weight loss, and is a business growth consultant for holistic healthcare providers.

What Dr. Alice Fong can say in an interview
on Anxiety
: 

There are many options out there when it comes to treating anxiety such as cognitive behavioral therapy, medication, supplements, meditation, and exercise to name a few. Yet how do we know what set of tools is best for a particular individual? One method might work fantastic for one person with anxiety, yet the same treatment might not work as well (or at all) for another person. How do we figure out what is the best approach? 

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