Written by Gwen Soat, LCMHCA Are you in the Family Fixer role? You Might Be in the Family Fixer Role If… You have become the “therapist friend” or the “fixer partner.” You feel guilty choosing yourself or your own needs if it makes someone else upset. You struggle to say “no.” You anticipate problems before […]
The Family Scapegoat: Understanding the Black Sheep Role and How to Heal
Written by Gwen Soat, LCMHCA You Might Be the Family Scapegoat if… You feel like the black sheep in your family. You are blamed for problems that were never fully yours. Your mistakes are remembered longer than anyone else’s. Your successes are minimized, ignored, or picked apart. You feel emotionally excluded from your own family. […]
Golden Child Syndrome – What it is and how to heal
Written by Gwen Soat, LCMHCA You Might Be Experiencing the Golden Child Syndrome If… You feel anxious when you’re not being productive You struggle to know what you actually want You seek acceptance, but praise often feels uncomfortable You fear disappointing people more than anything You put everyone else’s needs above your own You’ve been […]
When Marriage Separation May Be Appropriate
Marriage is undeniably hard at times. All marriages experience struggle and there are times when couples need to come to counseling to help get their relationship back on the right track. Marriage counseling can be a great help to keeping a relationship going for the long haul. There is one time, however, when couples counseling […]
Coercive Control Deep Dive
What is Coercive Control? Coercive control is a much better name for domestic abuse, domestic violence, or interpersonal violence because many people still picture abuse as only physical or sexual violence. The reality is that coercive control is a sustained pattern of power and control that slowly erodes another person’s autonomy, agency, and sense of […]




