Posts by Liza Wäcker
A First-Timer’s Guide to Starting Therapy
It might not have been easy to reach out, but I’m so glad you did! You may be in a difficult moment and know you need help. You may have wanted to reach out for years and just decided now is the time. I want you to feel as comfortable as possible with the next…
< Read More >3 Ways to Use a Therapy Journal
Does journaling bring to mind “Dear Diary” and blank pages staring at you? Some folks like free writing and get excited about lots of empty space to fill. For others, it can feel like school. Whether you started with “Dear Diary” at age 12 or are just starting out, a therapy journal can be a…
< Read More >Online or In-person Therapy? How to Find Your Best Fit
Therapy transformed this spring. The traditional therapist’s office changed from the waiting area and the couch-with-Kleenex-therapy-room we all know, to meeting on screen at home. As therapy offices open, you have more choices to start, continue or return to therapy in-person or continue online. Both have advantages. How do you decide? Online care isn’t for…
< Read More >How to Be Unproductive Without Feeling Guilty
Chances are your work has changed with Covid-19 social distancing. You’re working from home or maybe not at all. There is now more space to rest and catch up on Netflix. However, unproductive time can leave you feeling less rested and guilty instead. It may sound like this… “I should be doing (insert task here).”“Lying…
< Read More >How to Prepare for your Online Therapy Session
Online therapy is just one-way telehealth is giving you more options for your physical and emotional care. You may already be speaking to your physician through video conferencing or through a secure clinic portal and know the advantages that video sessions offer. Meeting with your therapist is a lot like using Skype, Zoom or FaceTime…
< Read More >Mind Tricks Radio Podcast: Perfectionism
I was recently a guest on the Mind Tricks Radio podcast. Dr. Aaron Kaplan and I talked about how perfectionism gets in our way and how to move toward health striving. You can listen to the podcast here. Check out Mind Tricks Radio for other helpful episodes on topics like Highly Sensitive People, unwarranted guilt,…
< Read More >Self-Compassion Is Your Super Power
A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life. Christopher Germer On Grey’s Anatomy, a few of the surgeons have a pre-op routine. They stand with their legs apart. Hands on hips. Head tilted back. Eyes gazing upwards. It’s the superhero stance that…
< Read More >10 Ways to Cozy up to Imperfection
Consider some of your very favorite things – the old sweatshirt you’ve had since college, your child’s drawing of you (you know…the ones with four fingers on each hand and blue hair), your favorite book with the bent cover. We appreciate these objects because in their imperfection – their incompleteness – they evoke emotion and…
< Read More >How to Change Perfectionistic Thinking
Perfectionism tends to have a series of greatest hits – thoughts you think over and over and over. “That’s not good enough.”“I should have done it better.”“I’m struggling and everyone has it all together.”“How come my house is messy and I’m getting take-out because there’s no time to cook and my kids haven’t done their…
< Read More >Transforming Perfectionism
We all have an inner perfectionist. It may come out rarely or only in certain situations. It may be the dominant voice guiding everything. “That really is not good enough”“You would look a lot better if you just (fill in the blank with mean words)”“Other parents are (fill in the blank with the Real Simple…
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