What is Perinatal Mental Health?

Yes, you read that right! Perinatal mental health, not just Postpartum Depression. It is becoming more known but still important to get the word out that mental health challenges can impact parents during any stage of pregnancy and up to 1 year postpartum, not just right after the baby is born. Perinatal mental health also encompasses so much more than depressio

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What is EMDR?

In the late 1980s, psychologist Francine Shapiro went for a walk. While on this walk, she thought about that which troubled her, and as she walked, she began to move her eyes side to side in rapid succession. She then noticed that her troubling thoughts seemed to lessen. Curious about this sudden revelation, Dr. Shapiro tested this theory until she was able to create the therapy m

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What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Also referred to as SAD, seasonal affective disorder is classified by the DSM-5 (essentially the therapy bible of all disorders) as “major depression with a seasonal pattern.” Typically this means a depressive period that usually occurs in the winter and is resolved by the spring. While there can be summertime episodes, this isn’t often the case. It’s expect

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The Benefits of an Infrared Sauna
as told by Dr. Caroline Leaf and Connie Zack

As some of you may know, IOME’s A Mental Wellness Place has an infrared sauna! We are so excited to offer this service to our members, the Eaton community, and well, anyone else who has ever been interested in trying one out! To help you better understand how an infrared sauna works and its benefits, our therapist Sydn...

There are a lot of things can invoke a trauma response. A specific smell, a memory, or an image can overtake you. Trauma can show up in humans in many ways. It can take the form of avoidance of a particular event, disassociation, and feelings of helplessness. Trauma can also take the form of a bodily reaction, including constriction of muscles, a “freeze response”, or the need or urge to move, a "...

The holidays tend to be a stressful time of year for people on multiple fronts. You might struggle with the change in the weather, be missing a family member that passed away, or just feel stressed with all the planning and events coming up. Many different emotions can come up all at once during the holiday season including anger, guilt, sadness, frustration. Trauma triggers might come up for you,...

Kelly Otterson, LPC, is IOME's newest trained supporter and full time employee!! We are so excited for her to join the IOME team!

Kelly is originally from Savannah, GA but moved to Colorado in 2015. She has been in the mental health field for 9 years and has a variety of experience. Kelly specializes in trauma, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem/body image. Kelly has a particular passion in uti...

The air begins to get cooler in the mornings, it gets darker in the evenings just past dinner time, and before you know it daylight savings time is here and gone and we enter the darkness of winter. Along with the leaves changing, flowers and grass becoming dormant and our bodies undergo multiple changes with the seasons, some are more noticeable than others. As for the body, your blood pressure c...

What comes to mind when you think of the word “Rest”?  Refreshed, restart, new.... guilt, a waste of time?  Those are some of the words that Claudia Hammond’s research participants came up with in a study which was done across 135 different countries with 18,000 participants.  Claudia found that though many people define rest differently there were some things in common for those that took Hammond...

Are you a perfectionist?

You know that voice in our head that tells us we must get it done or we will get written up, fired, or called out if we don’t? 

That voice is perfectionism and it makes us think that it is the whole knower, all predictor and if we do not follow it, our life will go to shambles.  I picture The Simpson's character Superintendent Gary Chalmers yelling at Principal Skinner. ...