Talk Therapy with Suzanne Perry

 Hi Everyone, Thank you for viewing my blog.  Let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I am licensed with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Marriage and Family Therapist (163151) and a Professional Clinical Counselor (22257).  I currently practice at TrueMe Counseling  in Westlake Village, CA. I received a Masters in Professional Counseling with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from Grand Canyon University in 2021.  I studied for my degree while raising my children and working full-time.  Counseling is a calling for me and I so enjoy working with my clients to help them to better their lives.  I am very grateful to work in this profession.  Before becoming a counselor, I held other job positions in food service, entertainment, business management, and information technology.  Suffice it to say, I did a lot of real life research before landing where I am now and I am dedicated not only to my counseling practice...

Today I'd like to talk about negative self talk.  Most of us do it and it's not always detrimental to our wellness.  An example might be if I were to spill something in the kitchen and I say to myself sarcastically, either aloud or in thought... nice going Suzanne!   Another example is if I took a test and failed, and said to myself, you're such a loser!   When negative thoughts become invasive they can interfere with our self-esteem, social interactions, love/family/friend relationships, employment, and more and then they become a mental wellness issue.  A therapist might work with a client to help them to identify these negative statements and the root beliefs associated with them, and perhaps where they originated.  Negative self-talk is linked to our feelings, thoughts and behaviors.  For instance, when I told myself I was a loser after failing a test, I felt sad and useless and thought badly of myself, leading me to not want to talk to my friends...