Boundaries in Friendship Mental Health: When Friends Become Therapy

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Maya, a 31-year-old graphic designer in Asheville, North Carolina, started noticing the dread before her phone even buzzed. Her best friend Tasha had been calling nightly for months, sometimes for two hours, processing a chaotic breakup, a job she hated, and a complicated relationship with her mother. Maya loved her. She wanted to help. But … Read more

Insurance for Elderly Parents With Mental Illness: When Adult Children Take Over Coverage

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Tasha noticed the changes slowly at first. Her mother Evelyn, 78, living alone in Charlotte, had always managed her own affairs, but in the span of about eighteen months she’d missed three Medicare Advantage open enrollment windows, let her supplemental coverage lapse, accumulated $4,200 in unpaid prescription copays, and started telling Tasha that “the people … Read more

Insurance for Elderly Parents With Mental Illness: When Adult Children Take Over Coverage

Free stock photo via Pexels

Tasha noticed the changes slowly at first. Her mother Evelyn, 78, living alone in Charlotte, had always managed her own affairs, but in the span of about eighteen months she’d missed three Medicare Advantage open enrollment windows, let her supplemental coverage lapse, accumulated $4,200 in unpaid prescription copays, and started telling Tasha that “the people … Read more

Mandarin Chinese Speaking Therapist: Finding Bilingual Mental Health Care for Asian Immigrants

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When Mei-Lin Chen, a 34-year-old software engineer in Sunnyvale, California, finally decided to seek therapy after months of insomnia and silent crying spells in her car, she expected the hardest part to be admitting she needed help. It turned out the harder part was finding someone who could understand her. The first English-speaking therapist asked … Read more

Mandarin Chinese Speaking Therapist: Finding Bilingual Mental Health Care for Asian Immigrants

Free stock photo via Pexels

When Mei-Lin Chen, a 34-year-old software engineer in Sunnyvale, California, finally decided to seek therapy after months of insomnia and silent crying spells in her car, she expected the hardest part to be admitting she needed help. It turned out the harder part was finding someone who could understand her. The first English-speaking therapist asked … Read more

Catastrophic Mental Health Bills: Negotiating 00K+ Inpatient and Residential Charges

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Diane in Atlanta opened the envelope and stopped breathing for a moment. The bill was for $147,300. Her son Caleb had spent 28 days in residential treatment for opioid use disorder, and even though insurance had covered most of the inpatient psychiatric stabilization, the residential program turned out to be largely out-of-network. The total billed … Read more

Catastrophic Mental Health Bills: Negotiating 00K+ Inpatient and Residential Charges

Free stock photo via Pexels

Diane in Atlanta opened the envelope and stopped breathing for a moment. The bill was for $147,300. Her son Caleb had spent 28 days in residential treatment for opioid use disorder, and even though insurance had covered most of the inpatient psychiatric stabilization, the residential program turned out to be largely out-of-network. The total billed … Read more

Affirmations and Self-Talk Mental Health: Evidence Base for Positive Psychology

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Eleanor, a 42-year-old high school teacher in Portland, Oregon, had spent two years repeating “I am worthy of love” in front of her bathroom mirror every morning before learning that the practice was making her feel worse. Her therapist, a soft-spoken cognitive behavioral specialist, gently asked one Tuesday whether the affirmation actually felt true when … Read more

Affirmations and Self-Talk Mental Health: Evidence Base for Positive Psychology

Free stock photo via Pexels

Eleanor, a 42-year-old high school teacher in Portland, Oregon, had spent two years repeating “I am worthy of love” in front of her bathroom mirror every morning before learning that the practice was making her feel worse. Her therapist, a soft-spoken cognitive behavioral specialist, gently asked one Tuesday whether the affirmation actually felt true when … Read more