Call (715) 246-4840
Appointments
 Survey   |   Blog  |   Pay Bill   |   Record Requests
FTA Counseling
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • About Therapy
    • Rates & Insurance
  • Services
    • Child Therapy
    • Couples & Relationship Counseling
    • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
    • Family Therapy
    • Group Therapy
    • Individual Counseling
    • Online Therapy
    • Outreach Services
    • Play Therapy
    • School Based Mental Health Counseling
    • Teen Counseling
  • Specialties
    • ADHD
    • Anger Management
    • Anxiety
    • Art Therapy
    • Bipolar
    • Depression
    • Eating Disorder Therapy
    • EMDR Therapy
    • Loss & Grief Counseling
    • Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT)™
    • Trauma
  • Locations & Staff
    • New Richmond Location
    • St. Croix Falls Location
    • Menomonie Location
    • Eau Claire - Oakwood Mall Location
    • Eau Claire - Clairemont Location
    • Rice Lake Location
    • Hudson Location
    • Online Therapy
    • School Based Locations
  • FAQs
  • Appointments
    • New To Therapy?
    • Request Appointment
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Join Our Team
      • Employment Opportunities
      • Internship Program
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • About Therapy
    • Rates & Insurance
  • Services
    • Child Therapy
    • Couples & Relationship Counseling
    • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
    • Family Therapy
    • Group Therapy
    • Individual Counseling
    • Online Therapy
    • Outreach Services
    • Play Therapy
    • School Based Mental Health Counseling
    • Teen Counseling
  • Specialties
    • ADHD
    • Anger Management
    • Anxiety
    • Art Therapy
    • Bipolar
    • Depression
    • Eating Disorder Therapy
    • EMDR Therapy
    • Loss & Grief Counseling
    • Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT)™
    • Trauma
  • Locations & Staff
    • New Richmond Location
    • St. Croix Falls Location
    • Menomonie Location
    • Eau Claire - Oakwood Mall Location
    • Eau Claire - Clairemont Location
    • Rice Lake Location
    • Hudson Location
    • Online Therapy
    • School Based Locations
  • FAQs
  • Appointments
    • New To Therapy?
    • Request Appointment
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Join Our Team
      • Employment Opportunities
      • Internship Program

Spiritual Self-Care

6/25/2025

 

How to Take Care of Your Spirit


Spiritual self-care involves practices that nurture your inner being, connect you with a sense of purpose, and foster a feeling of true wholeness. It's about tending to your spiritual needs, which can include strengthening your connection to a higher power, finding meaning and purpose in life, and cultivating inner peace. While often associated with religious or faith-based practices, spiritual self-care can also encompass secular activities like meditation, spending time in nature, or engaging in creative pursuits.

​​​You can think of spirituality as connecting to whatever you consider meaningful and holy. You can find it in God, in yourself, in other people, in nature, art, or kindness. Whatever you focus on, spirituality offers many possible benefits, including better mood, less anxiety and depression, and even fewer aches and illnesses.
Picture
Picture
​Spiritual self-care offers numerous benefits, including a deeper sense of purpose, increased inner peace, and enhanced connection with oneself and others. It can also reduce stress, anxiety, and negative emotions like anger and depression, and improve overall well-being. Furthermore, spiritual practices can foster compassion, love, and forgiveness, while also promoting feelings of joy and fulfillment.

Examples of things you can do to tend to your spiritual self-care include:
  • Joining a church or organized religion. 
  • Pray, meditate, read religious or spiritual books. 
  • Volunteer, connect with nature, practice affirmations or gratitude. 
  • Express your spirituality in a creative way. 
  • Engage in acts of service or kindness. 
  • Reaffirm your personal values and many more! 
  • Do whatever lights up your soul!  

Environmental Self-Care

6/3/2025

 
Picture

What is environmental self-care?

Environmental self-care encompasses practices that prioritize the well-being of your surroundings, from your home and work to your community and interaction with nature. It's about creating an environment that feels nurturing and supportive, promoting mental and physical well-being through mindful choices and actions.
Your environment isn’t just the trees outside your house; it’s the spaces where you spend a majority of your time. It’s the air inside your home, the clutter on your desk, your office, your digital space, and even the space inside your car.
Your surroundings shape your mood, energy, and overall well-being more than you think. A cluttered home, dull workspace, or city that no longer sparks joy can leave you feeling drained. The fix? Small changes—like adding plants, rearranging furniture, or switching up your work location—can breathe new life into your space. And if something in your environment is holding you back, maybe it’s time to let it go. Your space should fuel your best self, not work against you.
​

Tips for Home

1. Bring nature indoors by incorporating plants into your living space.
2. Create a relaxing and clutter-free environment by decluttering regularly.
3. Add elements that promote peace and well-being, such as plants, calming colors, and comfortable furniture.
4. Display personal mementoes and souvenirs that make you happy
5. Use soft, warm lighting to create a calming atmosphere

Tips for Work

1. Keep your personal spaces organized and clutter-free.
2. Spruce up your desk with candles and pictures of loved ones.
3. Invest in a comfortable, ergonomic desk chair to improve posture.
4. Move your desk near a window for natural light.
5. Change your screensaver to an inspiring or comforting image.
6. Add new, quirky features to reflect each season you’re in.
​In essence, environmental self-care is about recognizing the interconnectedness of your well-being with that of your environment and taking responsibility for maintaining a healthy balance between the two. Here is your sign to start making a conscious effort to redefine what it means to live and take care of yourself, your community, and the planet. 
Picture
“Most people live in a world others have created for them. But you can alter the spaces where you live and work to increase your exposure to positive cues and reduce your exposure to negative ones.”
James Clear
Atomic Habits

Intellectual Self-Care

4/30/2025

 

Mental Wellness through Intellectual Self-Care


Intellectual self-care is the deliberate practice of engaging and nurturing the mind through something that stimulates cognitive growth and mental wellness. Too often, we overlook this aspect of our well-being, focusing solely on the physical or emotional. However, just as we exercise our bodies and attend to our emotions, it's crucial to embrace things that challenge our intellect and expand our cognitive horizons.
​
Picture
​Intellectual self-care involves stimulating cognitive growth and engagement through a variety of engaging activities. A balanced approach to nurturing the mind includes continuous learning, creative hobbies, and embracing new perspectives and cultures. Practicing intellectual self-care improves your overall life quality, with benefits extending to emotional intelligence and relationship resilience. Think of intellectual wellness as something that nurtures the mind’s garden, where ideas bloom and knowledge grows. 
Picture

Ways to Boost Your Intellectual Self-Care

  1. Read a Challenging Book
  2. Subscribe to a Thought-Provoking Podcast
  3. Take a class, workshop or webinar about a topic you haven’t tried
  4. Start a new creative hobby
  5. Learn and practice a new language
  6. Solve puzzles
  7. Play brain games
  8. Explore new cultures and ideas
  9. Set intellectual goals and challenges
  10. Visit a new museum or cultural site
  11. Watch a documentary or docuseries

​Intellectual self-care is an ongoing process, a journey without a destination. It's about recognizing that your mental capacities are boundless, and by continuously cultivating them, you not only improve your intellectual wellness but also enrich your life and relationships. The mind thrives on variety, so mixing and matching these strategies to find what resonates with you is the best approach.
​
Picture

Professional & Work Self-Care

3/31/2025

 

What is professional self-care?


Professional self-care means using habits and processes to make your work life sustainable. Professional self-care is also having work experiences that are meaningful, engaging, and fulfilling. We typically think of work as a source of burnout and compassion fatigue, but work can also be a source of fulfillment and self-care.
Professional self-care and meaningful work is associated with:
  • Reporting fewer mental issues such as psychological distress, depression, hostility and anxiety.
  • Protection against burnout and mental health problems.
  • Fewer negative effects of work stress in forms of unhealthy behaviors (such as poor diet, tobacco and alcohol use).
  • Better work relationships and collaboration within the workplace.
With good workplace self-care, our jobs benefit our overall well-being: besides providing for our basic needs, it gives a sense of purpose
​
Picture
Take this small assessment to get you thinking about where you are at with professional self-care:
Ask yourself:
  • “Have I found a meaningful career?,”
  • “Does my work contribute to my personal growth?,”
  • “Does my work make a positive difference in the world, benefit others, or serve my greater purpose?”
  • “Is my work life sustainable?”
​

Action Steps to Practice Professional Self-Care


Core aspects of Professional Self Care include:
  • Self-Actualization
  • Healthy Habits
  • Social Impact
  • Career Advancement
  • Autonomy
  • Personal Accomplishment
  • Equity of meeting personal needs and needs of others​

Picture
Here are some tips and tricks:
1. Employee growth and development: Work is about gaining experience, learning new things, interacting with colleagues, expanding one’s horizons. 
2. Look for self-actualization: Find and activate your purpose, values and goals. Try to remember what gives you passion, what makes you feel alive, or talk with your friend about what matters to you in life and career.
3. Practice Healthy Habits: Prioritize healthy eating by packing lunches and snacks, stay hydrated, take regular breaks and incorporate exercise, maintain good posture, and practice stress management technique
4. Does your job feel like you do or can accomplish something significant? If not yet, can you find a way to get your personal accomplish.
5. See if your organization serves the society well and is in line with your own values. If you feel like it isn’t really the case, you may support extra activities in your organization such as volunteering with your team for a good cause, or starting internal program for employee development in the company.
6. Feeling like being part of a community can enhance meaningfulness in doing your work.

Self Care for the Winter Blues

2/26/2025

 

Winter Blues 101 & Ways to Manage

Picture
We are at the time of the year where it feels like winter can drag on forever. "Winter blues" typically happen every now and then during the colder months. You may feel sad or want to stay home. For example, you decide to cancel social plans to stay home and you may just want to hunker down inside more and not be around others. This can take a toll on our mental health on top of cold temperatures and darker days.

​Shorter days seem to be a main trigger for depressive symptoms in winter. Reduced sunlight in winter can disrupt your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm. This “master clock” responds to cues in your surroundings, especially light and darkness. During the day, your brain sends signals to parts of the body to help keep you awake and ready for action. At night, the brain produces the chemical, melatonin, which helps you sleep. Shortened daylight hours in winter can alter this natural rhythm and lead to depressive symptoms. 

How can we manage these symptoms? It helps to know the why as previously mentioned. We can hack into our brain chemistry and circadian rhythm to help alleviate the symptoms:
  • Keep a routine and schedule, especially during bedtime.
  • Get out in the sun or brightly lit spaces as much as possible.
  • Spend time outside and in nature, this is a natural reset for our circadian rhythm.
  • Work on shifting your mindset, what makes winter a special time?
  • Warm drinks, cozy time, snow, etc.
  • Make cozy, warm, and nutritious foods.
  • Drink a lot of water.
  • ​Laugh with friends - Laughter can be the sun that washes away winter.
  • Plan something that you can look forward to during the winter.
Picture

Self-Love is Self-Care

2/14/2025

 
Picture

"Self-love" refers to a deep acceptance and appreciation of oneself, including flaws and imperfections, while "self-care" refers to the active practices and actions you take to maintain your physical, mental, and emotional well-being, essentially putting that self-love into action; essentially, self-love is the foundation, and self-care is the way you nurture and maintain that foundation.

We don’t love big portions of ourselves. We beat ourselves up, all day long. We stress out about uncertainty because we don’t think we’re good enough to deal with it. We don’t trust ourselves to stick to something, because we’ve formed a really bad picture of ourselves over the years. We get angry at ourselves for eating too much, drinking too much alcohol, messing up in a social situation, getting distracted and watching videos or playing video games, and so on and so on. We are harsh on ourselves, and don’t like how we look or who we are, in many ways.

​This affects everything in our lives. It makes us more stressed, less happy, anxious, depressed, stuck, procrastinating, less happy in relationships, less focused, more likely to reach for comfort foods or distraction or shopping to comfort ourselves from the stress and pain of being who we are. But if we could give ourselves love, it would start to heal all of this. Everything could shift. We could deal with uncertainty and chaos and difficulty in a much more resilient way. Giving ourselves love is such an important act of self-care and yet is rarely ever done.

How do we put this into action? One idea is, set reminders for yourself, everywhere you go. Put reminders on your fridge, on your computer, on your phone, on your bathroom mirror, in your car, at your desk, near your TV. The reminders only need to be two words: “Love yourself.” Elevating self-love and nurturing the crucial relationship with oneself can be a profound gift, shaping a path towards personal growth and well-being.

We should do it throughout the day!  Like trying to drink 8 glasses of water, we should give ourselves at least 8 doses of loving ourselves every day.
​
Picture
Picture

Holiday Self-Care

12/16/2024

 

The Gift of Self-Care

Picture

​​The holiday season, with its twinkling lights and festive cheer, is often seen as a time of happiness and celebration. But many of us know it can also bring stress and pressure. From planning family gatherings to managing financial concerns, the demands of the season can be overwhelming. Focusing on self-care is essential for nurturing your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
 
The holidays, while sometimes joyous, can also be filled with stressors like social obligations, financial strain, and the emotional weight of personal or familial expectations. These pressures can take a toll on our wellbeing, making us feel overwhelmed and drained. Self-care can provide a buffer, helping us manage these pressures in healthier ways. Incorporating self-care practices into your holiday routine can help you have a more relaxed, enjoyable, and meaningful season. Self-care is not about perfection, it's about making small, mindful choices to take better care of yourself, especially during the busy holiday period.

Ten Tips & Tricks


​1. Express emotions openly

2. Schedule self-care time ahead of time
3. Prioritize rest and sleep
4. Stay hydrated
5. Practice saying "no" and setting boundaries
6. Come up with a budget and stick to it
7. Practice mindfulness and staying in the moment
8. Spend time outside
9. Practice being triggered ahead of time (it's not an if, but when)
​10. Don't forget to have fun and embrace the JOY of the season
Picture

Intimate Partner Self-Care

11/19/2024

 
Picture

How does self-care help relationships?

Neglecting self-care can erode the intimacy and connection within a relationship. When we are constantly running on empty, it becomes challenging to show up fully for our partners. We may find ourselves emotionally unavailable, easily irritable, or lacking the energy to engage in meaningful conversations or activities.

By prioritizing self-care, we replenish our own emotional reserves, allowing us to be more present and engaged in our relationships.

Self-care is important in intimate relationships, and it can include activities by yourself as well as activities with your partner. An important element to keep in mind is that taking time for yourself should not be seen as a threat to your relationship. Finding the balance between separateness and togetherness is an essential endeavor for anyone in an intimate relationship. We need time to ourselves, and the freedom to pursue our own interests. Self-care activities are flexible in that they can be done solo or together, so tailor them to work for your unique relationship.
​
By nurturing our own needs, we create a positive ripple effect that enhances the overall quality of our partnerships. Self-care also allows us to prioritize our own needs, therefore we are better able to communicate and enforce boundaries that protect our well-being. This, in turn, fosters a sense of respect and understanding between partners, as boundaries enable us to show up authentically and maintain our individuality within the partnership.

Emotional Self-Care

10/15/2024

 
Emotional self-care refers to the act of becoming aware of and identifying what you are feeling and allowing yourself to channel those feelings in a way that benefits your overall wellness. Emotional health is a critical piece of your total wellness. How you feel on the inside influences not only your mental wellness but your physical well-being as well. By learning to practice emotional self-care, you will be more likely to enjoy a happier, healthier life. Your emotions directly correlate to how you feel every day. When you have a healthy attitude about your emotions and know how to express yourself, you will be better equipped to handle the trials and tribulations of life. When you are not in touch with your own emotions, you are more likely to experience depression, stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Since everyone experiences different emotions, there are benefits to gaining a better understanding of your own feelings, this is a very individualized process.

It’s natural to hold your emotions inside, but doing so can actually be quite harmful. One of the most important steps in emotional self-care is learning to feel more deeply and becoming more in tune with your feelings. Problems may begin to materialize and then snowball into bigger issues when emotions are internalized, rather than expressed. When you allow yourself to feel, you will begin to heal and experience peace and happiness.

How to get to know your emotions:
​​
​1. Learn your triggers and patterns for high emotional moments.
2. Label and verbalize the emotions you feel.
3. Hold space for emotions that make you uncomfortable or that you tend to avoid.
4. Slow down and take time daily to check in with your emotions. 
5. Talk about your emotions to a trusted person.  
​6. Utilize mindfulness and breathing techniques to assist with emotional regulation.
Picture

Friendship: The Key to Self-Care

9/9/2024

 
It might seem absurd to put friendship in the same category as gratitude, rest, fitness or diet; and yet, it is every inch as important to our emotional and physical health. According to one of the longest running surveys of all time, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, close relationships have a huge impact on lifetime wellness – outweighing factors such as money, diet, IQ or even genes. In an age of burnout, self-care is vital. The relationships we have throughout life act as a buffer to life’s ups and downs, helping to boost mood and build resilience. According to a 2010 review of research, the effect of social ties on life span is twice as strong as that of exercising, and equivalent to that of quitting smoking on overall wellness. On the flip side, loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

The Positive Impact of Friendship
​Friendship is a key coping mechanism for life’s tougher moments – so much so that it impacts our physical, as well as emotional, wellbeing. It’s closely linked to other core happiness principles, too; for example, developing a sense of purpose and belonging. We humans are social animals, but we typically underestimate the positive impact of connecting with others. Science shows that quality not quantity counts when it comes to creating the kind of cozy intimacy and belonging that will sustain you through life. Being around friends is an important part of self-care. In this ‘space’ you can let go and relax. Being able to be truly yourself calms down the nervous system. It’s a healthy break from the non-stop thoughts in your head and brings you back into the here-and-now, and back into your body.
Picture
<<Previous


    Welcome!

    Here you will find helpful articles and resources. Please let us know if you have ANY questions!


    Categories

    All
    Anxiety
    Cognitive Growth
    Coping Mechanism
    Couples
    Depression
    Emotional Regulation
    Emotions
    Environmental Self Care
    Exercise
    Friendship
    Gratitude
    Holidays
    Lifetime Wellness
    Mental Health
    Mental Wellness
    Movement
    Neuroplasticity
    Nutrition
    Partner
    Professional
    Relationships
    Relaxation
    Rest
    Self Care
    Self Love
    Spiritual Self Care
    Wellbeing
    Winter Blues
    Work


    Archives

    June 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024

Find an office/therapist in your area:
​
​

New Richmond
​​Therapists  ►

​150 W. First St, #270 
New Richmond, WI  54017

Located in The Creamery building in downtown New Richmond.
St. Croix Falls
​Therapists  ►

​250 S. Washington St
St. Croix Falls, WI 54024 

​
Located next to library in downtown St. Croix Falls.
Menomonie
Therapists  ►

​2602 Hils Ct.
​Menomonie, WI 54751

​Located by the Menomonie Family Restaurant past Aldi on Hils Court.
Eau Claire Oakwood Mall Therapists  ►
​3610 Oakwood Mall Dr, #104
Eau Claire, WI  54701

​
Located on the frontage road off of Hwy 53, in the Pearson Professional Center on the first floor.​
Eau Claire Clairemont Therapists  ►
​1120 Oak Ridge Dr
Eau Claire, WI 54701

Located north of W. Clairemont Ave on Oak Ridge Dr, near Eau Claire Marshfield Clinic Medical Center.
Rice Lake
​Therapists  ►

​138 N. Main St, #230
​Rice Lake, WI 54868
​
​There is more than one US Bank building in Rice Lake. We are located on north main street in the US Bank Building, located on the corner of Main Street and Eau Claire Street on the Second floor.​
Hudson Therapists  ►
​2010 O'Neil Rd, Suite E
Hudson, WI 54016

​Located in the St. Croix Business Park off of Hanley Road near the DMV.
​
Picture
7152549459
​Contact info & hours for all locations:
(715) 246-4840 (Phone)
​(715) 254-9459 (Fax)
[email protected]
​
​M-Th: 8am-4:30pm
Fri: 8am-3pm
​(evening appointments by request)
Vertical Divider
Specializing in Trauma, Abuse, Depression, Divorce, Self Esteem, Alcohol/Drug Use, Anger Management, Domestic Violence, ADHD & ADD Treatment, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Co-Parenting, Couples Counseling, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Family Therapy, Group Therapy, Marriage Counseling, Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), Play Therapy for Children, Teen Counseling, Virtual Therapy, and more. 

Serving New Richmond, WI (54017); St. Croix Falls, WI (54024); Menomonie, WI (54751); Eau Claire, WI (54701, 54702, 54703); Chippewa Falls, WI (54729, 54774); Rice Lake, WI (54868); Amery, WI (54001); Baldwin, WI (54002); Balsam Lake, WI (54810); Boyceville, WI (54725); Durand, WI (54736); Glenwood City, WI (54013); Grantsburg, WI (54840); Hudson, WI (54016); Osceola, WI (54020); River Falls, WI (54022); Spring Valley, WI (54767); Taylors Falls, MN (55084), and surrounding areas.
Want to know more? Check us out on Facebook and Instagram!
© 2019-2025 Family Therapy Associates, LLC  |  All Rights Reserved  |  View Privacy Policy  |  Website Created by LislDesign.com
St. Croix Falls
250 South Washington St
St. Croix Falls, WI 54024 
​
New Richmond
150 West First St, #270 
New Richmond, WI  54017
​
Menomonie
2602 Hils Ct.
​Menomonie, WI 54751


Eau Claire - Oakwood Mall
​3610 Oakwood Mall Dr, #104
Eau Claire, WI  54701


Eau Claire - Clairemont
1120 Oakridge Drive
Eau Claire, WI 54701


Rice Lake
138 North Main Street, #230
​Rice Lake, WI 54868


Hudson
1020 O'Neil Rd
Hudson, WI 54016



Specializing in Trauma, Abuse, Depression, Divorce, Co-Parenting, Couples Counseling, Self Esteem, Alcohol/Drug Use, Anger Management, Domestic Violence, ADHD & ADD Treatment, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), Play Therapy for children, teen counseling and more. 

Serving New Richmond, WI (54017); St. Croix Falls, WI (54024); Menomonie, WI (54751); Eau Claire, WI (54701, 54703); Rice Lake, WI (54868); Amery, WI (54001); Baldwin, WI (54002); Balsam Lake, WI (54810); Boyceville, WI (54725); Durand, WI (54736); Glenwood City, WI (54013); Grantsburg, WI (54840); Hudson, WI (54016); Osceola, WI (54020); River Falls, WI (54022); Spring Valley, WI (54767); Taylors Falls, MN (55084), and surrounding areas.

For All Locations:
(715) 246-4840

[email protected]

​
Hours for All Locations:
​M-Th: 8am-4:30pm
Fri: 8am-3pm
​(evening appointments by request)

© 2019-2023 Family Therapy Associates, LLC | ADMIN | Website Created by LislDesign.com