Purple Lotus Counseling, LLC

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year to you all, from Katie, Garrett and Carley Jo, the staff at Purple Lotus Counseling!

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season.

12/23/2025

A note from our owner: It is with the most gratitude that we thank our wonderful donors for their contributions to the PLO Hope Fridge Drive. Today our team dropped off donations at People of Progression and The Hope Fridge. We hope that these donations help put food on the tables and warm items on the hands and feet of our wonderful community. Please remember that PLO will continue to accept donations through the winter and will drop off as our boxes get full. Thank you all again for showing up for those in need and we wish you very happy holidays.
As a personal note, I want to thank my team for the work they’ve done, not only on this project, but throughout the year. I am truly in awe of you both and couldn’t be more proud to call you colleagues.
Once again, happy holidays all.

With love, The PLO team 💜

12/22/2025

Every week from now until the week of New Years, offering another tip to encourage positivity and peace during the holidays.
Week 1 - Letting go of expectations/Set and maintain boundaries
Week 2 - Practicing grounding and peace (kids)
Week 3 - Understand your level of control
Week 4 - Holding gratitude
Week 5 - Take care of yourself
Week 6 - Connect, and start fresh

Week 5 - Take care of yourself

Here are two wonderful mindfulness and meditation videos to engage in this holiday season.
Take time for yourself, find a quiet moment and allow yourself to feel peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT9CULSckzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0RiuuwSXFw

How do I deal with talking to family members I don’t agree with? How can I learn to tolerate my relatives around the holidays? How do I stay calm during the ...

12/15/2025

Every week from now until the week of New Years, offering another tip to encourage positivity and peace during the holidays.
Week 1 - Letting go of expectations/Set and maintain boundaries
Week 2 - Practicing grounding and peace (kids)
Week 3 - Understand your level of control
Week 4 - Holding gratitude
Week 5 - Take care of yourself
Week 6 - Connect, and start fresh

Week 4 - Holding Gratitude

Gratitude. When you hear that word, what does it mean?
Appreciation. Peaceful. Acknowledgement. Respect. Loving. Thankful.

I think I hear gratitude and I immediately go to the word thankful.
Thankful for my family.
Thankful for holiday celebrations.
Thankful for warm meals.
Thankful for getting together with those we don’t see often.
Thankful for warmth and comfort.

During the chaos of the holiday season, it’s really easy to forget to hold gratitude in the things around us. If you’re cooking a meal, traveling, having people over, prepping and cleaning, the meaning of the holidays and the peace that we get to enjoy them often gets overlooked.

We encourage you, this holiday season, to remind yourself of the things you hold gratitude for. This can be done by writing down the things you’re thankful for each morning, picking one thing a day throughout the rest of the month and truly appreciating it, or looking around amidst the hustle and bustle of the season and taking it all in.

Other ways to give back in gratitude, are sharing with those who are hoping for the Christmas miracle for warmth, a good meal, clothing or shelter. Giving back to places like warming shelters, food pantry’s, donating clothes or gently used items. A great way to do this is donating to the food and essential items drive we are having here at Purple Lotus!! We have two boxes in our office by the front desk, and we are looking for non-perishable items, toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear, socks, hats, mittens, gloves, essential items. These will be donated to the Hope Fridge in Menasha to give back this holiday season.

12/12/2025

Reminder!!! ‼️

Our food and essentials drive us still going on, and will be all winter!!! The boxes are located at the front office desk, or you can connect with a staff member!

Purple Lotus Counseling is doing a food and essentials donation gathering to benefit The Hope Fridge located behind People of Progression in Menasha, WI. We will house a donation box in the entryway of our location where donations of non-perishable foods and essentials such as socks, mittens, hats, toothpaste, paper products etc, can be dropped off. We are hoping to have a box of goods to drop off at People of Progression before our next major holiday. We plan to keep our box in our entryway for the whole winter season, and we will make donations as the box gets full, but we are hoping we can help some families, before the next holiday, provide food for their tables.

If you would like to donate, please stop into our location during business hours (typically someone is here between 9am-5pm M-Th and 9am-noon Fri). If for some reason, someone is not here when you arrive, please email Katie at Katie@purplelotuscounselingllc.com to arrange a drop off time, or she can pick up a donation. If you would like to donate a gift card that can be used to purchase items for The Hope Fridge donation, please also reach out to Katie and she will arrange this.

12/08/2025

Every week from now until the week of New Years, offering another tip to encourage positivity and peace during the holidays.

Week 1 - Letting go of expectations/Set and maintain boundaries
Week 2 - Practicing grounding and peace (kids)
Week 3 - Understand your level of control
Week 4 - Holding gratitude
Week 5 - Take care of yourself
Week 6 - Connect, and start fresh

Week 3 - Understand your level of control

Continuing in our holiday Mindfulness series, it’s important to highlight the level of control that we each have during the holiday seasons. When we talk about control, we’re not focusing on who brings what food, time we eat our meal, where we celebrate and so on. While those are technically points of control, they don’t have as great of an affect on our mental health as others. Things like boundaries, conversational topics, time-limits and self care are the focus.

Understanding your level of control during the holidays with family means recognizing you can't change others, but you can control your own reactions, boundaries, and self-care; focus on things like setting limits on time/topics, communicating needs, and managing expectations to reduce stress and maintain well-being. A friendly reminder to yourself during this season, holidays may not be perfect, and that’s okay. They're stressful, busy, sometimes loud, or sometimes too quiet, and prioritizing your well being is important!

How do we maintain our level of control during the holidays, here’s an example:

Let’s say you’re at a family gathering and Aunt Jane Doe asks you about something that you aren’t comfortable talking about (this could be whatever is best for you and your boundaries! Often topics like politics, health, pregnancy/infertility, partnerships etc. are common), it’s probably going to evoke some negative feelings being forced to talk about this topic. Here’s where that fun word communication comes into play. Be assertive but respectful about your needs, like changing a subject that makes you uncomfortable.

12/03/2025

A note from our owner, and the team at PLO:

As we are in the middle of the holiday season, our staff has done some reflecting on the privileges we all have, and on the members of our community who don’t share in these same privileges. We put our heads together and decided we all wanted to try and offer support and resources to members of our community who may be struggling to make ends meet this season.

Purple Lotus Counseling is doing a food and essentials donation gathering to benefit The Hope Fridge located behind People of Progression in Menasha, WI. We will house a donation box in the entryway of our location where donations of non-perishable foods and essentials such as socks, mittens, hats, toothpaste, paper products etc, can be dropped off. We are hoping to have a box of goods to drop off at People of Progression before our next major holiday. We plan to keep our box in our entryway for the whole winter season, and we will make donations as the box gets full, but we are hoping we can help some families, before the next holiday, provide food for their tables.

If you would like to donate, please stop into our location during business hours (typically someone is here between 9am-5pm M-Th and 9am-noon Fri). If for some reason, someone is not here when you arrive, please email Katie at Katie@purplelotuscounselingllc.com to arrange a drop off time, or she can pick up a donation. If you would like to donate a gift card that can be used to purchase items for The Hope Fridge donation, please also reach out to Katie and she will arrange this.

12/01/2025

Continuing in our journey of Mindfulness Monday, we will be doing a series of 6 tips to get you through the holiday season. Every week from now until the week of New Years, offering another tip to encourage positivity and peace during the holidays.
Week 1 - Letting go of expectations/Set and maintain boundaries
Week 2 - Practicing grounding and peace
Week 3 - Understand your level of control
Week 4 - Holding gratitude
Week 5 - Take care of yourself
Week 6 - Connect, and start fresh

Week 2 - Practicing Grounding and Peace

As we work through this series of Mindfulness in the Holidays, today we focus on grounding, and allowing peace. This can be done in a number of ways; some including the grounding techniques we’ve shared previously (i.e. Visualization, 5 Senses, Meditation), or new ways, such as sitting in silence and allowing yourself to grief if you are missing someone this holiday season, maintaining the boundaries you have worked hard to put in place, or enjoying the moment

The holidays are SO busy and we are constantly rushing around. If you are hosting, visiting family and traveling, or spending time with those near you, there is a rare opportunity for peace. We encourage you to sit in the moment this holiday season, soaking in the smiles, positive moments and comfort of those close to you.

Encourage your kids to do the same! The holidays are such an exciting time for many, and that may include becoming overstimulated with all of the hustle and bustle.

Try this Snowing Sensations meditation with your kiddos!

Use your imagination to sense the snowflakes on your skin. A different type of Body Scan!This calming brain break is suitable for children aged 5-11.

11/24/2025

It has been a bit since we’ve put out a post about caring for our mental health, and sharing tips and tricks to help. We’ve been very busy over here at Purple Lotus, engaging in our community and working towards offering the best help we can.

As the days get shorter, the darkness grows, and I don’t know about you, but I despise that it’s “night time” when I walk out of work at 5pm. The cold, the darkness, the bitter chill tell us one thing, the holidays are upon us. The holiday season can be one of the brightest, most peaceful times of year, as you celebrate with family and friends, visit home, or bring joy to you. However, it can also be one of the darkest times (both outside, and inside).

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving, a time to soak in those around us, share gratitude for joy, give thanks for the experiences given this year. That being said, it can be a dark time for many. Those who don’t have family to celebrate with, those who have maintained their personal boundaries and choose to limit those they are in contact with, or those who struggle to find the light this holiday season.

Continuing in our journey of Mindfulness Monday, we will be doing a series of 6 tips to get you through the holiday season. Every week from now until the week of New Years, offering another tip to encourage positivity and peace during the holidays.

Week 1 - Letting go of expectations/Set and maintain boundaries
Week 2 - Practicing grounding and peace
Week 3 - Understand your level of control
Week 4 - Holding gratitude
Week 5 - Take care of yourself
Week 6 - Connect, and start fresh

Week 1 - Letting go of expectations!
Whether you're attending a holiday gathering or hosting, there are often a variety of expectations that we put on ourselves. What we wear, the dish we bring, how long we stay at someone’s home, the cleanliness of our home, topic of conversation, and the list keeps going. That also goes for the expectations of others. What someone may say, how much, or how little, they help in preparation or clean up. Things like ​: “I would greatly appreciate it if you handled...so I can focus on cooking this portion of the meal.” Or, maintaining boundaries by expressing that you are uncomfortable, or not wanting to discuss certain things, for example: “I would love it if we changed the subject. I realize it’s an important topic but think there’s a better time and place to talk about it.”

-Recognize that certain loved ones may always be difficult. Set a personal boundary to limit how much you will engage with them.

-Set boundaries around expectations. Some loved ones place expectations on us that cause stress. Perhaps you have a family member who expects you to spend each holiday with them. Manage these expectations by setting a boundary and coming up with a compromise. For example, let them know you are spending Thanksgiving elsewhere but would love to see them for Hannukah.

-Set boundaries about topics of conversation. Topics like politics and current affairs can create anxiety and tension. Setting boundaries can ease this tension and allow an enjoyable gathering for everyone.

11/13/2025

Garrett and Carley are representing Purple Lotus at the Edison Elementary Mental Health Matters night! Great to be apart of this mental health awareness night!

💜

11/05/2025

What are we up to...Wednesday?

You may have noticed that Mindfulness Mondays have been a bit more irregular lately, as we have been busy this fall planning and participating in events within our community.

On Halloween, our clinician Carley represented Purple Lotus by attending the Hortonville School District Health and Wellness Fair. A huge thank you to Hortonville ASD for inviting Purple Lotus to be a part of this great event, and we look forward to continued participation!

Next week, two of our clinicians, Carley and Garrett will be participating in Mental Health Matters night at Edison Elementary Community School in Appleton!

We are so appreciative of those who have invited Purple Lotus to take part in events, promoting mental health and sharing resources with the community!

10/31/2025

A big shoutout to Carley for attending the Hortonville wellness fair today, representing PLO!