Jennifer Harbin, MS, LPC, CCH

02/23/2026

Your brain has 8 executive functions that help you plan, focus, regulate emotions, and make decisions. 💭
When these functions are disrupted, it can feel overwhelming, chaotic, or exhausting. Mental fatigue often shows up as difficulty organizing, remembering, or managing emotions.

This post explains how executive functions impact daily life and why fatigue is a common symptom of mental illness.

Read more here 👉 Why Fatigue Is a Common Symptom of Mental Illness
https://reachoutrecovery.com/why-fatigue-is-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/

02/22/2026

nerd

02/22/2026

Clarity over chemistry 🧫🌷

02/17/2026

Types of Lies –

1. White Lie
A harmless lie to avoid hurting someone.
Example: “Your presentation was great!” (Even though it needed improvement.)

2. Exaggeration
Stretching the truth to make it bigger.
Example: “I’ve told you a thousand times!”

3. Half-Truth
Telling only part of the story.
Example: “I finished the report.” (But you don’t mention it’s incomplete.)

4. Fabrication
Completely making something up.
Example: “The manager approved it.” (When no one did.)

5. Omission
Leaving out important information.
Example: Not mentioning that you missed the deadline.

6. Bluff
Pretending to have ability or confidence you don’t.
Example: “Yes, I know how to handle this system.” (But you’ve never used it.)

7. Cover-Up
Hiding a mistake or wrongdoing.
Example: Deleting evidence of an error.

8. Self-Deception
Lying to yourself.
Example: “I’m not stressed.” (While clearly overwhelmed.)

9. Gaslighting
Making someone doubt their reality.
Example: “That never happened. You’re imagining things.”

02/12/2026

DBT Skills. Module - Distress Tolerance.
Skill : Radical Acceptance.

When we push against reality we turn ordinary upset/sadness/discontent into long term suffering and misery.

We don't have to like the reality, we do need to accept it.

02/11/2026

02/07/2026

DBTSkills. Overview : Guidelines for Dialectical Thinking.

02/03/2026

"I'm not a math person."
"I'm not creative."
"I'm just not good at sales."
"I'm not a morning person."

These aren't personality traits. They're just stories you told yourself so many times they started feeling like facts.

At some point, you tried something, it didn't work, and you made it part of your identity. Now that identity runs the show. It decides what you attempt and what you don't. What's "realistic" and what isn't.

You're not protecting who you are. You're protecting who you were.

That's expensive. Every "I'm just not that kind of person" closes a door you never actually tested. You're making decisions based on data from years ago, collected by a version of you that doesn't exist anymore.

The cage feels like self-awareness. It's not. It's just old observations you stopped questioning.

You can update this stuff at any time.

"I wasn't a morning person" is available. "I haven't been good at sales" works too. Past tense. Room to change.

The person you could become doesn't need you to be someone else. They just need you to stop insisting you're only who you've already been.

—

I write a weekly newsletter where I unpack these ideas.

→ newsletter.scottdclary.com

01/30/2026

Explore inclusive therapy services at Ignite Pathways, offering trauma-informed care, children's programs, and evidence-based practices to support growth and healing.

01/30/2026

DBTSKills. Distress Tolerance Module. Skill: Distracting.

It is often suggested when teaching this skill that several activities are chosen - say 5 to begin with.

We then distract with these 5 activities over and over and over again - practice this regularly until they begin to work. Keep a diary.

If a distraction activity that you have chosen doesn't work, put it to one side and replace with another.

This skill is generally not intended to be a ' mix and match' smorgasbord of constant distractions .

Therapy is serious business and needs consistency daily, hourly to begin with.

Relying on /waiting for motivation is something that rarely works.

Daily skills practice is the way forward. Pick 5 and practice them daily. Over and over and over.

DBT - Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.

01/30/2026

EQ Mind Maps includes 52 large display cards, a pine stand and organza carrying pouch. Each card maps out an Emotional Intelligence skill with a short lesson, key insight, and real-life ways to practice it. Helping you build confidence, improve communication and strengthen your relationships every day.