Rebecca Kern Counseling Services

12/23/2025

Using the Note feature on your phone is also convenient for journaling when you do not have a tablet handy

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12/23/2025

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Take a break from holiday stress and ground yourself in the present by searching for:

- Something to wear outside
- Envelopes with hearts
- 3 Christmas ghosts
- An item you don’t see often
- 2 boots without mates
- A wintry puzzle piece
- Something you’d light
- An item in your favorite color
- 2 bells with pink bows
- Something for New Year’s Eve
- An item you have at home
- Something to keep you warm
- References to the movie Elf
- 3 cups with hearts on them
- A matching pair of slippers
- Something sweet to eat
- 2 snowy mountain ranges
- Snowflakes (count them all!)

By looking for any of these, you’re using your sense of sight to connect with the present moment.

You can do this anywhere by looking around you for a specific color or shape — or come back here anytime and choose an another option from the list to search for!

12/22/2025

12/21/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 21: A routine that you have stayed consistent with for years.

Almost every night I meditate before going to bed.

Meditation can be done in many different ways from listening to calming meditation music, listening to guided meditation, listening to the Calm app, sound therapy, walking (I don’t do this at night 😉), diffusing relaxing scents such as lavender.

The options are endless as long as mindfulness is in your awareness - being in the present moment; not worrying about past events or worrying about the future and anxious thoughts.

My favorite ways to meditate are spraying lavender spray, playing my crystal singing bowls/Tibetan singing bowls, Koshi wind chimes, rain drum, Panda drum, and looking at my Drift sand table. It’s a little on the eccentric side and not for everyone but it keeps me relaxed, stress free, and over all feeling well. (Who would want to be with an unwell counselor?😉)

I have posted this article on the emotional and physical benefits of meditation - a routine that is so important for your wellness too. I have also posted the pictures of the corner of my bedroom to show my meditation items.

Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions about meditation or how certain techniques work.

https://screening.mhanational.org/content/can-meditation-improve-my-mental-health/

12/20/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 20: An everyday conversation you can remember in detail.

I always start my sessions (several times daily) with the question “How have you been since we last met?” Followed by, “What have you been up to this last week?” Not only do I enjoy hearing their responses and casual conversation, it helps my clients ease into the session comfortably.

I am sure you all have noticed how nice it is to be asked questions such as those from the people we encounter daily. It shows that someone has genuine regard for you and wanting to hear what you have to say rather than initiating a one sided dialogue about oneself. It sets a nice tone for the conversation. I know that I enjoy being asked. 😊

12/19/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 19: Someone new who came into your life this year.

Our youngest daughter, Emily, got married in October of this year. She and her husband had a Halloween wedding as you can see in the picture below.

(Both of our daughters are adopted.)

A few years back, Emily went on a quest to find her biological family out of state in our hometown. She met her birth father and several biological siblings. They have become fairly close but not in a familial sense like Kevin and I as her parents. She calls her birth father by his first name.

She invited them to her wedding and this is where we met some of them for the first time. Her birth father, his wife, and one of Emily’s biological brothers (they are pictured below.) They were very nice and while Kevin and I were nervous and uncomfortable before meeting them, it turned out to be a good connection. He was very appreciative and thankful for the love and care we gave to Emily.

I am grateful that Emily was able to get answers to many questions she had about her background and her own self. And I am grateful that their new found relationship is a healthy one where there is mutual respect and appreciation all the way around. I am grateful that we finally had an opportunity to meet them.

We encounter many new people in our day to day encounters. Some continue to move on that we never see again and some become close when they were originally strangers. I have a dear friend that I met randomly at the Kroger deli years ago. We did not become friends then but when I was a teacher and the school year started, she came into the same school that I was at and we reconnected- remembering eachother from Kroger. Ironically, she was hired to work in my classroom! We have been friends since.

Ask yourself if you are open to those random encounters or closed off in order to avoid any feelings of discomfort or nervousness. You may be missing out on something special otherwise. Try just saying a nice compliment to someone you encounter in a store. Helping someone out in public is also a great way to have an encounter that may flourish into an acquaintance.

Have a good day folks.

12/18/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 18: A goal you made progress on this year.

This is easy! My goal was to lose more weight and I did! I am not quite to my goal weight but I have made a big enough loss to feel so much better physically and mentally.

This tends to be the time of year that people start thinking about their goals for the new year. They are so important all year as well. Goals don’t have to be difficult or hard to reach. They can be small but significant to what you want for yourself.

If you regress from working towards that goal, that is OK. You don’t have to stay stuck in it. Those regressions are how we learn by reflecting where we went wrong and refocusing on what we want for ourselves. And it is OK if it keeps stalling. Just stay the course. Even if it takes a while, you will get there.

This is me present day and a couple of pictures of me before I lost weight.

Staying on track!

I hope you all find a meaningful goal for yourself and allow yourself some flexibility during the course of your progression. 💝

12/17/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 17: A positive surprise from this year.

Our brains tend to be wired more towards negative thinking with situations that have happened to us in an undesirable way.

While we can’t undo those negative situations, it is important to not only accept the negative events but then pause in order to reframe our thinking to a positive mindset and embrace those positive occurrences.

My positive surprise this year was my husband, Kevin, calling me from work saying he was asked by his Board to be their interim CEO…a transition from his position as COO. Kevin had no idea why he was being asked to meet with the Board. It happened quickly and was surprising!

Their other CEO had resigned. This was bittersweet because he adores his CEO. One of the reasons he began at this organization was because of the respect and admiration he had for him. The other reason, of course, is because Kevin loves working with those with Autism and I/DD. (Their organization serves those with Autism.)

This was an honor for Kevin to be transitioned into this new role and it was the most pleasant surprise this year for both of us this year.

12/16/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 16: A moment you felt truly happy this year.

The moment I felt truly happy this year was my last day of radiation. I had the craniotomy in September to remove one tumor and radiation to stop the other two. After ringing the bell and walking out the door of the Radiation Therapy department, I felt wonderfully happy to be done with treatment. I was able to then focus on the holidays.

It is hard to find those true moments of happiness when our brains are wired to think more towards the negative and experiencing difficult life circumstances. I will admit that I have been prone to that as well.

We must remind ourselves and reframe our thinking that it is important to look at the moment and not the day, week, or year as a whole. Just the moment, because the happy moments are often there.

Some of what I provide guidance in through my counseling sessions is a vagus nerve exercise called “Glimmers”, which has this same purpose.

Remember to embrace your moments of happiness. 😊

12/16/2025

Some people may think that meditation is only done by sitting with eyes closed and a quiet, clear mind.

These examples show otherwise. You may do many of these things while practicing mindfulness. As you do it, you may not realize you are meditating.

12/15/2025

Gratitude Advent Calendar Day 15: The story behind the last photo you took on your phone.

On October 26, our beloved Molly passed away from kidney disease that had progressed rapidly from early stage 2 to stage 4 with off the charts kidney values in 2 weeks! She stopped eating and became sick. Molly was 18. She would have been 19 in January.

Kevin and I were so heartbroken. She was a strong presence that we did not have in our home anymore. One of my dear friends suggested getting a stuffed replica of her so that we could in a way, have her home with us still.

We ordered this Cuddle Clone and while it took several weeks for Molly to be made, it arrived a couple of days ago and as you can see, it looks just like her and is beautiful!

Last night, I sat in the recliner and held her for a while. I took this picture (the close up of her face) to send to my other dear friend. We were both feeling sad from our recent losses. It was comforting to do this.

It is ironic that this is the photo that happens to be aligned with the prompt for day 15. The other photos are of when Molly’s Cuddle Clone first arrived and I placed her on the recliner. The last one is a recent picture of Molly before she passed.

I express my gratitude not for the “last photo” on my phone but for the 18 years of unconditional love from our precious girl. I am also grateful for such a service to replicate the likeness of Molly.

I hope you all are able to take an opportunity to capture some photos of anything that is special to you over this holiday season so that you can cherish those memories in days, weeks, months, and years to come. It brings good feelings to us when we can look back on these photos.