Within The Cornerstone

01/16/2026

Been thinking about hosting a CE program?

Cornerstone Counseling is now an LABSWE CE Approval Organization

That means we can officially support clinicians, organizations, and presenters in bringing high-quality, meaningful continuing education to life without the overwhelm.

Whether you’ve been sitting on a training idea, dreaming up a workshop, or ready to share your expertise with the clinical community, we’re here to help you move from “someday” to scheduled.

If hosting a CE has been on your heart & mind, this might be your sign.

Reach out to learn how to partner with Cornerstone or submit a training idea.

https://cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/ce-approval-application/

01/15/2026

📵 Cornerstone Counseling has been impacted by the Great Verizon Outage of 2026.

Our phones are currently down, somewhere between “Searching for signal” and “Existential crisis.”

We’re not sure when service will be restored, but until then:
✨ Email, website and patient portals are your friends
✨ Carrier pigeons will be considered on a case-by-case basis

Thanks for your patience while we practice radical acceptance.

Website link:

https://cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/

Patient Portal for current clients:

https://noel-andrus.clientsecure.me/

01/13/2026

Cornerstone Counseling has been nominated amongst many wonderful businesses for the Best of Baton Rouge annual vote for the people’s choice.

We’re grateful for this recognition of being a choice YOU have.

If voting is your thing and you have time today, visit the link below to cast your ballot 🎉

https://www.votebatonrouge.com/

01/12/2026

BACS Renewal: “Beyond the Protocol”
APPROVED 3-Hour BACS Renewal

Registration now open for the following dates:
January 23, 2025
February 20, 2026

9:30 AM–12:45 PM (CST)
ONLINE: Live, Synchronous Event

This 3-hour CEU training goes beyond the usual supervision checkboxes. Expect depth, reflection, and real-world tools to sharpen your lens as a clinical supervisor.

Approved for 3-Hours of Clinical Supervision, BACS Renewal Credit through NASW-LA. This credit is only approved for BACS & focuses on the supervisory relationship.

Register here:

https://cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/3-hour-bacs-renewal/

01/10/2026

A reminder about patience and presence…

So many of us feel pressure to “arrive” somewhere.

Healed, successful, confident, finished…
But most meaningful things don’t happen on a tight timeline. They unfold slowly, in layers, with pauses, detours, and moments of doubt along the way.

Here are a few common aspirations and what they actually tend to require:

• Writing a book: Often 3-5 years of drafting, revising, setting it down, and picking it back up
• Building a business: 3–10 years to feel grounded, sustainable, and aligned
• Creating art or a masterpiece: months or years of skill-building, experimentation, and quiet refinement
• Writing music: years of practice, many unfinished pieces, and life experience informing the work
• Building a home: 1–3 years from vision to completion
• Healing or nervous system regulation: not a finish line, but an ongoing relationship with self

What gets in the way of letting things take the time they need?

• Comparing our process to someone else’s highlight reel
• Internalized hustle culture that equates worth with productivity
• Fear that if we slow down, we’ll fall behind or miss our chance
• Pressure to monetize, perform, or “prove” progress too early
• Expecting growth to be linear instead of cyclical
• Ignoring capacity, season, and support

From a mental health lens, rushing often activates a threat responses that shows up as urgency, self-criticism, or burnout.

Slowing down allows integration. It gives the nervous system room to learn, adapt, and stabilize.

And maybe the most important part:
It’s not only about where you’re going.
It’s also about who you become along the way.

The skills you build.
The self-trust that grows.
The moments of presence you don’t skip over.

And that process matters.

(Photo: White Lotus. From a tube planted in the mud, 5 years of tending, and this beauty today. There was one season we actually thought it was gone. Completely disintegrated or eaten by the fish….it wasn’t gone, it was just going through a process and came back bigger and healthier than ever.)

01/06/2026

We’re honestly a little surprised (in the best way) and really grateful to share that Cornerstone Counseling is on the ballot for Best of 225 🤍

We aren’t asking you to go vote for us
…just saying THANK YOU.

Being recognized by our community means more to us than we can put into words. It means more than being named the “the best” at anything.

We’re just vibin’ at Cornerstone and doing what we love to do. Always learning. Always growing.

Thanks for recognizing and feeling that 😀

https://www.votebatonrouge.com/g

Vote once per day from January 5 through January 23.

01/06/2026

Self-Efficacy: The Skill That Changes Everything

Self-efficacy is the belief that “I can influence what happens next.”

Not control. A grounded confidence in your capacity to respond, choose, and adapt even when things are hard, messy or uncertain.

In therapy, we often see that distress isn’t just about what happened…
it’s about what it taught someone to believe about their own power, ability to cope, choose, and recover.

Common barriers to self-efficacy include:

• Chronic invalidation or being told your feelings were “too much”
• Repeated experiences of failure without support or repair
• Systems that reward compliance over curiosity
• Internalized messages around gender, race, body size, productivity, or worth
• Helping roles that prioritize caretaking others over trusting self

Trauma complicates this further.

Trauma, especially developmental, relational, or systemic trauma, can wire the nervous system toward survival rather than agency. When your body learns that choice wasn’t safe, self-efficacy doesn’t disappear… it goes offline.

Add social conditioning that teaches people to doubt themselves, defer to authority, or minimize their needs, and the result often looks like:

• “I don’t trust my decisions.”
• “I need reassurance before I act.”
• “I freeze, people-please, or shut down instead of choosing.”

Social media can quietly shape this too.
While it offers connection and information, it also:

• Encourages constant comparison and external validation
• Rewards certainty, speed, and performance over reflection
• Creates the illusion that everyone else “knows what they’re doing”
• Outsources intuition to algorithms, trends, and influencers

Over time, this can erode trust in one’s own timing, body cues, and inner authority. Especially for those already impacted by trauma or marginalization.

Why self-efficacy matters:

Research consistently shows that strong self-efficacy is linked to:

• Greater emotional regulation
• Increased follow-through and resilience
• Lower anxiety and depression
• Improved outcomes in therapy
• Sustainable change that lasts beyond the therapy room

For clinicians: building skills without restoring self-efficacy risks creating dependence rather than empowerment.
For clients: healing isn’t just feeling better, it’s trusting yourself again.

We don’t just ask “What’s wrong?”
We ask: “Where did your sense of agency get interrupted and how do we help you reclaim it safely?”

This isn’t a mindset hack.
It’s a nervous-system-informed, relational process.
And it’s one of the most powerful predictors of long-term healing we know.

(Photo: Lake Michigan Sunset)

01/02/2026

Upcoming BACS Renewal Dates Approaching

If you’re looking to complete your BACS renewal hours this winter, Beyond the Protocol offers a focused, clinically grounded 3-hour training designed for Board Approved Clinical Supervisors.

Beyond the Protocol: 3-Hour BACS Renewal
Approved by NASW-LA for 3 CE hours in supervision as approved by LABSWE.

Available dates:
January 23, 2026 (3 weeks from today!)

February 20, 2026

Online
9:30 am–12:45 pm

This training goes beyond procedural requirements to support thoughtful, ethical, and reflective supervision practice to enhance the supervisory relationship.

Registration is open👇

https://cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/3-hour-bacs-renewal/

12/24/2025

Happy Holidays from Cornerstone Counseling & Wellness

As the year comes to a close, we want to pause and extend gratitude to our clients, community partners, and colleagues. However you observe this season, we honor the many ways this time of year can hold meaning.

As we step into 2026, we are excited for what’s ahead at Cornerstone, including:
•Expanded therapy and group offerings
•New continuing education trainings for clinicians
•Ongoing integration of trauma-informed, somatic, and depth-oriented care
•Continued commitment to inclusivity, dignity, and healing across the lifespan

Thank you for trusting us with your stories, your growth, and your care. We look forward to continuing this work together in the year ahead.

Wishing you peace, gentleness, and moments of grounding this holiday season.

Cornerstone Counseling & Wellness

https://cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/