http://northernedgecounseling.com/

Northern Edge Counseling, 394 Lake Avenue S; STE 515, Duluth, MN (2026)

02/02/2026

Anxiety gets a bad reputation, but in therapy we talk about it differently.

Brace yourself:
Anxiety isn’t your enemy (although we know 100% that it feels this way sometimes). Anxiety might actually be something more like an internal alarm system trying, not always gracefully, to protect you.

Your mind: Something might hurt us
Your body: Say less; I’m already running 🏃🏼‍♀️💨

But here’s the part that gets missed:
Anxiety often shows up when your internal boundaries are being crossed… sometimes by other people, sometimes by your own expectations of yourself.

In therapy, we don’t work on “getting rid” of anxiety. We work on learning what it’s been trying to say so we can work with it in real time.

www.northernedgecounseling.com

01/26/2026

Sometimes couples don’t actually need “better communication skills.”

Sometimes when we dig into what’s happening a bit more, what we find is that they need help navigating a system that’s stretched them thin.

Blended families can put enormous pressure on relationships; especially when everyone is trying to do the right thing and still ends up exhausted or disconnected.

Paige Konrad works with couples and families to slow the pace, reduce reactivity, and build more understanding inside complex family systems.

No assigning blame. No duking it out over who’s right and who’s wrong. No rigid rules to assign and stick by. Therapy for blended families looks wayyy more like helping everyone feel less alone inside something that matters deeply.

If your family or relationship could use a steadier place to land, this work is here. And Paige is now accepting clients.

https://northernedgecounseling.com/paige-konrad/

01/21/2026

The biggest lie of modern mental health is the idea that healing is an individual sport.
You can journal, meditate, self-help-book your way through a lot; but real healing usually happens in relationship.

Here’s why:

🧠 Your nervous system regulates through other people.
💛 Safety is something we experience before we understand.
🌀 Wounds created in relationship often soften when met with repair.

Good therapy isn’t about someone nodding while you talk (although that is helpful sometimes!). Good therapy about sitting with someone who stays, even when your story gets messy, complicated, or vulnerable.

Loneliness might be familiar. But it’s not the requirement for healing.

www.northernedgecounseling.com

01/14/2026

Hey MN friends and beyond. I want to take a moment to acknowledge what’s happening in our state right now.

Many of us have been watching the protests, the federal presence, and the tension in Minneapolis/St Paul unfold over the past week after the killing of a woman by a federal agent and the widespread demonstrations that followed. Minnesotans are hurting, confused, scared, angry, grieving... and it goes without saying that that's a lot to sit with as a human being.

Words are tough right now, but what I know what I can say clearly right now is this:

This is a moment where our capacity for empathy, care, and human-to-human love & respect matters more than ever. People are experiencing real fear, real pain, real loss. Regardless of your proximity to what is occurring in our community, some directly, others from the weight of witnessing it unfold.

What we can do, regardless of who or where we are is:

✨ acknowledge that this is heavy on the nervous system
✨ name that grief and stress show up in our bodies
✨ and remember that every person in this moment is someone’s child, sibling, partner, neighbor

If what you’re feeling right now is discomfort, confusion, grief, anger, fear, or heaviness, that’s a valid emotional response to witnessing this much strain in our social fabric. Healing & forward movement is not about pushing feelings down. It’s about recognizing them, befriending them, and learning how to respond in ways that honor

❤️ your own humanity and
the humanity of others ❤️

So here’s a reminder that the emotional toll of moments like this counts. & we hope you know that:

💛 You are seen
💛 You are not alone in your experience
💛 There is room for care & love even when the world feels loud

www.northernedgecounseling.com

01/05/2026

A secret about therapy:

therapists don’t sit down before your session and map out a perfect 12-step emotional blueprint for your life.

Before sessions we’re usually doing things like:

✨ Re-heating the same mug of coffee (again)
✨ Taking a grounding breath before shifting into “present” mode
✨ Mentally cheering you on before you even walk in

Therapy absolutely is not clinical perfection (if that even exists…?); it’s presence, friend.

It’s two humans in a room, working together on something important.

And honestly? That’s what makes it work.

www.northernedgecounseling.com

12/22/2025

Here’s a boundary most people don’t know they’re allowed to set:

“I’m not available to be the version of myself you remember/want me to be”

Growth means you will outgrow the roles you once played; The helper, the caretaker, the peacekeeper, the quiet one, the funny one, the one who handled everything.

You get to update your boundaries as you update your sense of self. You don’t owe anyone the outdated version of you.

If your nervous system relaxes just reading that?
That’s useful information for you, friend 🫶

www.northernedgecounseling.com

12/17/2025

An interesting thing happens in therapy sometimes: people with ADHD come in convinced something is “wrong” with them… when most of the time, nothing is wrong at all.

ADHD isn’t a character flaw.
It’s not a failure of discipline.
It’s not proof you “just need to try harder.”

It’s a brain style that gets misunderstood in a world built for a different operating system.

What looks like “procrastination” is often overwhelm.
What looks like “being scattered” is usually 12 simultaneous thoughts competing for airtime.
What looks like “not caring” is actually caring so much you burn out before you begin.

The work isn’t about fixing you.

It’s about helping you understand your own wiring, so life stops feeling like a performance you’re failing and more like a life you can actually live.

www.northernedgecounseling.com

12/15/2025

If you’ve ever said, “I know what I should do, I just can’t make myself do it,” you’d probably really like working with Neil.

He blends mind-body work with IFS, which means you won’t just think your way through stress, you’ll learn how to actually feel regulated again.

New dads, athletes, adults juggling 14 plates in the air… Neil tends to attract the folks who look “fine” on paper but feel fried on the inside.

🌿 Therapy with him isn’t fluffy.
🌿 It’s for sure not “just breathe” or “try harder.”
🌿 It’s grounded, practical, and actually doable.

He’s got a couple openings right now if your nervous system is waving a little white flag.

https://northernedgecounseling.com/about-neil-rasmussen/

12/11/2025

If you’ve ever felt like the cost of being “good” is slowly draining the life out of you, this book is probs worth your time.

This work digs into the unspoken rules women absorb:

🌿 Be agreeable.
🌿 Be selfless.
🌿 Be responsible for everyone’s emotional temperature.
🌿 Be pleasing, but not too much.

The emotional tax of “goodness” isn’t small; most women in therapy arrive burnt out from decades of self-abandonment they quite literally didn’t even realize was happening.

The best part of this this book is that it's less about being “better” and more about waking up to where you’ve been disappearing. With some tasty bits around what to do once this awareness has been built.

If any part of you feels tired reading this… that’s the part that deserves care. And as always, we're happy to help untangle anything you find along the way ❤️

www.northernedgecounseling.com

Elise Loehnen (Fissmer)

12/09/2025

Hey, did we mention that we're growing? 🌱 Not deja vu, we're welcoming another new clinician in this week!

Friends, Meet Paige Konrad 💛

Thoughtful, steady, and deeply connected to the people she works with.

Paige has a way of meeting you right where you are...whether life feels like a clear trail or you’re standing at the base of something steep, wondering how to even begin. She sees therapy as a place where you don’t have to go it alone. You’re on your path, and she walks alongside you with perspective, warmth, and the kind of encouragement that actually moves things forward.

Paige is both a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and for nearly 10 years she’s been supporting individuals and families in the Twin Ports through all kinds of life chapters; stress, anxiety, trauma, transitions, identity changes, and those moments when everything feels overwhelming.

Her approach pulls from , , , trauma-informed care, and a genuine curiosity about how people make sense of their experiences. She also integrates the human–animal bond into her work (yep, even via telehealth), helping clients access comfort, connection, and regulation in a way that feels grounding and real.

People often describe Paige as both relatable and calming. Someone who doesn’t rush the process, doesn’t pretend to have tidy answers, and creates space for you to slow down enough to see what’s actually happening inside of you.

Whether it’s your first therapy experience or you're stepping back in, Paige offers a place to be understood, supported, and strengthened so you can keep moving toward whatever comes next.

👉 Reach out to schedule with her right here:
https://northernedgecounseling.com/paige-konrad/

12/04/2025

Hey, did you know that we've hit a growth spurt, over here?

We're extending a warm welcome on this frigid winter day to one of our newest teammates, Nicole Watson ❤️

Nicole is the kind of therapist who helps you slow down, breathe again, and actually feel like yourself. She creates a space where you don’t have to have it all figured out. A space where you can process the heavy things, reflect without judgment, and start putting the pieces of your mind and body back together in a way that feels intentional and supportive.

She works with trauma, addiction, codependence, and the kinds of life patterns that quietly drain us over time. Her approach blends EMDR, somatic practices, breathwork, and trauma-conscious, body-centered therapies (like yoga) to help you reconnect with your inner steadiness and find clarity you didn’t realize you’d lost.

One of the reasons people feel so safe with Nicole?

She’s done this work, too 🌱

Her own experiences with addiction, mental health challenges, trauma, and codependence are part of what make her such a compassionate, attuned clinician. Her healing journey led her into mindfulness, somatic work, and integrative therapy...and now she brings all of that wisdom forward to support others.

Nicole believes in balancing mind, body, and spirit in a way that feels realistic, not performative. She helps clients notice what’s been overlooked, reconnect with purpose, and slowly rebuild a life that feels aligned instead of exhausting.

If you’ve been craving a grounded, holistic approach to therapy [or just someone who truly “gets it”], Nicole might be a perfect fit.

👉 Reach out to schedule with her here: www.northernedgecounseling.com

12/03/2025

If there’s anything that I hope folks feel when they walk into our space:

This is your hour. No judgment, no fixing because you’re ‘broken’ or ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’. Just space to breathe and figure things out, one piece at a time.

www.northernedgecounseling.com

Northern Edge Counseling

02/02/2026

01/26/2026

01/21/2026

01/14/2026

01/05/2026

12/22/2025

12/17/2025

12/15/2025

12/11/2025

12/09/2025

12/04/2025

12/03/2025

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