Anne Unterkoefler, LCSW

05/04/2026

05/04/2026

☕️🫖

04/29/2026

“A social worker listens not only to words, but to the silence behind them.”

04/19/2026

🤍

04/18/2026

Access exclusive memberships and self-guided courses designed to support healing from Complex Trauma. Learn at your pace with practical tools and expert insights.

04/17/2026

“A social worker learns that every client story deserves understanding without judgment.”

04/16/2026

CBT loop model:
SITUATION → THOUGHT → EMOTION → BEHAVIOR → back to SITUATION

They all affect each other. Bidirectionally.

• Your thought doesn't just create your emotion.
• Your behavior creates your thought.
• Your emotion drives your behavior.
• Your situation creates all of it.

And the loop is self-perpetuating.

Example:
Belief: "I'm not good enough"
Situation: You make a mistake
Thought: "See? I'm incompetent"
Emotion: Shame
Behavior: You withdraw, become smaller
New Situation: You miss opportunities, confirm the belief

Loop continues.

Here's the good news: You can break it at ANY point. You don't have to change your thought first.

INTERVENTION #1: Challenge the thought
Is it actually true? What's the evidence against it?

INTERVENTION #2: Change the behavior
Do the thing you're afraid of anyway. Emotion follows action.

INTERVENTION #3: Shift the emotion
Use somatic practices (breathing, movement, connection).

INTERVENTION #4: Change the situation
Leave, move, end it. New situation = new loop.

CBT works because it's direct and practical.

You identify your loop. You pick your intervention. You practice consistently.

Comment: Which part of your loop do you get stuck in?

Save this.

02/18/2026

When your brain won’t slow down or anxiety feels like it’s running the show, grounding can help bring you back to the present moment.

This kind of sensory-based practice works because it gives the nervous system something concrete to focus on. By deliberately engaging the senses, you interrupt the brain’s threat loop and support a shift out of fight-or-flight.

Heart rate begins to settle. Muscle tension softens. The stress response eases, and attention becomes more available again.

Grounding helps your brain feel safe enough to stop chasing your thoughts. From that calmer state, executive functioning is easier to access.

This is a simple tool, but it’s a powerful one when overwhelm is high and thinking feels slippery. ❤️

02/02/2026

01/21/2026

01/03/2026

Linking into our new series, Understanding the Developing Brain.

Emotional regulation isn’t something children suddenly learn.
It’s something their brain builds over time.

This visual shows how emotional regulation develops from infancy through adolescence — not in a straight line, but gradually, with support, setbacks, and rebuilding along the way.

Babies rely entirely on adults to regulate.
Young children borrow calm and learn language for feelings.
Older children begin to practise skills — and still wobble.
Teens may look independent, but their regulation is still developing well into adulthood.

Big emotions at any age aren’t a failure.
They’re a sign that the nervous system needs support, safety, and connection.

Save this as a reminder when things feel hard.
Share it with someone supporting children or young people.

Emotional regulation interventions, activities, and visual resources are available in the Resource Store — link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

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