Healing Hearts Family Counseling

12/31/2025

12/26/2025

📵💙 Tired of screen-time battles with your kids? You’re not alone.

Managing screen time doesn’t have to mean constant arguments or guilt. A few intentional shifts can make a big difference:
✔️ Talk with your kids about what healthy screen time looks like
✔️ Create screen-free moments like family meals or bedtime routines
✔️ Remember — kids mirror what they see (yes, even our phone habits 😉)
✔️ Replace screens with connection: games, walks, reading, or just being together

At Healing Hearts Family Counseling Center, we support parents with realistic and compassionate strategies that strengthen connections and support kids’ emotional health.

✨ Need help creating healthy tech habits at home? We’re here for you.

Follow along for more parenting tips and mental health support.

12/23/2025

This morning I had a full day ahead and left early, focused on everything I needed to accomplish.

As I crested the hill into a small Wisconsin town, the sun was just rising, traffic was light, and everything felt still for a moment.

It made me think about how often we move through our days focused on what needs to get done—without noticing the world around us.

Presence doesn’t mean ignoring responsibility.
It means letting both exist at the same time.

During this busy holiday season,
notice one moment today where you slow down just enough to hold both—
responsibility and presence.

12/19/2025

The voice is more than expression — it’s regulation.

Research shows that singing, humming, and vocal play can stimulate the vagus nerve, helping the nervous system shift out of stress and into a calmer state.

This isn’t about singing well or performing. It can be singing in the car, humming while making supper, or joining in with music at home.

For kids and families especially, sound and rhythm can be a simple, accessible way to support emotional balance in everyday moments — not just during hard ones.

12/17/2025

📱💬 Is screen time affecting your child’s emotional well-being?

Screens are everywhere — tablets, phones, TVs, computers — and it all adds up. While technology can be helpful, too much screen time has been linked to sleep challenges, attention struggles, mood changes, and behavior concerns in kids.

At Healing Hearts Family Counseling Center, we work with families to better understand how technology impacts emotional regulation and mental health — and how to create healthier habits that support your child’s development ❤️

You’re not alone in navigating this. Small, mindful changes can make a big difference.

✨ Follow us for practical parenting tips, guidance, and mental health support for your family.

12/17/2025

A small, everyday example of this came up for me recently.

Someone asked how a haircut turned out. It wasn’t great — the stylist was new — but instead of avoiding the conversation, I responded honestly and kindly. I acknowledged the learning curve, shared what didn’t quite work, and offered a way to make it better next time.

Later, I was told it would have been easier to just say nothing.

But here’s the thing:
when we avoid honest conversations just to keep the peace, we don’t actually regulate our nervous system — we carry the discomfort instead. And nothing improves.

Regulated communication isn’t harsh.
It’s clear, respectful, and solution-oriented.

Avoidance may feel calmer in the moment — but growth, repair, and learning require presence.

This applies to relationships, parenting, work, and everyday life.

12/16/2025

One of the most accessible ways to support the nervous system is through sound.

Music with steady rhythm and predictable patterns can help the brain shift out of stress and into regulation. It’s not about distraction — it’s about giving the nervous system something safe and consistent to organize around.

This is why certain music feels calming, grounding, or even emotionally releasing.

When you start to notice tension, overwhelm, or mental fatigue, try putting on music for 10 minutes — nothing complex, just something steady and familiar — and notice what shifts in your body.

It’s a simple, supportive tool — and one we often overlook.

12/16/2025

Some Mondays call for going little.
If you’re tired tonight, you’re not doing it wrong. 💙

12/15/2025

Life doesn’t always unfold the way we expect.

Sometimes it’s a relationship that changed.
Sometimes it’s a diagnosis, a career that stalled, or a child choosing a different path.
Sometimes it’s realizing that single life, married life, or family life feels nothing like what you imagined.

Wherever you are right now — you are brave.

Brave for trying.
Brave for staying open.
Brave for continuing to show up, even when it’s hard.

Your story may look different than you planned — but showing up still matters.