Children and Play: Four Reasons to Encourage It

young boy playing with building blocks on floor; play therapy

For children, play is their world. It’s how they express themselves, build relationships, and learn about their environment. Play is a crucial piece to child development. As a parent, your role is to not only take time to connect with your child through play, but also, allow the space and opportunity for your child to play. So, why should you, as a parent, encourage play in a child?

Bringing Baby Home Workshop Dates Announced for Spring 2022!

Are you expecting a baby this year, or do you have a baby under a year old? Many couples find it challenging to make the transition to parenthood. The Bringing Baby Home workshop can help. Designed by The Gottman Institute, the program focuses on building and maintaining the quality of the couple’s relationship, which ultimately improves the quality of life for babies and children. Register for a Spring 2022 session.

Maintaining Relationship Health While Transitioning to Parenthood

It’s no secret that the transition to parenthood is a challenging one with all the physical, psychological, and relational changes that occur in a relatively short period of time. With sleep deprivation, it’s no wonder that many parents experience a shortness in temper or/and a lack of patience. If you’re a parent, you’re familiar with these challenges. If you’re expecting for the first time, you may be wondering how to navigate this unknown, upcoming transition, how a new baby will impact your lifestyle and relationship, and what kind of parent you will be.  

Health Implications on Women Caused by Pandemic Stress

stressed working mom

Parents have unquestionably been hit hard by the pandemic. Between school closures and virtual learning, many parents have assumed the role of teacher on top of their usual household obligations and adjusting to working from home. And on top of that, parents are helping their children navigate their fear, anxiety, and depression around COVID and tumultuous societal events.

4 Mindfulness Exercises You Can Practice Anytime, Anywhere

Mindfulness is an ancient practice that encourages us to be engaged with ourselves and the world around us without judgement. Many of us are stuck thinking about the past or worrying about the future that we don’t spend much time in the present moment at all. Getting started with a mindfulness practice doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are four brief exercises you can try at any time, in any place.

Give Yourself the Gift of Counseling

No matter your season of life or the struggles before or behind you, the partnership of a mental health counselor can be transformative and life-changing. Be the model of self-care that you and your loved ones deserve. By ​committing to counseling, you pave a path to wholeness and find the tools for not only coping with, but thriving in, your daily life.

7 Ways Sunstone Counseling Can Help the Richmond Community’s Mental Health

Sunstone Counseling Richmond Office and Counselors

Our mission at Sunstone Counseling is to remove the barriers that prevent people from obtaining the mental health services they need and deserve. By offering in-person and online appointments to RVA residents at our Glen Allen office hopes to alleviate any scheduling challenges those seeking counseling may have faced in the past.  

On a Path Toward Different – Processing Grief and Loss

Our human experience includes the need to mourn. No matter the loss type, the outward sharing of inward feeling is necessary. But, it does not mean we all activate it in the same way. In fact, part of the unique journey we undertake is finding with whom and how we share with others. It is, however, a part of processing that needs to be heard and witnessed.

6 Signs Your Teen May Be Depressed

As teens struggle through the tough transition period of childhood into young adulthood, it can be difficult to decipher a teen’s behavior. Are their out-of-control emotions and conduct a result of the natural process of adolescence, or is it something more serious?

Sunstone Counseling Expands Its Mental Health Services with New Richmond Location

Sunstone Counseling Expands Its Mental Health Services with New Richmond Location

Expanding outside of Northern Virginia, Sunstone Counseling is bringing its diverse and experienced counseling services to Richmond residents. For more than a decade, Sunstone has been helping its clients create a brighter tomorrow one counseling session at a time and is excited to bring high-quality mental health resources to Richmond.

Sunstone Counseling to Hold Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for New Ashburn Location

Sunstone Counseling’s compassionate team is committed to reducing barriers that may prevent clients from getting the counseling they deserve, which is why they’ve expanded their services to Loudoun County. The new state-of-the-art office features nine counseling offices, two of which are dedicated to children’s play therapy, three for couples and family counseling, and one large… Read more »

What Is the Gottman Method Used in Couples Counseling?

couple holding hands

When we fall in love with our spouses or partners, we never imagine that someday the honeymoon phase might end. The truth is, all couples have their fair share of ups and downs. Healthy relationships require a lot of work. But sometimes it can be difficult to do this work when communication has completely broken down and/or there is a blatant lack of trust and respect. Enter the Gottman Method.