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Mindful Psychology Associates

Licensed Clinical Psychologists in Evanston, Illinois

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Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning

College Students and Mental Health: A One-Hour Zoom Webinar for Parents

August 11, 2022 By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning Leave a Comment

college student mental health webinar

What are signs of possible mental health issues? What are the most effective ways to communicate with your student about mental health before leaving this fall? How do parents manage this big change (if a new college student) and work with boundaries, independence, etc.?

Free via Zoom on Thursday, August 18, 2022; 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm.
Join Dr. Contarino Panning for information and resources about helping your young adult children.

For more information and to register: evanstonpsychologists.com/webinar

Filed Under: Home

In-Person Therapy Appointments Now Available at Our Renovated Office

June 15, 2022 By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning Leave a Comment

Evanston therapist office

Mindful Psychology Associates is excited to now offer in-person therapy services at our renovated suite in the historic Carlson Building in downtown Evanston! We have heard your requests for wanting to see a therapist in person, and are now enjoying seeing some of our older and newer clients in person.

As a healthcare facility, we require everyone (staff and clients) to wear masks while in the waiting room or therapy offices. We have medical-grade air purifiers in the waiting room, as well as each office, as precautions to keep our office a healthy environment. Each client will need to sign a waiver agreeing to our COVID protocols and guidelines.

We will continue offering telehealth services through our Zoom for Healthcare platform as long as health insurance continues to reimburse telehealth. The last two years have shown the effectiveness and power of telehealth and we are happy to offer choices to our clients, especially the convenience and increased access that telehealth offers.

After a very busy winter and spring, several of our clinicians have openings for new clients. Summer is a great time to focus on improving your mental health or discussing emotional readiness for college.

Mindful Psychology Associates’ two newest clinicians are accepting referrals for new clients! Amy Bailey, LCPC, is a seasoned clinician who works with young adults and adults on issues around depression, anxiety, and trauma. She also does couples therapy for couples seeking to strengthen their relationship or address serious concerns. MPA’s newest clinician, Alison Stoll, LPC, works with teens, children over age 10, and adults seeking support regarding trauma and mood disorders. She is also trained in EMDR, which is an effective therapy to address the impact of trauma.

For all inquiries, please contact our admin team at 847-864-0600 or visit www.evanstonpsychologists.com/schedule to get started in our intake system.

Wishing everyone a relaxing and fun summer!

Filed Under: Home

Navigating the Transition to College Life

October 13, 2021 By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning Leave a Comment

transitioning to college life

Much build-up is involved in the process of going to college, starting in high school if not sooner. Students are focused on building academic skills, as well as participating in sports, hobbies, and extracurricular activities in the pursuit of getting into the fill-in-the-blank (best, highest ranked, BIG 10, Ivy League, liberal arts) college or university. In addition, high schoolers are consumed with ACT/SAT test prep, essay writing, college visits, applications, and financial aid decisions.

Finally—congratulations, you’ve been accepted at a college or university that seems like a terrific fit, the finances have been worked out, and you feel excited about your next adventure where you will be spending the next 4 to 5 years! High school wraps up, you move into your dorm room, say goodbye to your family, and wait for your best life to start.

Despite many older people who have wistfully told you that college will be the “best years of your life” and seeing loads of Instagram posts with smiling, partying first year students … you’re not feeling it. You and your roommate don’t get along well. It’s hard going from the predictability of your high school life living in your family’s home to facing so many decisions in a strange, new place. You feel homesick and lonely and also guilty for feeling so bad while being at your top-choice school. People excitedly ask you how college life is going and you don’t want to be honest that you are struggling (and potentially let them down), so you say it is great! Frankly, you feel lost.

If you can resonate with these feelings, keep reading!

Starting college is a major adjustment in myriad ways—and a rich time for psychological development and growth. Quite often while going through life transitions, we have preconceived expectations and hopes of what we hope will happen in our new life. Yours may have looked something like: I moved into my dorm room and formed an easy connection with my roommate, enjoyed my classes, had a large group of friends to eat meals with in the cafeteria, and developed a thriving social life. I studied a lot but work was manageable, and had a great time partying with my friends.

So what happens when your expectations aren’t coming to fruition, or at least aren’t happening right now?

Human memory has an ironic way of preserving positive experiences while minimizing negative, boring, and stressful ones. This cognitive bias is referred to as Rosy Retrospection (see https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/rosy-retrospection/) where after time elapses, we tend to remember fun and happy memories and those hard times fade away. So when your Aunt Jackie reminisces with you about the fun parties and crazy antics she experienced in college, she’s also probably not recalling and remembering the difficult times.

What can you do to ease this transition?

Identify What You’re Feeling

You may be experiencing a wide range of feelings—sadness, homesickness, frustration, anxiety, excitement, confusion to name a few (and you may experience all of these during one day!) Having intense emotional experiences can be overwhelming and at times even exhausting. Checking in with yourself about your emotions, and deciding to accept them as valid and normal, can be a useful tool

Acknowledge Your Vulnerability

Major life transitions can be accompanied with questions and self-doubt—am I ‘doing it right?’ Will things get better? Why does it seem like everyone else is in a better place? During times of great change, many of us may feel vulnerable or helpless and uncomfortable with not being able to predict what may happen in the short or long term.

You may have heard the expression “comparison is the thief of joy.” The reality is that some college students adjust more seamlessly than others. Many factors may go into this such as having close friends at the same college, experiencing a sense of community quickly, or many other reasons. It may feel unfair that you’re having a more difficult time—it’s not fun, that is for certain. Acknowledging your discomfort and owning your own personal experience (rather than comparing yourself to your high school friends) can help.

Name Your Struggle

Be honest with yourself that you’re struggling—sometimes this is the hardest step. It might feel scary to acknowledge that things aren’t going as well as you had hoped. Talk to a trusted friend or supportive family member. It may be helpful to talk to an older friend who has already transitioned to college and seems to be doing well. You’re certainly not alone though in your experience even though others may also be concealing their true feelings or reluctant to share vulnerable feelings.

college student struggle

Remember the Basics

Most new college students are learning more about how to take care of themselves without any family help. This can be hard, especially if you are living away from home for the first time. Things like establishing a healthy sleep schedule, making sure that you’re eating regular meals with a balanced diet, getting fresh air and walking every day may seem rudimentary, but making sure these areas of your life are in a healthy balance can also benefit your mental health. Stress can cause disruptions in eating, sleeping, and energy level, so attempting to establish healthy habits can be useful now and during more stressful times.

Connect with Others

Think about your friendships from high school or earlier—those friendships most likely took investing a lot of time (possibly even over years) and shared experiences to deepen. Researcher Jeff Hall found that it takes on average 50 hours spending time with someone to consider them a casual friend, and over 200 hours to develop a close friendship (see https://news.ku.edu/2018/03/06/study-reveals-number-hours-it-takes-make-friend).

Keep that in mind as you navigate these early budding friendships! So start small—commit to getting to know one hallmate, say hello to someone you sit next to in class, go to one extracurricular meeting. Take advantage of social connection activities that dorms and colleges offer in the first few months, and also know that you may feel uncomfortable or awkward at first.

Therapy Can Help

Most colleges and universities have a counseling center or referral resources for students. Focusing on students’ mental health has increased over the years with more students reporting anxiety and depression symptoms than ever before. It may be helpful to start therapy for additional support and guidance. This may be particularly relevant if you have a prior mental health history (anxiety, depression, eating disorder) and especially important if your anxiety or depressive symptoms feel severe or are impacting your ability to take care of yourself and attend classes.

I’ve been working as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in college student mental health for almost 20 years. I started my career working in university counseling centers and have spent the last 17 years in my outpatient practice helping many students smoothly make this major life transition with their mental health intact. I’ve worked with undergraduate students for their entire four (or more) years of their undergraduate degree, and have also worked with students just for a few sessions to help with adjustment.

All of the therapists at Mindful Psychology Associates are trained in working with college students and both the typical adjustment issues as well as treating more long-term concerns such as major depressive disorder or anxiety disorders.

By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning, Psy.D.
Founder/President, Mindful Psychology Associates PC

Filed Under: Home, News Tagged With: adjusting to college life, college student stress, going to college, navigating college

Mood and Anxiety Group

September 9, 2021 By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning Leave a Comment

outpatient integration group

Have you recently completed an intensive outpatient program (IOP) and are transitioning back to outpatient care? Or are you finding that you could benefit from the support of a group in addition to your weekly individual therapy sessions?

Navigating the transition from an IOP to an outpatient therapy setting can feel challenging. During this time people are beginning to implement newly-learned skills with a decreased level of support from what they were recently receiving.

The Mood and Anxiety Group provides group support for individuals navigating this change. You will find a space to talk about where you are struggling and where you are progressing while receiving support from your peers.

Ideal candidates for this group are individuals who are stepping down from a higher level of care program or recognize they need more support than once-a-week therapy currently provides. This may also include individuals currently considering stepping up to or on a waiting list for a mood, anxiety, trauma, or dual diagnosis IOP who would like additional support. 

Facilitated by psychologist Amanda (Snell) Stagg, Psy.D.

  • Thursdays
  • 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • minimum 8-week commitment
  • via Zoom
  • $50 (can bill BCBS or Aetna PPO insurances)

Register using our online Scheduling Form.

For more information, please email Dr. Stagg at amanda@evanstonpsychologists.com.

Filed Under: Home, News Tagged With: integration therapy group, outpatient therapy group, transition group therapy, virtual therapy group

How to Help Your Employees’ Psychological Health as They Continue to Navigate the Pandemic

September 8, 2021 By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning Leave a Comment

employee psychological health

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a negative toll on mental health…many studies have shown the negative impact with increased depression and anxiety symptoms and as a result, Americans seeking mental health services in large numbers.

A primary task of an emotionally attuned leader is to create a psychologically safe and caring environment — especially during times of upheaval and transition. When faced with transition and change, humans tend to react with anxiety and uncertainty.

In an article for Medium — How to Help Your Employees’ Psychological Health as They Continue to Navigate the Pandemic — Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning discusses the best practices that leaders can implement during this time of uncertainty including acknowledging the weird, practicing being vulnerable, validating emotions, and creating a feedback loop to help navigate ongoing change.

Read the article on Medium >>

effective leadership team

Filed Under: Home, News Tagged With: employee psychological health, handling change, navigate the pandemic

Need Therapy Support: New Scaffolding Group

May 20, 2021 By Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning Leave a Comment

Scaffolding Group

Are you waiting to work with an individual therapist? Join this special interim support group.

These sessions will help prop you up. Young adults will learn one psychological skill/theme per week from a “greatest hits” curriculum featuring skills and ideas from various schools of psychology. Plus, we’ll work with the new Rising Higher app that uses AI to take voice input and measures anxiety and depression.

Each session includes a mindfulness exercise.

Facilitated by psychologist Dr. Jennifer Contarino Panning.

  • Thursdays
  • Noon – 1:15 pm
  • 8 weeks
  • via Zoom
  • $60 per session (can bill BCBS PPO or Aetna PPO)

Register using our online Scheduling Form.

adolescent therapy group

Filed Under: Home, News Tagged With: adolescent therapy, outpatient therapy group, transition group therapy, virtual therapy group

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8 more MPA staff completed the Basic Accelerated R 8 more MPA staff completed the Basic Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) training this week! ART is a phenomenal brief treatment model for trauma, phobias, sleeping issues, self esteem and more!  Congrats to Michelle, Michelle, Amanda, Alayni, Briyanna, Amy, Jena, and Brittany and special thanks to our trainer Trisha Jarnigan and MPA founder Jennifer Panning for assisting! Please contact us if you are interested in scheduling an ART session or learning more about this!  #mindfulpsychologyevanston #mindfulpsychologyassociates #evanston #acceleratedresolutiontherapy #traumarecovery #psychologistsofinstagram #chicagotherapy #eyemovements
In person event! Join @familyactionnetwork as the In person event!  Join @familyactionnetwork as they welcome author and therapist @nedratawwab who will be discussing her new book about family drama.  This should be an informative and heartfelt evening, as always free and open to the public! 7pm, March 13 at Evanston Township High School. Hope to see you there! Mindful Psychology Associates is a proud sponsor of FAN.  #mindfulpsychologyevanston #mindfulpsychologyassociates #familyactionnetwork #evanston #familydrama
It’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week! Th It’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week! Thank you @equiphealth and @projectheal for this helpful graphic describing how eating disorders can be so difficult to treat and why many don’t get help until symptoms have progressed. At Mindful Psychology Associates, we have several eating disorder specialists who are experienced in treating the whole spectrum of eating disorders and disordered eating, and we work collaboratively with physicians, dieticians, and psychiatrists who are also trained to work within a collaborative treatment team. Help is available!  Reposted using @withregram  #mindfulpsychologyassociates #mindfulpsychologyevanston #eatingdisorderawareness #eatingdisorderawarenessweek #eatingdisorderhelp #psychologistsofinstagram
We are very excited about this FAN event this Thur We are very excited about this FAN event this Thursday night in person at Loyola Academy! If you are a parent to a teen or love a teen, you know they can be challenging and also delightful…Dr Damour will be discussing her new book so you can learn the latest on how to understand teens! Come say hi to Founder Jennifer Panning PsyD who will be at our table available to chat and share some MPA marketing goodies—she is the mother to two high schoolers so will be staying for the event! MPA is a proud FAN sponsor and excited to have such high quality educational programming available for anyone who would like to attend! Reposted from @familyactionnetwork using @get.repost.  #mindfulpsychologyevanston #mindfulpsychologyassociates #familyactionnetwork #teens #therapy #psychologistsofinstagram
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