You’ve done the work. You’ve sat in the therapist’s office, revisited your childhood, named your patterns, and understood — really understood — where they come from. And yet something remains. A heaviness you can’t quite explain. A way of relating that keeps repeating. A ceiling you keep hitting, no matter how much insight you gain. […]
High Achievers: Are You Motivated or Just Afraid of Falling Short? | Understanding Perfectionism and High-Functioning Anxiety Published August 16, 2026 Austin, TX Written By: Rachel Cooper, MS, LPC Associate Supervised by Dr. Amber Quaranta Leech, LPC-S Externally, motivation and fear of failure can look remarkably similar. Both can lead you to […]
A practical, evidence-based CPD day for counsellors and psychotherapists working with trauma. Explore the neurobiology of trauma and the Window of Tolerance, build a toolkit of safety and stabilisation strategies, from grounding and resourcing to somatic and parts-work approaches, before moving into how to safely support clients in directly processing traumatic material. Includes case studies, […]
When “Doing Your Best” Never Feels Like Enough Published August 5, 2026 Austin, TX Written By: Rachel Cooper, MS, LPC Associate Supervised by Dr. Amber Quaranta Leech, LPC-S You submit the presentation, receive positive feedback, and before the meeting is even over, you’re already replaying what you could have done differently. […]
When people think about trauma, they often picture major disasters, violent events, or life-threatening situations. While these experiences can certainly be traumatic, trauma is not defined solely by what happened. It is also shaped by how an experience affects a person’s emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. The same event can affect people in very different […]
DECODING TEEN SLANG Decode Language (2026-2027) How Do We Communicate? Have you ever felt like you needed a passport to understand the conversations happening in your own home? If you have teenagers, you probably have. One minute you’re trying to figure out if “cap” means what it meant when you were growing up (spoiler alert: […]
Why Setting Boundaries Feels Guilty for High Achievers (and How to Shift It) | Amority Health Published June 14, 2026 Austin, TX Written By: Rachel Cooper, MS, LPC Associate Supervised by Dr. Amber Quaranta Leech, LPC-S For high-achieving adults, saying “no” can feel uncomfortable, even impossible. Boundaries are often mistaken for […]
A relationship can look functional from the outside while feeling painfully lonely on the inside. You may still share a home, coordinate schedules, raise children, or attend family events, yet struggle to have one conversation that does not turn tense, shut down, or end in hurt feelings. Relationship and marriage counseling offers a private, structured […]
Financial Abuse Isn’t Just Between Partners—It Happens in Families Too Financial abuse, two words that people often think of an abusive spouse controlling bank accounts or preventing a partner from working. But financial abuse doesn’t only happen in romantic relationships. After more than 20 years as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I’ve seen another form […]
Why High Achievers Struggle to Accept Compliments Published July 18, 2026 Austin, TX Written By: Rachel Cooper, MS, LPC Associate Supervised by Dr. Amber Quaranta Leech, LPC-S “You did a great job.” “Thanks… but it really wasn’t that difficult.” You finish a presentation, and a colleague compliments […]
