Coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder in Minnesota

Living in Minnesota, where winters are long and sunlight is scarce, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can feel like an uninvited guest for many. SAD is more than just disliking the cold—it’s a real condition that affects your mood and energy. The lack of sunlight during those gray, chilly months can lead to Vitamin D deficiency, which disrupts the brain’s ability to produce serotonin and other feel-good chemicals needed to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm.

Brightening Your Winter Days

Fortunately, there are ways to combat the winter blues and keep SAD at bay. Staying active is one of the most effective strategies. Physical activity—whether it’s a brisk walk, hitting the slopes for some winter sports, or simply spending time in nature—can boost your body’s production of serotonin and dopamine, those natural mood-lifters. Connecting with friends or loved ones during these activities can also work wonders for your mental health.

Another helpful tool is a SAD lamp, which mimics natural daylight to lift your mood. While these lamps can brighten your day, they don’t significantly increase Vitamin D production, so supplementation is highly recommended during Minnesota’s sun-starved winters. Consult with a healthcare provider to find the right dosage for you.

SAD in Summer? It Happens.

Though we often associate SAD with cold, dreary winters, it can also strike during the summer months. However, even a brief burst of warmth and sunshine—like those early spring days when the temperature hits 45°F—can feel like a lifeline. In Minnesota, you’ll see folks shedding their coats, donning t-shirts and shorts, and soaking up every ray of sunlight as soon as the weather turns. That hope and joy, which might have felt lost just a day before, start to creep back in, reminding us of the power of light and warmth.

Take the First Step

If you’re struggling with SAD or suspect you might be, you don’t have to face it alone. Our team is here to help. To schedule an appointment with one of our providers, contact our Front Office at 866-522-2472. Let’s work together to bring a little more light into your life, no matter the season.

Thank you Mary Brainerd for Supporting Mental Health

Recently, the Star Tribune Editorial Board wrote an Opinion article about Mary Brainerd, the outgoing CEO of Health Partners. 

Hearing about her contributions to helping expand mental health care from the state-of-the art HealthPartners’ Regions Hospital campus in St. Paul to the “Make it OK” campaign to spread awareness aimed at ending stigma makes Birch Counseling proud to be in Minnesota. 

Her establishment of a mental health urgent care center was groundbreaking, and her dedication to working with law enforcement as well as health care leaders truly provided results for those who were falling through the cracks. 

It’s great to have strong women leaders who not only run a good business, but advocate for those in the shadows and stigmatized from years of bad information, or simply no information at all. 

We wish her all the best in her retirement, and look forward to a successor that will continue the great work she’s done to help expand the awareness around mental health and the essential mental health services Minnesotans need. 

You are NOT your problems.

It takes a lot of courage to ask for help. And, it usually takes a lot of time to muster up that courage. 

But, by the time you ask, you’ve most likely internalized your problems. 

Internalizing problems over a long period of time can lead to ‘absorbing’ the problems into our identity, meaning you begin to define yourself by the problems. This not only exacerbates your problems, but it also becomes a malicious adversary in our lives. 

When you realize this, it’s time to begin to view problems as being ‘other’ and therefore able to be influenced, challenged, changed, even eradicated.

Therapy can help challenge any preexisting internalization of the problem. That is to say, therapy can be understood, in part, as a process by which the individual can begin to be separated from his/her problematic symptoms. 

No matter how educated we may be and intellectually or emotionally sophisticated; in the quiet moments when our problem presents as overwhelming how long until some version of the internal message ‘what is wrong with me?’ enters into our consciousness.

We live in a society that relentlessly facilitates the internalization of our problems; intertwined into the habitual fabric of our lives. Some of us grow up in homes where shameful messages were ever present. ‘Something is wrong’ so often became ‘something is wrong with me’. If our problematic symptoms are indivisible from ourselves then we are condemned to being ‘less than’, ‘broken’, being ‘apart from’. 

But this is not true.

• You are NOT your symptoms. 
  • You are NOT your problems. 
    • You are NOT your thoughts.

Through Narrative Therapy, we can help you externalize the problems and affirm that you are not the problem, rather the problem is the problem. 

We are here to help.

How to Survive a Post-Election Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving could be one feisty holiday! 

Our country is split down the middle with the results from the recent election.  Tension and anxiety, which can normally be high around Turkey Day, have the potential to be off the charts should the conversation turn to politics. Anticipating that, what might be a good strategy to keep connection with family when the topic turns to Trump’s triumph?

Mark Reinecke, chief psychologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine says in a recent Chicago Tribune article, "There's a level of tension and pressure that's just naturally there [at Thanksgiving]. Beyond that, you're bringing together family members who don't get together very often. It's been a divisive couple of months. They're going to share their thoughts and opinions.”

OK, so hoping the topic won’t come up is simply not realistic.  We need a viable Plan B.   Reinecke coaches:  ”if it's a family where this could become ... divisive, then it's probably best to not talk about politics.  It’s a tug of war. Just don't engage in it.”

Right! Don’t engage!  
Repeating “Don’t engage” as a mantra might help keep you leaping into the fray.  But what if after a second Merlot you happen to slip and find yourself in the deep end of the political debate?  

In her article “Dreading post-election Thanksgiving? 4 tips for survival,” Jessica Roy speaks directly to this happenstance: “Remember that you technically love these people. When you're talking with someone at Thanksgiving, try not to confuse the importance of the topic you're discussing with the importance of the conversation you're having.” 

Yes this is my brother I am speaking to after all.  I grew-up sharing a room with him for Pete’s sake! Presidents come and go.  My brother is still my brother no matter what happened this November!

If keeping that healthy perspective fails to halt the slide into the abyss, clinical psychologist Elaine Ducharme offers an escape hatch:  “If you find yourself getting upset by the conversation, take a personal time out, head for the kitchen and start to clean up, go entertain the kids, or even take a trip to the bathroom.”

Admittedly not the most gallant plan, beating a hasty retreat could help you avoid rupturing family ties.  In the long run that may be the better part of valor.  Also you will get a head start on refilling the dishwasher!  

This Halloween, don't wear self-harm make up.

Self-injury is a non-suicidal form of self-harm which is intended to hurt oneself on the surface of the body and can include cutting, burning, or punching oneself (among other forms). It is a way to deal with emotional pain and can have similar features to other addictive behaviors because it can cause temporary emotional relief but is often followed by feelings of shame and guilt and accompanied with secretive behaviors. 

Self-harm is also dangerous as it has been shown to have a "cluster effect" meaning that the occurrence of self-harm can increase for those who are in close proximity to those who self-harm. Oftentimes individuals who self-harm are not doing it for attention but rather are trying to express (however unhealthy) painful emotions. 

This Halloween, stores are selling "suicide scar" make up. We at Birch Counseling want to increase awareness, and as mental health professionals want to note that this "costume" increases stigma, may prevent those who are secretly struggling from seeking help, and may spark an increase in self-harming behaviors. Self-injury is not a joke and should not be treated as such.

We want you to know that if you self-harm, you are not alone, we understand and we're here to help.

Birch Expands and Announces Appointments Within 24 Hours

Press Release    
For Immediate Release

Contact
John Komarek
john@curlycreative.us

BIRCH EXPANDS, ANNOUNCES  APPOINTMENTS WITHIN 24- HOURS AT NEW LOCATION

Golden Valley, Minn. – Birch Counseling announces the addition of Appointments Within 24-hours at its new location in Golden Valley.

“People experiencing a Mental Health Crisis are sometimes asked to wait for weeks, sometimes months.” Surerus said. “As a counselor, asking a client to wait for help during a crisis is unacceptable. We needed to eliminate that barrier.”

For ten years and counting, Birch has been dedicated to making essential counseling services more accessible, and through this new location and new service they increase that accessibility.

“A Mental Health Crisis doesn’t follow an appointment calendar, so why are people asked to wait?” Founder Christa Surerus said. “Birch is proud to offer counseling when a person needs it most: when they muster up the courage to call for help.”

Every year, 1 in 5 people live with mental illness and will need Mental Health Counseling during their lifetime Currently, it’s not unheard of to be put on a two-month wait list just to be seen.

“Life changing events happen to us all, and that can lead to the need for Mental Health Counseling.” Surerus said. “And during a crisis, minutes count. A small barrier like waiting for a scheduled appointment may have a large impact.”

Appointments Within 24-Hours are now offered at Birch’s Golden Valley location and will occur during business hours: 7am-6pm.

Birch Counseling serves Minnesotans with safe, compassionate, and confidential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling. They have locations in Minneapolis, Hopkins, and now Golden Valley.

Birch Counseling Announces No More Wait Lists

Birch Counseling's Founder Christa Surerus announces that they will offer Appointments Within 24 Hours for mental health counseling at their location in Golden Valley.