Posts in Christian Counseling
How to Use Your Insurance Plan for Mental Health Care, Including Therapy

Among the first things new clients ask when they call to set up an appointment are: 1) what are our fees, and 2) will insurance cover those fees? I address some of these questions on our Fees & Insurance page, but this blog post will take a deeper dive into the world of insurance plans, mental health care, and therapy.

Read More
What to Expect in Your First Therapy Session

Hi, I’m Cory Anderson, owner of and one of the therapists at Integrity Counseling Group. I’ve been doing therapy in San Diego for more than 10 years. In that time, I’ve had hundreds of first sessions with new clients! Here’s a peek into what to expect in your first therapy session.

Read More
Why You Can’t Stop Looking at Your Smartphone—and What to Do about It

Smartphones were designed to be addictive. You actually get a little hit every time you check your phone and see a new email or social media follower. Just like a drug, smartphone stimuli activate the reward system in the brain, which entices you to come back again and again.

Read More
Should You Stay with Your Partner after Infidelity and Betrayal Trauma?

Our goal in marriage counseling or individual counseling after an affair is ultimately to empower you to 1) take care of yourself, and 2) work toward making a healthy decision. This decision is ideally one you feel is respectful to you as a person and your relationship as a whole. For some people, that may mean working through the underlying issues and conflict to stay married. Other clients may decide that a situation warrants divorce.

Read More
When a Friendly Relationship Becomes an Emotional Affair at Work

But sometimes friendly relationships at work can become something more. An emotional affair may not involve sexual infidelity, but it can be just as damaging to the spouse as a sexual affair. In this blog post, I will tackle some questions surrounding emotional affairs, marriage counseling for emotional infidelity, and how to approach your spouse if you think they are engaging in emotional cheating at work.

Read More
4 Tips for Coparenting throughout the Divorce Process

Sometimes couples decide to divorce despite their best efforts, or clients come to us having already gone through the divorce process. In these cases, they want to know how to make coparenting a success, so they can reduce the impact of the divorce on their kids and be the best coparents possible.

Read More
What Is Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder and How Can I Treat It?

Most people with bipolar disorder alternate between long stretches of depression and (hypo)mania. For example, they may have depression for months or years at a time. With rapid cycling bipolar, a person experiences four episodes of mood cycling in one year. This could include any combination of mania, mixed mania, hypomania, or depression. Usually these shifts take place over the course of weeks or months, but some psychiatrists report having patients who can experience shifts lasting just a few days.

Read More
Did Your Spouse’s Infidelity Cause Betrayal Trauma?

Spouses of unfaithful partners are usually relieved to learn that their strong emotions around the infidelity are perfectly valid. According to Dr. Patrick Carnes, who founded IITAP, the leading organization for treating sexual addiction, discovering your spouse’s infidelity can be as traumatic as sexual assault.

Read More
Healing the Addicted Brain of “Stinking Thinking” Is Critical to Relapse Prevention

If you stop at sobriety you are missing out on the full benefits of healing the addicted brain, such as overcoming “Stinking Thinking.” This is critical for relapse prevention. “Stinking Thinking” is a term often used in 12 Step programs to refer to the negative patterns of thought that add fuel to the fire of addiction. These thoughts sabotage your ability to see the world clearly and take responsibility for your actions.

Read More
Take a Virtual Tour of Our New San Marcos Therapy Office

One of our goals at Integrity Counseling Group is to create a safe space where clients can find freedom from depression, anxiety, marital conflict, addiction, and more. That’s why it is so important to us to make sure that our offices meet a few criteria.

Read More
How to Support a Loved One with Depression

You may feel afraid to be around your loved one, especially if they have expressed suicidal thoughts. This is a perfectly normal way to feel. You love this person, and it’s scary to think that they are suffering and might do irreversible harm to themselves. The important thing in this situation is to stay calm and stay with your loved one. You don’t need to talk about the depression the whole time you are together—you don’t even need to make it better.

Read More
8 Signs Your Teenager Might Be Depressed

The brain is surprisingly malleable. By addressing your teen’s depression early, you will help them form new patterns that they will be able to use going forward in times of stress and sadness. If you wait, your teen is less likely to respond to treatment and will be more likely to relapse into subsequent depressive episodes.

Read More