mental health

None of This is OK

October 15, 2025
By: Colleen Phelps

ICE and the National Guard taking over U.S. cities. Masked men rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters and pulling US citizens out of their beds to zip tie them and their children in the middle of the night. Children zip tied and separated from their parents… None of this is okay and it’s okay to be bothered about it.
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Help Family & Friends Detox From Fox

September 19, 2025
By: Colleen Phelps

Talking to family members and friends about FOX is not easy , but it can be done. Experts say it requires patience and focusing on communication rather than confrontation. Model respectful, open-minded behavior. Instead of trying to force them to change, show them what healthy media consumption looks like.
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It’s OK to Take a Break

September 12, 2025
By: Colleen Phelps

If your anxiety feels unbearable after seeing violence in our world, you are not broken, you are human.

The truth is there is so much pain and hatred flooding our social media feeds. Shootings, violence, lives taken too soon. We’re watching it unfold in real time – over and over and over. No wonder you feel anxious.
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Mental health tips – coping with the state of our nation

April 28, 2025
By: Colleen Phelps

Struggling with the state of our nation and the world right now? You’re not alone. Therapist Emily Key, MA, LMFTA, APTT-C has some advice if you are feeling overwhelmed. Read More

“I want a better society for my kids. I’m passionate about healthcare. I’m a physician, my wife is in public health and the way healthcare is going right now is very frightening and I just want a candidate who is willing to go against what is happening on the national level. The vaccination piece is definitely scary, I think it’s really important to stay up to date with those things, the pandemic changed so much about how people trust the healthcare system, and while there are a lot of ways the healthcare system needs to improve, leadership from the top down needs to be solid and it’s just not solid right now”.

“I’m mostly concerned about the SNAP funding. Because in my profession, I know some people through Virginia Cooperative Extension who were doing nutrition education for SNAP beneficiaries, all of those programs were cut as kind of a ripple effect from the (Big, Beautiful) bill, but they lost those programs, which is important to me – nutrition information. I’m concerned about out healthcare, I’m concerned about what’s happening with immigration right now and for me personally, I’m soon going on Medicare, and I’m concerned with what’s happening with that. Things are so divisive, you can’t even really talk about issues in a calm way”.

“I am passionate about gun safety regulation. I am passionate about enforcement of the anti-trust laws. Those are two big ones for me. And also intelligent AI regulation and data center/environmental regulations. I have concern about the kind of Wild West style lack of regulation of artificial intelligence. I think we need to take a systematic thoughtful approach so that we targeted AI rather than just an uncontrolled profit for a few big companies”.

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