What is all the buzz about mindfulness? Many of us have heard about the importance of being mindful, but how many of us really know what it means? Before the 1970’s, mindfulness only existed in Eastern societies that practiced Buddhist meditation. It was not until an American professor, Jon Kabat-Zinn, introduced the idea to the West in 1979 that mindfulness began gaining traction as a healing modality. He defined mindfulness as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”

Dr. Lisa Saponaro Emotional Eating Radio Interview – click here

Understanding our strengths and weaknesses is the first step toward making meaningful changes. Take a free screening below to identify your areas of growth.

• Eating Disorders and Emotional Eating Test
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• Emotional Eating Test
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• Nutrition IQ Test
• Goal-Setting Skills Test

Adolescence is a time when a young person begins to transition from childhood to adulthood. They experience behavioral, biological, social and psychological changes during “puberty.” The body creates a surge of hormone production creating physical changes and emotional changes that can lead to conflict. Group Therapy for adolescents can offer face-to-face interaction with other adolescents who talk with a therapist about issues or troubles. Group therapy offers instant feedback, with each person in the group expressing their own feelings, providing open social interaction. Within group therapy, any thoughts or feelings expressed/discussed are not mentioned outside of group sessions. This is part of the establishment of trust built through talking about personal thoughts, through honesty and commitment to the treatment.

The brain changes associated with addiction can be treated and reversed through therapy, medication, exercise, and other treatments. Substance abuse and substance dependence can both be treated effectively. Substance abusers may not yet feel the compelling need to use the drug but with prolonged use may find that the drug is required to prevent withdraw symptoms such as shaking and nausea.

Dr. Lisa Saponaro is a licensed clinical psychologist who has developed and implemented programs. These experiences have allowed Dr. Saponaro to develop programs that help substance abusers through individual therapy. When drug abuse treatment is necessary Dr. Lisa Saponaro can provide useful information on in hospital treatment programs, community mental health centers and in office therapy sessions. Through a combination of treatment substance abusers can begin to detox the drugs from their systems in a safe environment and continue through a treatment process in order to live life drug free.

Children, adolescents, and adults can greatly benefit from therapy. Therapy can help a person to discover underlying factors that cause them to feel or behave in a specific way. Therapy can also help a person to change negative thoughts, feelings, and behavior for positive ones. Child therapy can help a young person who is dealing with divorce, a new sibling, a move, anxiety, anger, fear, self-esteem, eating disorders, or other life changes or concerns. Dr. Lisa Saponaro, PhD is a licensed Plantation child psychologist that provides individual and group therapy for children and adolescents. She provides a nurturing and therapeutic environment that provides a comfortable and safe place to discuss thoughts and feelings for positive change and improved mental health.

Dr. Lisa Saponaro, your local Clinical Psychologist, has been practicing in her hometown of Plantation, Florida. Dr. Saponaro utilizes the contemporary concepts of Positive Psychology as a main part of her treatment philosophy to effectively approach sources of suffering such a depression or anxiety. After 20 years in the field of psychology, she knows that reduction of suffering is only a small part of therapy. Helping people flourish and build their wellness tool box is really Dr. Saponaro’s passion.

Dr. Saponaro undstands that relationships are a central part of our wellbeing and the therapeutic relationship is one that can be critical in helping a person resolve difficulties and uncover talents. Dr. Saponaro helps couples and individuals learn Active Constructive Responding to improve communication and lead to better relationships. She not only treats problems (mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, addiction, ADHD, divorce, etc.); she incorporates the building of positive emotions, utilization of signature strenghts, clarification of values and finding meaning to help people unlock their true potential.

Family Therapy can help both parents and children providing knowledge of ADHD such as what to expect and what adjustments might be required. Family therapy for ADHD can also help soothe family tension or sibling jealousy as the ADHD child is likely to receive an abundacne of attention from the parents, both good attention and bad creating this jealousy. ADHD counseling can be found in West Broward Florida through the expertise of Dr. Lisa Saponaro of Plantation Florida 33324. Dr. Lisa Saponaro has extensive experience helping families set up, execute and find improvement in their child’s behaviors. By utilizing evidence based behavioral interventions she helps parents choose the optimal parenting strategies for the targeted area and works to individualize each plan of treatment to the family and their unique strengths.

Substance abuse often starts out as experimentation. Friends may suggest it be tried or they state that the substance has relieved their own discomfort and may help. Drugs are most often used to escape from mental or physical discomforts providing a short-term fix with long-term consequences. Take the drug away and the problem is still there, whether it be low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, or an unhappy family life. Prolonged exposure to drugs alters the brain in ways that result in powerful cravings and a compulsion to use. These brain changes make it extremely difficult to quit by sheer force of will. The longer drug abuse continues, the stronger the addiction becomes and the harder it is to treat.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines a depressed person as experiencing feelings of sadness, helplessness and hopelessness. The exact numbers of people who have severe depression are not known but estimates indicate that about 12 million adults in the US have Depression Psychologist. Depression cuts across all barriers and affects all races, cultures and social classes. The encouraging news is that it may be successfully treated.

Depression Diagnosis and Treatment Options

Depression is not a personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away, but with the support of a health care professional, family and friends along with variety of depression treatment options, such as prescription medication and psychotherapy, depression sufferers can begin to cope and understand their disorder. Only a professional health care provider can determine the appropriate option to treat each individual case of depression.

In the past twenty years, obesity has been on a continual up rise. According to the CDC over one, third of US, adults are obese and seventeen percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is a concern for many reasons, which include the adverse effect on ones health, a reduced life expectancy, and increased risk of health problems. Obesity increases a person’s risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, cancer, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, and other life threatening illnesses. On top of health risks, obese individuals also face ridicule and discrimination. The pain, discomfort, and dissatisfaction of obesity create a strong desire to lose excess weight. The process of weight loss requires a nutritious diet and physical exercise. This is not always enough to lose weight. Support and encouragement are also a large part of weight loss success. There is also one other factor for successful weight loss that people do not mention very often. This is positive behavioral change.

Discovering Weight Loss Roadblocks

Even if an individual begins to incorporate daily physical activity and begins to eat low fat foods and reduce sugar intake they may still struggle lose weight. One reason for this is an individual’s relationship with food. If a person overindulges on food when they experience stress or emotional upset, they are likely to take in excess calories, which will stall weight loss progress. Another roadblock is low self-esteem. If an individual has self-esteem or self worth issues they can often sabotage their weight loss by turning to food for comfort or giving up on effort due to feeling that they do not deserve to be healthy and happy. Weight loss therapy helps people to discover hidden factors that may be derailing their weight loss efforts. When a person discovers these factors, they can work towards changing negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in order to achieve their weight loss goals.