gender identity

Why Can’t I Make Up My Mind?: Challenging Decision Paralysis With Desire and Self-Knowledge

We make countless decisions every day—some without a second thought, almost instinctually. But then there are those decisions we agonize over, going back and forth until we’re exhausted. Sometimes, that little voice in our head makes us doubt our choices, yet we push forward anyway. While founding and growing Take Root, I’ve had to make countless choices. Some were straightforward, but others were overwhelming, making…
Read More

How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health? Understanding the Impact and Finding Balance

I grew up with AOL and chatrooms. I’m no stranger to technology, and before we had cell phones, I used AIM to talk to friends after school. And while I’m not opposed to technology, I’m also not an early adapter. I have yet to enter the world of tracking my sleep or physical health, and I don’t use AirPods or a smartwatch. I use social…
Read More

Where Can I Be Loved and Accepted?: The Importance of Chosen Family for LGBTQIA+ Individuals

Note to reader: In this article, we will be utilizing the term queer to encompass the LGBTQIA+ community in its entirety, including gender-nonconforming, genderqueer, and nonbinary identities. During college, I often felt homesick. I would experience this longing to go home, and when I finally did, I was disappointed. What I longed for had never really existed, or at least not where I imagined it…
Read More

But What If It All Goes Right?: The Power of Imagination

When was the last time you thought about your imagination? If you’re anything like me, it may have been while playing pretend with your kids, or maybe laughing at the wild things they come up with while in imaginative play. The importance of imagination on a child’s development cannot be overemphasized. Children seem to have to play – it’s not a conscious decision they make,…
Read More

Pride, Pride Everywhere

At the start of June, I began looking for a quote or an image that we could use to celebrate Pride on Take Root Therapy’s Instagram account. I wanted to find something meaningful and something that would speak to the many components of Pride, including intersectionality in the LGBTQIA+ community. I had a hard time finding something that was just right, but I realized that…
Read More

Training Wheels for Unconditional Self-Love

“I want to get over this relationship,” “I want to feel more confident,” “I want to make a change in my career.” Folks start up therapy for a number of different reasons, including feeling depressed or anxious, and often one of the things that they need help addressing is their sense of self, their self-image, or their inner voice. In our work with our clients,…
Read More

No, You’re Weird: What if We Embrace Our Weirdness? An Exploration on Being Different

Feel weird? Out of place? Different? Well, you’re not alone. So many of us feel like we don’t belong, or like we’re outsiders looking in on a world where others seamlessly fit in. Does this sound familiar? Perhaps you’re at an event or a party and you look around and think, “I don’t belong here.” Or you’re meeting a group of people for the first…
Read More