Notes from the Counseling Department

  Note: I wrote before the devastating war in the Ukraine. As I read over it now, it seems so silly to be thinking about sleep problems as well as many other things when it's clear that there are bigger issues in the world. There's so much happening everywhere- war, climate change, famine, murder, racism, poverty, pandemic... the list goes on and on, and it's very easy to be overwhelmed and to feel like our own seemingly smaller problems don't matter. The truth is, they do. As a therapist once told me, pain and suffering are not a competition. There will always be someone, somewhere who has it worse and who has it better than you do. Your pain is just as valid. So, the best that we can do, I think, is be where we are, when we are; to do what we can, when we can; and to help ourselves and help others as much as we're able. It's a very mindful way of being: staying in the moment and working on what's in front of us both personally and further-reaching. As the