Katie Sammann Psychotherapy

Big news! I am offering in-person sessions and I've moved into a new office! ⁠
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I've been fully vaccinated and have decided this is the right time for me to move back into an office and see clients in person again. I will continue to offer telehealth because it's proved to be such an important option for many people in many situations. ⁠
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And at the beginning of this month I moved into a new office! It's located at the intersection of 2222 and Mopac. I'm so happy with the location and the office itself, I'll try to upload pictures once it's fully furnished. The full address is: ⁠
3305 Northland Drive⁠
Suite 509⁠
Austin, TX 78731⁠
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If telehealth was holding you back from starting up therapy, this might be the time! Contact me through my website if you'd like to learn more about how therapy can help your kiddo.⁠
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Looking forward to seeing y'all in person!

This is a grounding skill, and a great way to manage overwhelming emotions. It’s good for fighting anxiety, panic attacks, anger, dissociation and more. This keeps your brain busy and focused on something other than the intense feelings and helps you feel calmer.

I want to note that these are for in-the-moment stabilization, and not for totally ignoring these emotions. Grounding gets you to a place where you can think rationally and explore what happened and reflect on what triggered your emotions - either on your own, with a loved one, or with your therapist.

This is another "repeat" so I did a bit more of a deep dive on my blog! To learn more about how to get the most out of this coping skill, go read it here: psychotherapistaustin.com/blog/grounding-listing

Some of my categories are places I've visited, types of cheese, and Spongebob episodes (seasons 1-4). What would be good categories for you? Let me know in the comments!

Running can be really great for mental health, especially for teens! Check out my new blog post to learn more about each of these benefits.⁠
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Full disclaimer: I hate running. Proof that not all coping skills are for all people!⁠

psychotherapistaustin.com/blog/running

Thanksgiving is next week, and some of y’all may be preparing to visit or be visited by family from out of town. Often, people greet these relatives with a hug or kiss. Obviously the pandemic has changed how we socialize and how we greet people, but even apart from virus concerns it’s important to be mindful of how we handle these hello hugs. ⁠

When your child turns down a hug, how you respond can teach them a lot about body autonomy. If you’re expecting to visit with family during the holiday season, check out my blog post from last Thanksgiving on how to teach your kids that they are the boss of their own body.

psychotherapistaustin.com/blog/body-autonomy
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The Zentangle Method is a process of drawing that can be really anxiety-relieving and quite fun. Even if you don’t see yourself as a creative person or an artist, you can still get a lot out of this method. The picture above is a Zentangle I made the other day!

The creators have laid out eight steps to create your Zentangle:

1️⃣ Gratitude - take a moment to note your appreciation for your tools and for the experience of creating
2️⃣ Corner Dots - Make small dots in the four corners of your paper to form a rough square (they use 3.5 inch squares of paper) - this helps take away some of the “blank page anxiety” and makes beginning your Zentangle less intimidating
3️⃣ Border - Connect the four dots to form a border. The lines can be straight or curved.
4️⃣ String - Make some lines (again, straight or curved) that divide the square up into sections. These are called “strings.” The sections don’t have to be any particular shape or size and do not need to be equal.
5️⃣ Tangle - Within each section, create some smaller strokes that repeat - called tangles. They stress the importance of trusting your intuition when making these tangles.
6️⃣ Shade - Use a pencil to shade in parts of your Zentangle, this adds more dimension.
7️⃣ Sign - Sign your Zentangle - they also recommend writing down the date and some observations on the back of the paper.
8️⃣ Appreciate - Take a moment to look over your creation and appreciate your work.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the creators' website: Zentangle.com