Our Desta Blog

Some songs have a way of meeting us exactly where we are. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac is one of those songs. At its heart is a deeply human question: Can I handle the seasons of my life? Life rarely unfolds the way we expect. Relationships change. Children grow up. Careers take unexpected turns. Our bodies age, our priorities shift, and sometimes the very things that once defined us no longer seem to fit. Even positive changes can bring uncertainty, grief, and the unsettling f

Co-parenting after divorce is one of the hardest parts of starting over. You are grieving, adjusting, and still making daily decisions for your children. The good news is that kids do not need a perfect situation. They need steady routines, calm adults, and the sense that both parents still care. This guide gives you practical tips for keeping kids stable, from daily routines to hard conversations. Key Takeaways: Predictable routines in both homes help children feel safe. Chi

Feeling emotionally disconnected from your partner can be painful, especially when you miss the closeness you once shared. Conversations may feel distant, quality time may become less meaningful, and you may struggle to express what you need from each other. The good news is that understanding the causes of emotional distance and making small, consistent changes can help you rebuild emotional intimacy and strengthen your relationship. Key Points: Identify signs of emotional d

Starting therapy for the first time can feel exciting, uncomfortable, or even a little intimidating. You may wonder what your therapist will ask, what you are supposed to talk about, or whether you need to prepare anything before your appointment. The good news is that your first therapy session is not a test. You do not need to have everything figured out or know exactly what to say. The first session is usually an opportunity for you and your therapist to get to know each o

If you have been searching for help with your relationship, you may have come across the terms couples therapy, marriage counseling, couples counseling, and relationship therapy. It is easy to wonder whether they are actually different services. In many cases, these terms overlap. The biggest difference is often the focus of treatment, the concerns being addressed, and the approach your therapist uses, rather than the label itself. Couples therapy may be used with married or

Depression can affect anyone, but it may look different from one person to another. For women, depression may involve persistent sadness, but it can also appear as irritability, exhaustion, changes in sleep or appetite, difficulty concentrating, withdrawal from others, or unexplained physical symptoms. Depression is more than having a difficult day or feeling temporarily discouraged. It is a serious mood disorder that can affect how a person feels, thinks, behaves, and manage

Relationships can go through difficult periods. Communication problems, frequent arguments, emotional distance, broken trust, and major life changes can leave couples wondering whether their relationship can be repaired. So, can couples therapy save a relationship? Couples therapy can help partners understand relationship challenges, improve communication, address recurring conflicts, and work toward healthier ways of connecting. However, therapy cannot guarantee that every r

Parenting is not about being perfect. Emotionally healthy parenting is about creating a relationship where children feel safe, understood, respected, and supported while learning how to manage emotions, communicate needs, and navigate challenges. For families in San Antonio, TX, developing healthy parenting habits can help strengthen the parent-child relationship and create a more supportive home environment. Whether your child is experiencing anxiety, behavioral changes, low

Every parent wants their child to feel confident, capable, and prepared to handle life's challenges. But resilience does not mean that a child never struggles, feels upset, or experiences disappointment. Resilience is the ability to cope with difficult experiences, adapt to change, learn from challenges, and keep moving forward with support. So, how do you raise a resilient kid? Resilience develops gradually through everyday experiences. Parents can help children build it by

When my family lived abroad, both in Ethiopia and Jordan, I often had to remind myself to look up... If you looked down, it was easy to focus on the trash, the debris, the people struggling on the streets, or the poverty around you. But if you looked up, you could see the mountains, the sky, the eucalyptus trees, the date palms, or the tops of the hills of Amman. Looking up helped me focus on possibility - the future and what could be. Life is full of unpredictable and someti

If the same fight keeps resurfacing, if conversations feel more like negotiations than connection, or if you and your partner have started to feel like roommates instead of a couple, you may already sense that something needs to change. Recognizing the signs that you should try couples therapy is not a sign of failure. It is a sign that you still care enough to want things to feel different. Many couples wait years before seeking help, often long after the signs your relation

If you and your partner keep having the same argument, feel unheard even when you're talking, or find yourselves going quiet instead of working through conflict, you're not alone. Communication problems in relationships are one of the most common reasons couples struggle, and one of the most common reasons they eventually seek help. The good news is that communication issues in relationships are rarely about a lack of love. More often, they're about patterns that were never t

Casio C-80 Calculator Watch Some of the gifts we remember most aren’t the ones we asked for... In the mid-to-late 1980s, my dad surprised me with a Casio C-80 calculator watch. I hadn’t asked for it. It wasn’t my birthday or Christmas. He bought it for me because he had noticed me cleaning and rearranging my sister’s room for her without being asked. I loved that watch, but decades later, I realize it wasn’t really the watch I remember most. It was being noticed. My dad saw s

A healthy parent-child relationship isn't about being a perfect parent or having a home where disagreements never happen. Every family experiences misunderstandings, frustration, and difficult moments. What matters is how parents and children communicate, respond to one another, and repair the relationship when things go wrong. A strong parent-child relationship is generally built on trust, emotional support, open communication, mutual respect, healthy boundaries, and connect

Setting boundaries with kids can sometimes feel like a constant battle. You may tell your child the same rule several times, only to have them push back, argue, or test the limit again. This can leave parents wondering whether they are being too strict—or not strict enough. The good news is that healthy boundaries for children don't have to be harsh or controlling. Effective boundaries give kids structure, help them understand expectations, and teach them how to manage emotio

Yes, EMDR can be done virtually. Many qualified mental health professionals provide EMDR therapy through secure telehealth platforms, allowing clients to participate in sessions from home. Virtual EMDR therapy follows the same general therapeutic principles as in-person EMDR, but the way certain activities are completed may be adapted for an online setting. Whether online EMDR therapy is appropriate depends on your individual needs, treatment goals, current symptoms, and your

Parenting can be deeply rewarding, but it can also be exhausting. Between work, household responsibilities, school schedules, appointments, and the everyday needs of children, parents may spend so much time caring for everyone else that they have little energy left for themselves. Occasional frustration or tiredness is a normal part of parenting. Parental burnout, however, can develop when parenting stress becomes prolonged and overwhelming. A parent may feel emotionally drai

When children are struggling with emotions, behavior, anxiety, or difficult life experiences, parents may not always understand why play is used during therapy. A common question is, “Isn’t my child just playing?” Play therapy is more than recreational play. For children, play can be a natural way to communicate feelings, explore experiences, and practice new coping skills. A trained child therapist uses play within a therapeutic relationship to support a child's emotional an

Journaling can be a simple way to slow down, reflect on your experiences, and better understand your thoughts and emotions. You do not need to be a professional writer or follow a complicated routine to begin. A few minutes of honest writing can create space to recognize patterns, process difficult emotions, and reflect on what you need. If you are wondering how to journal for mental health, the most important step is simply to start. At Desta Therapy in San Antonio, journali

A child's self-esteem shapes how they see themselves, approach challenges, build relationships, and respond to success and failure. Children with healthy self-esteem are more likely to develop confidence, resilience, and a positive outlook, while those with low self-esteem may struggle with self-doubt, anxiety, social difficulties, and fear of making mistakes. The good news is that self-esteem isn't something children are simply born with—it's developed over time through supp