New Leaf Resources
5 Tips for Managing Stress During the Summer
June 25, 2026
Summer Wellness
5 Tips for Managing Stress During the Summer
Summer can bring more freedom, more family time, and more rest. It can also bring schedule changes, screen-time battles, and big emotions. Here are a few simple ways to help your family feel more grounded this season.
For families For caregivers Practical support
BD
Becky Duncan, MS, LMHC, NCC
Mental Health Counselor, Crown Point
You do not have to make summer perfect.
A few steady rhythms can create more calm, connection, and stability at home.
During the school year, many families have a built-in rhythm. Children know when they wake up, where they are going, when they eat, and what comes next. Summer often changes that. Some families welcome the slower pace. Others feel the stress of keeping kids busy, managing work, and helping everyone adjust.
A healthy summer does not need to be overly planned, and it does not need to be completely unstructured. The goal is enough predictability to help children feel secure, while still leaving room for rest, play, and flexibility.
1 Create a Flexible Routine
Children often feel calmer when they have a general idea of what to expect. A loose routine can provide stability without making the day feel rigid.
- Keep a few daily anchors like wake-up time, meals, quiet time, and bedtime.
- Talk through the day in simple terms so children know what is coming.
- Use a visual schedule, whiteboard, or family plan when helpful.
- Leave open space for flexibility, rest, and spontaneous fun.
2 Get Off the Screens
Screens can be an easy way to pass time, especially when parents are busy or kids are bored. Too much screen time can leave children overstimulated, disconnected, or more irritable.
- Build in screen-free moments each day.
- Swap one screen block for outdoor play, crafts, reading, or a family walk.
- Create simple device boundaries around meals, car rides, or bedtime.
- Model balance by taking breaks from screens together.
3 Spend Quality Time Together
Quality time does not have to be expensive or complicated. Many children feel most connected during simple, everyday moments when they have your attention.
- Take a walk, visit a park, play outside, or use sidewalk chalk.
- Let your child help choose a small activity.
- Try 15 to 20 minutes of focused time when a full day together is not realistic.
- Focus on being present, not making the activity perfect.
4 Make Time for Family Communication
Summer can create more time together, but that does not always mean more meaningful connection. Intentional conversation helps children feel heard, safe, and supported.
- Use natural moments like dinner, bedtime, walks, or car rides to talk.
- Ask: "What was the best part of your day?" or "What felt hard today?"
- Listen with patience before trying to fix or correct.
- Use games or shared activities to make conversation feel easier.
5 Know When to Seek Support
As your family spends more time together, emotions or stress may become more noticeable. That does not mean you have failed. It may simply mean your family could use more support.
- Pay attention to ongoing worry, mood changes, meltdowns, withdrawal, or sleep changes.
- Notice when stress begins to affect daily routines or relationships.
- Reach out if your child seems overwhelmed, stuck, or unable to bounce back.
- Remember that seeking support is a sign of care, not failure.
Quick Summer Reset
Create one simple daily rhythm.
Choose one screen-free window each day.
Plan one low-cost family activity this week.
Ask one meaningful question at dinner.
Reach out when stress feels too heavy to carry alone.
This article is for general education and encouragement. It is not a replacement for counseling or crisis support. If your family is facing immediate safety concerns, seek emergency help right away.
New Leaf Resources
You do not have to go through this alone.
If summer stress is becoming too much for your child, your family, or you as a caregiver, New Leaf Resources is here to come alongside you. Our team can provide a listening ear, practical tools, and support for the next step.
Summer does not need to be perfect to be meaningful. Small rhythms, less screen time, simple moments together, honest conversation, and the right support can help your family move through the season with more calm and connection.
About the Author
BD
Becky Duncan, MS, LMHC, NCC
Mental Health Counselor, Crown Point
Becky works in the Crown Point office and specializes in working with children and adolescents. Her areas of interest include relationship issues, family issues, school issues, stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and human sexuality.
Becky works with each client and family as a team. She uses expressive arts, person-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy, and art therapy. "I am passionate about helping people feel safe and comfortable expressing themselves in therapy. I use art to help clients express themselves in a way that they may not have ever been able to do before."
Education
BA in Education, Purdue University Calumet
MS in Education and Counseling, Purdue University Northwest
Licenses and Certifications
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)
National Certified Counselor (NCC)
Certification in Expressive Arts
Certified Indiana School Counselor
Certified Indiana Teaching License
Becky brings experience from elementary, middle school, and high school counseling, as well as residential homes and private practice. She has worked with clients from toddlers through young adults and families. As a former teacher and school counselor, she brings a wide range of experience across different populations and settings.
Mental Health Awareness Month: Shrinking the Stigma Around Counseling
May 10, 2026
Mental Health Awareness Month · May 2026
Shrinking the Stigma
Around Counseling
There is still a lot of misunderstanding about what counseling is, and who it is for.
Some people think counseling is only for crisis. Others worry it means they are weak, broken, or unable to handle life on their own. Some are afraid of being judged. Some are unsure what will happen after they call.
That hesitation is real.
At New Leaf Resources, we have been serving the Chicago South Metro area and Northwest Indiana since 1980. In that time, we have worked with thousands of people who waited, wondered, and worried before reaching out.
“I wish I had called sooner.”
About Counseling
Counseling Is Not About Having Everything Figured Out
Mental Health Awareness Month is a good time to say something simple:
You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from counseling.
Counseling can help when life feels heavy, confusing, stressful, or stuck. It can help when anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strain, parenting challenges, family conflict, trauma, addiction, or major life transitions are affecting your daily life.
It can also help when you are functioning on the outside, but struggling on the inside.
The goal is not to label you. The goal is to help you understand what is going on, find healthy tools, and take the next step toward healing.
Your Care
Counseling Is Personal, Not One-Size-Fits-All
One of the common misconceptions about mental health care is that everyone gets the same answer.
But healing does not work that way.
Each person comes with a different story, different needs, and different goals. For some, counseling may focus on coping skills. For others, it may involve deeper healing work, family support, faith questions, or learning how to manage stress in a healthier way.
At New Leaf, clients are matched with a licensed professional based on their specific needs. That matters.
You are not just being placed with whoever is available. You are being connected with someone who can help you take the next right step.
And when additional care is needed, referrals can be made so clients receive the right level of support.
What To Expect
What Counseling at New Leaf Actually Looks Like
If you have been unsure about calling, here is what you can expect from New Leaf:
Licensed Professionals
A licensed professional who matches your needs. Our team includes trained professionals who work with children, teens, adults, couples, and families.
A Team Approach
Your therapist is not working alone. New Leaf uses a collaborative approach so clients benefit from the insight and support of a broader clinical team.
OPTIONAL Faith-Integrated Care
For some clients, faith is central to the counseling process. For others, it may be more in the background. The goal is to meet people with care, respect, and sensitivity.
Sliding-Scale Fee
Cost should not be the reason someone avoids getting help. New Leaf offers financial assistance for those who qualify, helping make counseling more accessible.
Taking the First Step
It Is Normal to Feel Nervous Before Calling
Starting counseling can feel like a big step.
For some people, the hardest part is not the first session. It is picking up the phone.
"I was scared… Picking up the phone to make an appointment seemed so hard… But I'm so glad that I did!"
— A Former New Leaf Client
That is the part we do not always talk about.
Asking for help can feel vulnerable. But it can also be the first step toward hope, clarity, and healing.
You do not have to have the perfect words. You do not have to know exactly what you need. You do not have to explain everything at once.
You just have to start.
Why It Matters
A Small Step Can Open the Door to Healing
Mental health stigma shrinks when people are met with compassion instead of shame.
It shrinks when counseling is seen not as a last resort, but as a healthy step toward growth.
It shrinks when people realize they are not alone.
At New Leaf Resources, our mission is to promote healthy relationships, personal growth, and healing through professional counseling, education, and consultation from a Christian perspective.
That work begins with one small step.
If you have been on the fence, May is a good time to make that call.
Ready to Take the First Step?
Schedule today.
New Leaf Resources serves clients in Crown Point, IN, Wheatfield, IN, and Lansing, IL, as well as surrounding communities in Northwest Indiana and the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago. Sliding-scale fees are available for those who qualify. Faith integration always available, never required.
Crown Point · Wheatfield · Lansing · 708-895-7310
Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional counseling, diagnosis, or medical advice. Reading this post does not create a therapist–client relationship with New Leaf Resources. If you are experiencing significant distress, please reach out to a licensed mental-health professional. If you are in crisis or concerned for your safety, call 988 or your local emergency number right away.
What Is Stress Awareness Month — And Why Does It Matter?
April 17, 2026
Every April, Stress Awareness Month gives us a chance to pause and ask an honest question: How are you really doing?
Not the quick answer you give in passing. The real answer. The one that reflects how tired you actually feel, how often your mind is racing, or how long it has been since you truly felt at peace.
Stress Awareness Month exists to help people notice what they may have been carrying for too long — and to remind them that support is available. For many people, stress builds slowly and quietly. By the time they realize how much it is affecting them, it has already shaped their sleep, relationships, focus, and overall wellbeing.
What Stress Actually Is
Stress is not weakness, and it is not a character flaw. It is a natural response in the body.
When your brain senses a threat — whether that is conflict, pressure, uncertainty, financial strain, or health concerns — your body reacts by going on alert. Your heart rate may rise. Your muscles may tighten. Your mind may become more focused or restless. In a true emergency, that response can help protect you.
But the body often reacts the same way to emotional pressure as it does to physical danger. When stress stays high for too long, the response meant to protect you can begin to wear you down instead. That is when stress starts to affect daily life in deeper ways.
How Stress Can Show Up
Stress does not look the same for everyone, which is one reason it can go unnoticed for so long.
Sometimes it shows up physically, through fatigue, headaches, tight muscles, digestive issues, or trouble sleeping. Sometimes it shows up emotionally; through irritability, anxiety, sadness, or feeling overwhelmed by things that once felt manageable. It can also show up in daily habits. You may find yourself withdrawing from others, putting things off, losing motivation, or relying on unhealthy ways to cope.
Some common signs stress has been building:
- Fatigue that rest doesn't seem to fix
- Headaches, muscle tension, or digestive issues without a clear cause
- Irritability or emotional reactions that feel out of proportion
- Difficulty concentrating or remembering things
- Withdrawing from people or activities you normally enjoy
- Feeling overwhelmed by things that used to feel manageable
If some of these patterns feel familiar, that does not mean something is wrong with you. It may simply be a sign that your mind and body need care and support.
The Stress-Faith Connection
For many people, stress does not just affect the body and mind. It can also affect spiritual life.
Prayer may feel harder. Scripture may not feel as comforting. Church or spiritual routines may start to feel like one more thing to keep up with instead of a source of peace. This does not mean your faith is weak. Often, it means you are tired. Chronic stress can make it harder to slow down, reflect, and feel connected to God and others.
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
— Matthew 11:28
That invitation is still there. Sometimes, though, receiving that rest also means being honest about the weight you are carrying, and allowing others to help you carry it.
When It May Be Time to Ask for Help
There is no perfect line for when stress becomes "serious enough" to reach out for support. But there are signs worth paying attention to.
If stress has been affecting your sleep, work, physical health, relationships, or ability to function for more than a few weeks, it may be time to talk with someone.
Counseling for stress is not only for people in crisis. It can be a helpful and practical step for anyone who feels stuck, overwhelmed, worn down, or unsure how to move forward. A counselor can help you better understand what is fueling your stress and build healthier ways to respond.
You do not have to carry it alone.
Stress Awareness Month is a reminder that paying attention to your stress is not selfish — it is wise. Noticing the signs early and reaching out for support can make a real difference.
New Leaf Resources offers professional counseling for stress, anxiety, and the ways life's pressures affect your wellbeing and relationships — in Crown Point, IN, Wheatfield, IN, and Lansing, IL offices. We serve throughout Indiana and Illinois via telehealth. Sliding-scale fees available for those who qualify. Faith integration is always available, never required.
Editorial Note: This article was adapted by New Leaf Resources, informed by clinical frameworks from HelpGuide.org and our Managing Stress resource.
Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional counseling, diagnosis, or medical advice. Reading this post does not create a therapist–client relationship with New Leaf Resources. If you are experiencing significant distress, please reach out to a licensed mental-health professional. If you are in crisis or concerned for your safety, call 988 or your local emergency number right away.
What Stress Actually Does to Your Body (And When It's Time to Get Help)
March 15, 2026
Most people describe stress the same way: tired, overwhelmed, scattered, on edge.
What most people don't realize is that stress isn't just a feeling. It's a physical process, and left unmanaged, it quietly dismantles the things that matter most.
March has a way of making stress visible. The holidays are behind you, winter hasn't fully released its hold, and the calendar is already filling up. If you're feeling it right now, you're not alone, and there's more going on under the surface than most people recognize.
Stress Elevates Cortisol — And That Changes Everything
When your brain perceives a threat; a difficult conversation, a financial worry, an impossible to-do list, it releases cortisol, your body's primary stress hormone. That's not a malfunction. It's your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do.
The problem isn't a single cortisol spike. The problem is when stress becomes chronic and cortisol stays elevated. At that point, a system designed to protect you starts working against you.
Chronically elevated cortisol is linked to weakened immune function, weight changes, digestive issues, and cardiovascular strain. Your body is carrying a load it was never meant to carry indefinitely, and it will find ways to tell you.
It Disrupts Sleep and Mood Before You Notice the Pattern
High cortisol interferes with the hormones that regulate sleep. You lie down exhausted and your mind won't stop. Or you fall asleep and wake at 3am, already running through tomorrow's problems.
Poor sleep and elevated stress feed each other in a loop. Tired people are more reactive. More reactive people handle stressors worse. Handled worse, stress compounds. The cycle becomes self-sustaining, and mood follows.
What often looks like irritability, low motivation, or mild depression is sometimes a sleep-and-stress loop that's been running long enough to feel like a personality trait. It isn't. It's a pattern, and patterns can change.
The Physical Symptoms Are Real — Not "Just Stress"
Stress shows up in the body in ways that are easy to dismiss or misattribute. June Messana, LSW — a therapist whose work helped New Leaf's approach to stress care — describes the early warning signs clearly: tension in the shoulders, back, neck, or jaw; clenched hands; headaches; upset stomach; changes in eating patterns; elevated blood pressure.
These aren't overreactions. They're your nervous system communicating that something needs attention.
Common physical signs stress has gone too far:
- Tension headaches or jaw pain (often from clenching during sleep)
- Digestive changes — nausea, appetite loss, or stress eating
- Frequent illness — stress suppresses immune response over time
- Chest tightness or shallow breathing that has no cardiac cause
- Fatigue that sleep doesn't fix
If you recognize several of these, the answer isn't more willpower or a better morning routine. The answer is addressing the underlying load.
It Erodes Concentration — Which Makes Everything Harder
Chronic stress keeps the brain in a low-grade threat-detection mode. That's useful if a crisis is happening. It's costly when you're trying to think clearly, make decisions, or stay present in a conversation.
People under sustained stress often describe feeling scattered or preoccupied, unable to finish a thought, forgetting things they normally wouldn't, struggling to focus on work that used to feel manageable. This isn't a focus problem. It's a stress problem.
The brain allocates resources toward survival when it perceives threat. Higher-order thinking; creativity, planning, patience, gets deprioritized. You're not less capable. Your brain is just trying to protect you in a way that's no longer serving you.
And Eventually, It Strains Your Relationships
Stress rarely stays private. It moves outward; into tone of voice, into patience levels, into how present you are when someone needs you.
A person carrying significant stress often becomes harder to reach. Not because they don't care, but because they're running at capacity. The people closest to them feel the distance, even when neither side can quite name what's happening.
Over time, unmanaged stress can create a slow erosion in marriages, parenting, and friendships. Small moments of disconnection accumulate. What started as a work problem or a financial worry becomes a relational one.
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
— Matthew 11:28
For those who find meaning in faith, stress management isn't just psychological work, it's spiritual. Giving up control of what can't be controlled, trusting that care is present even in hard seasons, finding stillness in prayer or reflection, these aren't soft suggestions. They're consistent with what reduces the stress response.
What Actually Helps
The temptation when stress gets heavy is to find somewhere to hide from it; staying busy, pushing through, numbing out. Those strategies work short-term. They don't resolve the underlying load, and they often add to it.
What does help: naming the stress clearly, identifying what's controllable and releasing what isn't, building small consistent practices that regulate the nervous system, and — when the load is too heavy to manage alone — working with a professional who can help you sort through it.
Counseling for stress isn't reserved for crisis. It's most effective before crisis, when patterns are forming and the load is manageable enough to address with intention.
You don't have to wait until it's a crisis.
New Leaf Resources offers professional stress and anxiety counseling in Crown Point, IN, Wheatfield, IN, and Lansing, IL — serving Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area. Faith integration is always available, never required. Sliding-scale fees available.
Editorial Note: This article draws on the clinical framework from Managing the Stress in Our Lives, originally written by June Messana, LSW, former Therapist at New Leaf Resources. Read the original resource →
Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional counseling, diagnosis, or medical advice. Reading this post does not create a therapist–client relationship with New Leaf Resources. If you are experiencing significant distress, please reach out to a licensed mental-health professional. If you are in crisis or concerned for your safety, call 988 or your local emergency number right away.
When Anxiety Shows Up in Your Relationship
February 24, 2026
Most people think of anxiety as a private experience. Something that lives in your own head, your own chest, your own 3am spiral.
But anxiety rarely stays private for long.
The people closest to you—a spouse, a partner, a family member—are often the first to feel your anxiety. Not because they caused it. Because relationship is where anxiety goes to work.
If you've noticed tension in your closest relationships that you can't quite explain, anxiety might be part of the story.
Anxiety Changes How You Attach to People
From the beginning, we're wired for connection. The need to feel securely attached to others—to know someone is there, that you're loved, that you won't be left—is one of the most fundamental human experiences.
When that sense of security feels threatened, even slightly, something shifts. According to attachment research, we tend to respond one of two ways: anxiety or avoidance. Neither feels good. And both put pressure on the people we love most.
The Anxiety Response
Some people move toward when they feel insecure in a relationship. They seek more reassurance. They monitor—reading into tone of voice, response times, small moments—looking for signs that the connection is still intact.
This can show up as jealousy, or needing to know where things stand, or replaying conversations long after they've ended. It's exhausting to carry. And for a partner who doesn't understand what's driving it, it can feel like pressure they don't know how to meet.
The Avoidance Response
Others go the opposite direction. When the attachment bond feels uncertain, they pull back—emotionally, physically, conversationally. They go quiet. They stop bringing things up. They invest less, because investing less means less to lose.
This can look like coldness or indifference from the outside. But underneath it is often someone who's been hurt before and is protecting themselves the only way they know how.
Some People Do Both
Reach out, then pull back when the connection is offered. Want closeness and resist it at the same time. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone—and you're not broken. It usually traces back to earlier experiences that taught you, at some point, that connection wasn't safe to count on.
A Few Honest Questions
One of our former Therapists at New Leaf Resources—outlines these reflection questions in our Adult Attachment resource, and they're worth sitting with:
- Am I preoccupied with the relationship, constantly looking for signs that I'm loved?
- Do I feel anxious and find myself resorting to jealousy, blaming, or criticism to feel more connected?
- Have I numbed my emotional needs, investing little of myself to avoid getting hurt?
- Have I become withdrawn, cool and distant, even with people I genuinely care about?
If any of those land, that's not a character flaw. That's an attachment pattern. And attachment styles can shift and evolve over time.
What Counseling Actually Does Here
Working through anxiety in the context of relationships isn't just about managing symptoms. It's about understanding where the pattern started, how it shows up now, and what it would take to feel genuinely secure—in yourself and with the people you love.
That work often happens in individual counseling first, and sometimes in couples or family therapy alongside it. Either way, old wounds need to be explored before they stop running the show.
Anxiety is treatable. Attachment patterns are changeable.
A good next step is a simple one.
New Leaf Resources offers anxiety counseling and relationship counseling in Crown Point, IN, Wheatfield, IN, and Lansing, IL—with licensed counselors who understand both the clinical and faith dimensions of what you're navigating.
You don't have to have it figured out to reach out. One conversation is enough to start.
Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional counseling, diagnosis, or medical advice. Reading this post does not create a therapist–client relationship with New Leaf Resources. If you are experiencing significant distress, please reach out to a licensed mental-health professional. If you are in crisis or concerned for your safety, call 988 or your local emergency number right away.