Pittsburgh · Altoona · Philadelphia · Statewide Telehealth
Condition Guides from our Therapists
Practical articles on relationships and how to improve your life using modern therapy practices.
CPA Counseling publishes condition guides and therapy articles written by our licensed therapists in Pittsburgh, Altoona, and Philadelphia. Every article is written from clinical experience — not generic wellness content. In-person and telehealth statewide.
Articles to Improve your Understanding
Temper Tantrums in Children: What They Mean & How to Help
A temper tantrum is a behavior, and underneath it is usually a child who is overwhelmed, tired, hungry, frustrated, or unable to manage a big feeling yet. During a meltdown, a dysregulated child can’t reason or be lectured — the job is to help them regulate first and teach afterward. Over time, children learn to recognize their feelings and handle them. Caitie Beatty, LSW helps children and families across Pennsylvania, in Altoona and by telehealth.
What Can Your Relationship Become? A Gottman Story
Gottman Method couples therapy helps couples move beyond recurring arguments by changing the patterns underneath them. Couples learn to recognize criticism, defensiveness, contempt and withdrawal; communicate needs more clearly; repair conflict sooner; strengthen friendship and intimacy; and build shared goals. The aim isn’t a relationship without disagreement. It’s a relationship both partners know how to return to.
Falling Out of Love? What It Means & What to Do
Feeling like you’ve fallen out of love is confusing and painful, but it doesn’t automatically mean the relationship is over. Self-reflection — including understanding your attachment style and your own patterns — often reveals what’s really going on. Therapy can help you understand yourself, reconnect, or gain clarity. Tess Inman, LPC, Director of Clinical Services, helps couples across Pittsburgh’s South Hills.
Is My Teen Self-Harming? A Parent’s Guide to Cutting
Self-harm, like cutting, is usually a way a teenager copes with overwhelming emotional pain — most often it is not a suicide attempt, but it always deserves to be taken seriously. If you’ve discovered your teen is self-harming, respond with calm support rather than panic or punishment, and seek professional help; therapies like DBT are very effective. If your teen has thoughts of suicide or is in danger, call or text 988.
The Shy Child: When Is Shyness a Problem?
Shyness in children is a natural, slow-to-warm-up temperament and usually isn’t a problem. It becomes a concern when it’s extreme — significantly interfering with learning, relationships, interests, or self-esteem. Parents can help with gentle playdates and by building confidence through small successes, and therapy helps when shyness holds a child back. Shannon Wyzkoski, LPC and the CPA team support children and families across Pennsylvania.
READY TO START?
Don’t let fear keep writing your story
Anxiety rarely stays where it is. Left alone it tends to ask for a little more room each year — one more thing declined, one more route avoided, one more part of life quietly made smaller until the smaller version starts to feel like who you are. It doesn’t take a crisis to justify starting. It only takes deciding that this year isn’t going to look like last year. You don’t have to have it figured out first; you only have to make one decision that isn’t fear’s.