Am I Crazy?

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“Mental wounds still screaming. Driving me insane. I’m going off the rails on this crazy train.” - Ozzy Osbourne

When it comes to “doing life” with a spouse or significant other, clients often ask me to reassure them that they have not plunged off the edge of reality and entered into crazy town. The unfortunate outcome of an unstable relationship is the experience of feeling like one is standing on the verge of insanity. When negative communication and interaction patterns flare once again, pestering questions such as “Is it me?” or “Am I the one that is the problem or is it him/her” emerge once again. However, what they really are trying to communicate is that they feel stuck in their communication cycle. What’s worse it that each partner knows exactly how to trigger the other so, when one verbally or emotionally wounds the other, instead of saying, “I feel hurt by that…,” they up the ante and attack back, turning each other into people they never wanted to be (while blaming their partner for it). Therefore, the dance of hostile dependency continues while each partner believes that if only the other person would change, they wouldn’t be so “crazy.” This negative cycle forces them to spiral down, continues to make them feel worse about reacting in hurtful ways and creates resentment towards their partner for feeling like they’re “setting me up for failure.”

There is hope however. You’re not crazy. You just don’t know how to stop the crazy train.

Getting to Know Natasha

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It can be easy to get wrapped up into the daily grind, but I have always believed that therapy is the best place to start to gain insight on what is going on in a situation and ways that each of us can improve. Every person, couple and family experiences challenges from what life brings to our doorstep...what I enjoy the most about my career is that I am helping people. I am Natasha with Life Counseling. My decision into becoming a therapist started back in 2008. I was teaching middle school classes in Bloomington, MN when I noticed that a vast majority of students came into my classroom before or after school to talk about their home life or challenges that they were facing as teenagers. Also, in my own family life I was experiencing difficult times and that is when I woke up one morning and decided to move forward into a career that I knew I was meant to be doing. I wanted to help more people and made this a goal in my life. I became a mental health practitioner in 2012 and have been working towards licensure ever since.

A little more about me:  I have always thought of myself as an extrovert. I enjoy time spent with family, friends and especially my husband and two children. However, you can catch me wondering off in the distance for alone time every now and then. I need time to collect my own thoughts and enjoy the peace that nature brings.


When it comes to my style as a therapist, I have a gift of looking past the words that are being said and identifying the heart of problem. I help others gain focus through challenges and support them as they overcome obstacles. I look forward to doing the same for you.

A New Look for LIFE Counseling

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"Change is inevitable, growth is optional..."   - John Maxwell

LIFE Counseling has undergone a renovation of sorts. For over 7 years we have helped thousands of people Learn to be more Intentional, Focused, and Equipped and we continue to offer excellent and effective counseling and assessments to couples, individuals, and families. In the last couple years we have added several new tools to our practice, with the main attraction being Neurofeedback. As a result, we have an updated logo, a new look to our practice, some new faces, and a renewed desire to connect socially with the community at large. As a result we have made the following three commitments:

  1. We will continue to address the root of the issue, tackling the physiological, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects to a problem.
  2. We will work diligently to utilize social media as a means to inform and educate.
  3. We will make ourselves available for seminars, workshops, and training for schools, churches, and businesses.

We are excited about the new tools and resources we have for you as we strive to see people grow individually, have marriages strengthened, and families thrive. We invite you to join us on this journey! Like us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIN and be watching for new videos, blogs, articles, tools, and information about how we can help at LIFE.