Welcome to
Tiny Cottage Therapy’s Blog
I’m Caitlin Blair, LCSW and holistic psychotherapist based in California.
I love helping people find more balance in their lives by building awareness
& building practical habits to support their whole selves.

7 Ways Slow Living Supports High-Functioning Anxiety
If you experience high-functioning anxiety, you might be familiar with the feeling of always needing to be on. You’re constantly pushing yourself, overcommitting, and staying busy—because slowing down feels uncomfortable, even impossible. But what if slowing down was actually the thing that helped the most?

Help, it’s my first time going to therapy!
What to expect when starting therapy
I want to start by reassuring you if you feel nervous, apprehensive, or anxious about your first therapy session, that’s super normal. Starting therapy (especially for the time first time) can be really scary and take a lot of courage. I want to commend you on your steps to even get to this point.

How to Write A Love Letter
Expressing our feelings of love and affection through words can be really challenging, especially if you grew up in a household where love was expressed in other ways (actions, service, etc.) However…

Avoiding New Year’s Resolution Burnout
It's easy to start off the year with huge goals to be better, stronger, and more productive than the year before. We set objectives and tactics that maybe feel realistic at the time but after a month, we are dwindling. We are exhausted and the pace we thought we could sustain we can't.

Journal Practice for the End of the Year
I have always been an off and on journaler. One of these structured practices that I have been engaging in for years is an end of the year reflection. It helps me track my own progress each year and reflect on the ups and downs. It helps show me how much I've grown and synthesize lessons that I've learned. It has been so valuable to me, especially in filling the weird days between Christmas and New Year's.

5 Self Care Practices for Winter
With shorter and shorter days approaching Winter Solstice, I find my regular routine pushing up against the boundaries of daylight. I frequently work days that start before the sunrises and end after the sunsets. I feel sleepier and wanting to go to sleep earlier but aren't sure if I should. All these things tell me, something needs to change.

Financial Care is Self Care
I wish I could fool myself into thinking that taking care of my overall wellbeing does not include finances. I want to pretend I can just live in a world where money doesn't matter. However…

Ways to Engage with Spiritual Health, Whether or Not You’re Religious
Think of spirituality as an umbrella term. Many people fulfill their spiritual needs through specific religions… but there are others ways…

A Moment for Self Compassion
Take a moment to think about how you've talked to yourself today, or even in the last hour. Were you kind?

Catching Our Shadows
Although we don't have literal shadows that move freely and in protest of our intentions, we do have "shadow selves"which Dr. Nicole LePera defines as "the undesirable parts of our self that are repressed or denied as a result of conditioning and shame," (2021). In other words, shadow selves are the parts of us that we attempt to hide, ridicule, and ignore in an effort to make them go away because they feel unacceptable. However…

5 Self-Care Activities for Fall
Fall is the world's embodiment of change, slowing down, and finding balance. Days become increasingly shorter and cooler. These months beg for our preparation and care.

Intro to Intergenerational Trauma, Historical Trauma and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)
We hear a lot about trauma these days. We talk a lot less about intergenerational trauma, historical trauma and complex post traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).

How & Why to Live More Seasonally
When we live according to work & school schedules it is easy to forget that we live in a naturally cyclical world. With all of our modern conveniences, it is understandable that we fail to remember our lives are affected by the moon phases, the tides cycles and daylight hours. At its core, seasonal living is…

What is Bibliotherapy?
The idea is not that reading or listening to books replaces person to person therapy but that it offers another way to explore ourselves and receive insights from others. It can be an opportunity to explore different points of view and more diverse experiences.

You and Who You Were Told to Be
Narrative therapy is a style of counseling that focuses on individuals and communities and the stories we tell others and ourselves to understand our world including problems (Morgan, 2000).

5 Self Care Practices for Summer
Summer is a time of vibrancy, warm weather, and lots of sunshine. With the longer days, it can be the ideal time to add in a handful of new self-care activities.

Connect More with Nature
Did you know there are therapists who specialize in nature-related practices and stress related to the condition of our global environment?

When Your Body Wants More From You
My body was trying to send me signals, “we are not okay,” “we need more care,” “something needs to change.” My high stress environment caused me…

Spinning Your Emotional Wheels
How many times have you been in the midst of an argument with someone you know well, trying to express how you feel and you are at a loss for words?

5 Self Care Practices for Spring
Spring is a time of renewal and growth, which makes it the perfect time to start new routines.