Liza Mordkovich

10/30/2026

School anxiety & avoidance: Start with curiosity.

When getting to school feels overwhelming, make room for your child’s perspective: “What feels hardest about the school day?” and “What would help you feel supported?”

At your next IEP meeting, bring specific observations and ask:

💜 Are there patterns around particular classes, transitions, or peer interactions?
💜 What is your child telling us about their experience?
💜 Which supports could help them participate in school?
💜 Who will coordinate the plan, and when will we review progress?

Discuss options such as a predictable arrival routine, a trusted adult for check-ins, and support during difficult transitions. The plan should reflect your child’s individual needs and include clear ways to track how it is working.

Your child’s voice belongs in the conversation. Save this post for your next school meeting.

Brooklyn Mindfulness and Psychotherapy
🌐 brooklynmindful.com

10/28/2026

Find your way back to each other. 🤍

Between busy schedules, everyday stress, and unresolved disagreements, it can be easy to feel disconnected from the person you love. Conversations turn into arguments, small moments of affection become less frequent, and you may find yourselves missing the closeness you once shared.

Couples therapy offers space to slow down, hear each other, and understand what keeps you stuck in the same patterns.

Together, you can work toward:
💬 Clearer communication and more attentive listening
🤍 Rebuilding trust and emotional intimacy
🌿 Navigating conflict with greater understanding
✨ Making room for connection through life’s transitions

You don’t need to have all the answers before you begin. Whether you’re seeking marriage counseling or support for your relationship, making time to understand each other can be a meaningful first step.

At Brooklyn Mindful, we offer couples therapy to help partners explore their challenges and build a more connected relationship.

Reach out to learn more about couples therapy at Brooklyn Mindful.

10/27/2026

ARFID is more than picky eating. 💚

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is an eating disorder that can make eating a wide range of foods—or eating enough—feel difficult or overwhelming.

Someone with ARFID may:

🍽️ Feel distressed by certain textures, smells, tastes, or appearances of food

😟 Fear choking, vomiting, or experiencing another uncomfortable consequence of eating

💭 Have little interest in food or struggle to recognize hunger

🥣 Rely on a limited number of foods that feel safe or manageable

ARFID can affect children, teens, and adults. It may lead to nutritional concerns, difficulty getting enough energy, and stress around meals or social situations. Unlike some other eating disorders, ARFID is not driven by concerns about body shape or weight.

Support starts with curiosity and compassion—not pressure or blame. 💚

Treatment may include therapy, nutritional support, and medical care tailored to the person’s needs. With the right support, individuals can develop a more comfortable relationship with food at a pace that works for them.

At Brooklyn Mindfulness & Psychotherapy, we believe that everyone deserves to feel understood and supported. 🌿

10/27/2026

You are not your thoughts.

Have you ever had a thought that felt so real it was hard to see it as anything other than the truth?

“I’m going to fail.”
“I can’t handle this.”
“Something bad is going to happen.”

Our minds generate thoughts all day long—some helpful, some distressing, and some that keep us stuck. But having a thought doesn’t always mean it’s a fact or that we need to act on it.

🌿 Cognitive defusion is a skill from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that helps us create a little space between ourselves and our thoughts.

Instead of:

❌ “I can’t handle this.”

Try:

✅ “I’m noticing that I’m having the thought that I can’t handle this.”

That small shift can help you see the thought as a thought, while choosing how you want to respond.

🍃 Try the “Leaves on a Stream” exercise:

1. Imagine sitting beside a gently flowing stream.
2. Picture each thought that comes to mind resting on a leaf.
3. Watch the leaf float along the water.
4. If you get caught up in a thought, gently return to the stream and begin again.

The goal isn’t to make difficult thoughts disappear. It’s to practice allowing them to come and go while making room for the things that matter to you. 💜

What thought could you practice making space for today?

10/24/2026

ABC THINKING: HOW YOUR THOUGHTS SHAPE YOUR FEELINGS

Have you ever noticed how two people can experience the same situation but react completely differently?

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the ABC Model helps us understand the connection between our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

💜 A – Activating Event: What happened?

This is the situation or experience that triggers a reaction.

Example: You text a friend, but they don’t respond.

💜 B – Beliefs: What am I telling myself?

Our minds automatically interpret situations based on past experiences, assumptions, and beliefs.

Example: “They’re upset with me. I must have done something wrong.”

💜 C – Consequences: How do I feel and respond?

Our interpretations influence our emotional and behavioral reactions.

Example: You feel anxious, repeatedly check your phone, and begin questioning the friendship.

✨ BUT WHAT IF WE CHANGED THE THOUGHT?

Instead of assuming the worst, consider:

“They might be busy. I don’t have enough information to know why they haven’t responded.”

The situation hasn’t changed, but your interpretation has—and that can change how you feel and respond.

🌿 TAKE IT ONE STEP FURTHER: ABCDE

D – Dispute the Belief

Ask yourself:

What evidence supports this thought?

Am I assuming I know what someone else is thinking?

Am I catastrophizing?

Is there another possible explanation?

E – Effective New Belief

Develop a more balanced, flexible perspective that acknowledges uncertainty without automatically expecting the worst.

💡 REMEMBER: CBT isn’t about replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. It’s about learning to recognize automatic thinking patterns, question unhelpful assumptions, and respond with greater awareness and flexibility.

You don’t always get to choose what happens, but you can learn to change how you interpret and respond to it.

💜 Brooklyn Mindfulness & Psychotherapy

🌐 Brooklynmindful.com

📧 [email protected]

10/22/2026

10/17/2026

What if a possibility feels so convincing that you start treating it as a fact?

OCD can pull you into a story of “what ifs,” even when the information in front of you gives you no relevant reason to doubt.

Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT) focuses on understanding how obsessional doubt develops—and recognizing when imagination starts overriding what you observe and know.

Here are five skills explored in I-CBT:

🔎 1. Notice the first “what if?”
Identify the initial doubt before it leads to anxiety, checking, reassurance seeking, or mental reviewing. What was the moment you began questioning what you already knew?

🌱 2. Separate facts from possibilities
Something being possible does not mean there is evidence that it is happening now. Notice the difference between information relevant to the current situation and a hypothetical scenario.

📖 3. Recognize the OCD story
OCD can weave together memories, unrelated facts, and assumptions into a convincing narrative. A story can feel frightening without providing evidence about your present situation.

↔️ 4. Notice the shift into imagination
You may start with “I saw myself lock the door” and move to “But what if the lock somehow failed?” Recognize where direct information gives way to an imagined possibility.

🍃 5. Reconnect with the here and now
I-CBT helps you rely on relevant senses, ordinary knowledge, and your understanding of yourself. This is not an invitation to inspect more closely, repeatedly review your memory, or prove that nothing bad could happen.

These skills are developed within a structured therapy approach. The goal is to understand the reasoning that creates obsessional doubt—not to turn these questions into another checking ritual.

At Brooklyn Mindful, we share tools to help you better understand OCD and the treatment options available.

Learn more: BrooklynMindful.com

10/14/2026

You can love someone and feel frustrated with them. 💜

You can love your child and need a break from parenting.
You can care about your partner and feel angry with them.
You can support a family member and wish less were being asked of you.

These feelings can exist together. Frustration does not erase love, and needing space does not make you uncaring.

Sometimes we add another layer of distress by judging ourselves: “If I really loved them, I wouldn’t feel this way.” Try making room for a more compassionate thought: “I care about this person AND I’m having a hard time.”

In DBT, we practice holding two truths at once. You can accept how you feel AND choose how you respond.

When frustration shows up, pause and ask:
🌿 What am I feeling beneath the frustration?
🌿 Do I need rest, support, space, or a clearer boundary?
🌿 How can I express that need without blame?

Try: “I care about you, and I need a few minutes before we continue this conversation.”

All emotions deserve acknowledgment. What we do with them matters. You can validate your feelings while taking responsibility for your words and actions.

You don’t have to feel patient every moment to be a loving person.

Brooklyn Mindful
brooklynmindful.com

10/06/2026

Carter vs. Connors Funding: What NYC Parents Should Know

When a child’s public school program does not meet their special education needs, families may pursue funding for an appropriate private school placement. Two terms you may hear are Carter and Connors funding.

💜 CARTER: TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Parents pay private school tuition upfront and seek reimbursement from NYC DOE through the special education legal process. Reimbursement is not guaranteed, and families may wait for a resolution while carrying the cost.

💜 CONNORS: DIRECT FUNDING
Families who cannot afford tuition upfront may seek DOE payment directly to the private school. This requires demonstrating financial inability to pay, in addition to meeting the educational and legal requirements for funding.

📋 WHAT DO BOTH REQUIRE?
Generally, the case must establish that:
• DOE failed to offer a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
• The private placement is appropriate for the child’s individual needs.
• Equitable factors support funding, including the family’s cooperation with the process and compliance with applicable notice requirements.

An IEP or diagnosis alone does not guarantee private school funding. Evaluations, school records, progress reports, and documentation of unmet needs can help explain why a different placement is necessary.

Before signing an enrollment contract or moving your child, consult a special education attorney about notice deadlines, financial obligations, and your options.

At Brooklyn Mindful, our education advocacy services help families understand IEPs, organize concerns, and prepare to advocate for their child’s needs.

🌐 brooklynmindful.com

General educational information, not legal advice.

10/01/2026

Trauma can change more than how we remember an experience—it can change what we believe about ourselves, other people, and the world.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD and trauma-related symptoms. CPT helps people identify “stuck points”: thoughts and beliefs that developed after trauma and continue to create fear, guilt, shame, anger, avoidance, or disconnection.

Common stuck points may sound like:

• “It was my fault.”
• “I should have prevented it.”
• “No one can be trusted.”
• “I am permanently damaged.”
• “The world is never safe.”
• “I cannot handle difficult emotions.”

In CPT, clients learn to examine these beliefs with curiosity and compassion. The goal is not to minimize what happened, force positive thinking, or pretend the trauma was acceptable. Instead, therapy helps separate understandable emotional reactions from conclusions that may be inaccurate, overly broad, or keeping someone trapped in pain.

CPT often explores how trauma has affected five important areas:

• Safety
• Trust
• Power and control
• Esteem
• Intimacy

Through structured exercises and guided discussion, clients can develop a more balanced understanding of the trauma, reduce self-blame, reconnect with their strengths, and make room for safety, trust, and meaningful relationships.

Healing does not mean forgetting. It means the trauma no longer has to define how you see yourself or control how you live.

Brooklyn Mindfulness and Psychotherapy provides compassionate, evidence-based trauma therapy designed around each person’s needs and goals.

Learn more or request a consultation at brooklynmindful.com.

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