Don't diagnose awkward. Diagnose a pattern. With Autism Spectrum Disorder, don't diagnose somebody because they're socially awkward. The NCMHCE wants you to recognize a developmental pattern. Plenty of vignette clients are shy, anxious, blunt or introverted. ASD is different: it is a lifelong pattern of social-communication differences plus restricted or repetitive behaviors, rooted in early development. Work every ASD case through the same six steps below. 1. Safety ASD itse

Weekly Recap: Room to Thrive (Thanksgiving Week) Every week I look back at my personal growth journal entries to see what they reveal. This week, from November 23 to November 29, 2025, was all about finally being in a space where I can fully be me, and growing while everyone's watching. Here's the honest breakdown: what went right, where I'm growing, and what I'm taking into next week. Happy Thanksgiving week, waffles. This one is the holiday edition. The Vibe: How This Week

Hey Queens! 👑 Let me ask you something. How many times have you stopped working out—not because you didn't care, but because life shifted and your routine didn't? A new job. A new school year. A parent who needs you. A kid who needs you at 6 AM. If that's you right now, this post is for you. Because sometimes the workout has to change because LIFE changed. And that is not the same thing as quitting. When the 6:15 AM Bus Changed My Whole Routine My son's bus comes at 6:15 AM.

Studying Group Work for the CPCE? Grab your imaginary jump rope—we're about to make this whole section easier to remember. Because on the CPCE, the goal isn't memorizing a textbook. It's recognizing what you're looking at the moment they drop it into a vignette. If you're prepping for the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE), group work lives in the Group Counseling and Group Work domain—one of the eight CACREP core areas. It shows up reliably, and once the

NCMHCE Study Guide | Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam Prep Social Anxiety Disorder is not simply being shy. On the NCMHCE, the key is to look past the behavior and find the fear driving the avoidance. If you can identify the fear of negative evaluation at the center of a vignette, you can separate Social Anxiety Disorder from a lineup of convincing look-alikes—and pick up points that many test-takers leave on the table. This post breaks down a repeatable, exam-ready fra

A weighted jump rope workout for women over 40 — from your Crossrope Ambassador Introduction 👑 Queen, if you think jump rope is only about jumping faster, let me put you on to something that changed my workouts completely: adding resistance. Somewhere after 40, "just cardio" stopped being enough for me. I didn't want to only chase revolutions and count how many I could squeeze in — I wanted a workout I could actually feel. That's exactly why, as a Crossrope Ambassador, I rea

A focused study guide for the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE) Here's the single most important thing to understand before you sit for this exam: the CPCE doesn't test definitions. It tests recognition. Can you read a vignette and instantly identify the skill being used and the theory it points to? That's the whole game. Memorizing textbook definitions won't carry you. Pattern recognition will. This crash course drills the two highest-yield domains—couns

A high-yield study guide for the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) NCMHCE Substance Use Disorders: The Safety-First Framework Every Test-Taker NeedsHere's where the NCMHCE can get you with substance use: you notice the drinking or drug use and immediately want to treat it. Slow down. What comes first? Safety. If you're preparing for the NCMHCE exam, substance use disorder vignettes are some of the easiest places to lose points—not because the cli

Happy Wednesday Waffle on a Thursday. This one's from November 13th, 2025. Re-recorded and still delivered. Here's my recap. The Vibe This was a week of endings and fresh starts landing right on top of each other. Something sudden and heartbreaking happened at work, a chapter closed with someone I respected, and instead of spiraling I named it, honored it, and let it be what it was. Underneath all the movement, the new case, the new supervisor, the new hair, the new chapter a

The Vibe: I Feel This Way AND I’m Still Here This week feels emotionally complicated. Not necessarily bad. Not necessarily good. Definitely not “fine.” I’m carrying disappointment, uncertainty, grief around change, pressure from school, financial responsibilities, questions about my career, family realities, and feelings about the holidays. At the same time, I’m also excited about new opportunities, curious about what’s coming next, setting boundaries, making plans, and conti

The Vibe: I’m Becoming My Own Evidence This week feels like confidence returning—not because everything suddenly became easy, but because I can actually see evidence of my growth. I’m getting more comfortable as a mental health counseling intern. I’m physically able to do things that were extremely difficult for me a year ago. I’m helping my son prepare for life after high school. I’m taking care of things concerning my own wellness. And yes, I’m still working multiple jobs,

There comes a point in life when you realize reinvention isn't about becoming somebody completely different. Sometimes it's about finally becoming the person your experiences have been preparing you to be. And Queen, that doesn't always happen neatly. Sometimes you rise after disappointment. Sometimes after mistakes. Sometimes after taking the long way around. And sometimes nothing terrible happened at all—you simply realize the life that once fit you doesn't fit anymore. Tha

Someone commented on one of my YouTube videos, “It’s not going to be effective if you don’t jump.” And I understood what they meant. But here’s what I want women over 40 to understand: The effectiveness of jump rope isn’t only about how high you jump. It’s about rhythm, timing, resistance, form, and intentional movement. That becomes especially important when you’re using a weighted jump rope or cordless weighted jump rope. As a Crossrope Ambassador and someone who has be

When studying for the NCMHCE, it is easy to become overwhelmed by diagnostic criteria, timelines, symptoms, and rule-outs. However, the exam is not only testing whether you can recognize a diagnosis. It is testing whether you can think clinically. Before choosing an answer, slow down and follow the same sequence: Safety Missing information Assessment Diagnosis direction Level of care Intervention This six-step framework can help you organize the information in a clinical vign

Queens, grab your rope and let's get into it—because studying for the CPCE does not have to feel like a punishment. We're going to turn the DSM-5 anxiety disorders into a jump rope routine, because when the ideas move, they stick. And when they stick, you pass. Here's the whole vibe: every anxiety disorder is really just fear or worry that's overstayed its welcome. The exam isn't testing whether you feel the anxiety—it's testing whether you can name the pattern, spot the trig

The Vibe This week reminded me that life doesn't stop throwing challenges my way—but it also doesn't stop giving me reasons to smile. I've been navigating family stress, health concerns, school, internship, work, and the emotional weight of simply being the person everyone depends on. Yet in the middle of all of that, I intentionally made room for joy. This wasn't a perfect week, but it was a meaningful one. The biggest lesson? Healing isn't about waiting until life gets easi

🔁 WEEKLY RECAP (October 22, 2025) The Vibe This week was about perspective. After a difficult previous week, I found myself settling back into a healthier headspace. Life didn't suddenly become easier—I just became more grounded in it. I was reminded that healing isn't only emotional; it's physical, mental, and spiritual. I'm learning that taking care of myself isn't a distraction from my goals—it's part of reaching them. Top Wins I reached one year since surviving my bilate

Many women over 40 feel their strongest years are behind them. After decades of focusing on careers, families, and communities, it’s easy to believe that the best days for fitness are gone. That’s not true. This decade is the time to take your strength back and invest in your health. One simple, effective way to do that is to jump rope—especially with a weighted rope like Crossrope. Jumping rope is more than a childhood game or a quick cardio fix. It’s a powerful full-body wo

If you're preparing for the NCMHCE, here's the mindset shift that changes everything: the exam isn't testing whether you memorized the DSM. It's testing whether you know what to do with the client sitting in front of you. That's why every concept in this guide follows the same clinical decision-making framework — the one the exam itself rewards: Safety — Is the client (or anyone else) at risk right now? Missing Information — What do you need to know before you can make a diag

There’s a specific kind of exhaustion that women in their 40s know intimately. Not just being tired. But being responsible tired. The kind where people still need you no matter how drained you are. Your children still need rides. Dinner still needs to get made. Bills still need to get paid. Work still expects performance. And somewhere in the middle of all of that… there’s a quiet voice inside of you asking: “What about me?” What about the dreams you paused? What about the ve