Health and Education

Epictetus, the Greek Stoic philosopher is quoted as saying, “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.” This idea is often repeated in therapeutic circles as a reminder of personal responsibility. When I say something along these lines, I’m usually thinking of Choice Theory, and one of the recurring group sessions I lead is on the concept of total behavior. This is the idea that, at any given time, we are experiencing emotions, physical sensations, thoughts and “doing” behaviors. These four categories make up our total behavior, and, while we can’t directly control emotions and physiology, we can make choices in how we think and what we do that will then lead to shifts in these other areas. Recently, I was leading one of these group therapy sessions in my adolescent boys' group, and I noticed one student, who had recently gotten some difficult news, was despondent. He hung his head throughout the group and barely re...

Thank you for your interest in Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness. We are a licensed treatment program that uses the wilderness setting to provide a clinically-focused intervention, teaching clients accountability, communication skills and healthy emotional and behavioral habits. BRTW’s main office is in Clayton, GA, in the southern Appalachian Mountains and borders the Chattahoochee and Nantahala National Forests. Clayton is conveniently located between Atlanta, GA, and Asheville, NC. We are currently looking to fill the position(s) of Field Instructor. Qualified individuals will be asked to go on a week-long training. Our next training is September 27th to October 3rd. Download Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness Field Instructor Application Instructors are pivotal to the success of BRTW.  Field instructors work an 8-day on, 6-day off schedule.  For the entire 8 days, instructors hike and camp with clients in the National Forest.  The program serves youth “in...

Google’s John Mueller offered additional details about what could cause a site to lose ranking in the recent  core algorithm update . And it has nothing to do with authors. Question About Core Algorithm Update Here is the question asked: “After the recent Google search algorithm update, we’ve seen dramatic negative impact in our average positions for our most common keywords. Our site has not changed. Can you describe what the changes were that might be affecting the SEO?” What Changed in Google’s Algorithm John Mueller answered with a general description of what changed. It’s not that your website is low quality It’s about how Google defines what is relevant to a user query What is relevant for specific users. This is what Google’s John Mueller said: “This is something kind of like we mentioned before. These are general algorithm updates that we make from time to time with regards to search. And it’s not like your site is worse or different in any way. It...

When you held your tiny infant in your arms, you wished all the best for their future: success, friendship, health, and joy. But eventually independence, rebellion, stressful life situations, behavioral issues, or emotional stressors set in. And here you are now, overcome with emotions centered around your struggling teen. How can I help my son with his depression and anxiety? What can I do to get my daughter to speak to me? I don’t understand why my teen behaves/reacts this way. How did I not see this coming? Where did I go wrong? What now? We are here to help. Our team at   Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness   helps your child overcome their obstacles while participating in our intentional, safe, and life-changing program. We can offer both your troubled teen and your family a pathway for hope, change, and healing. But right now we’re just going to provide you, an overwhelmed parent of a struggling teen, with some wisdom for the moment. The 5 Non-Negot...

Have you heard of account-based marketing (ABM) before? (It’s also known as key account marketing) Whether those are familiar letters or sound like a foreign language, ABM is simple. These are the basics: instead of a one-to-many marketing approach, it’s a one-to-one approach. Account-based marketing makes strategic goals for specific target accounts in B2B marketing. Although ABM typically is used for brands with oodles of employees (think 1000+), you are probably incorporating elements of this into your marketing strategy without even realizing it! It helps teams to: Engage higher value opportunities earlier in the sales process Align sales and account management strategies with your strategic marketing initiatives Maximize your return on investment (ROI) and value from your marketing campaigns. Let me guess - you have done at least one of those things? Awesome! Now let’s take it to a new level of importance. If your past or present marketing campaigns ar...

Sales and marketing alignment is a struggle that organizations have been battling for years. The primary focus of a marketing department is to generate leads, while the sales team is responsible for turning those leads into customers. In Business Utopia, the marketing and sales teams would work in tandem, aligning their roles and goals to ensure that ROI becomes a joint responsibility. But in reality, it doesn’t always look that way. It’s an interesting dynamic between the two teams. One of the top complaints about a sales team is that they don’t think the marketing team is capturing enough leads (or at least enough quality leads). And the marketing team often feels like the sales team isn’t working hard enough to send their leads down the sales funnel.  There has got to be a better, more efficient way to align sales and marketing teams.  Question: How can every individual on both teams believe that themselves and their teammates are pulling their weight as a team player?...