Bonnie Healey LCSW

Bonnie Healey LCSW Bonnie Healey is the owner of Hope and Meaning Counseling and an Army Reserve social worker.

PA & KY Licensed Clinical Social Worker
PA Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor
Board Certified Diplomate

Really happy that annual training at (insert specific Army installation that no one ever wants to go to) is giving me at...
06/05/2026

Really happy that annual training at (insert specific Army installation that no one ever wants to go to) is giving me at least two opportunities to swim! I’ve loved swimming ever since I was little. I have no idea what it is about swimming (just like I have no idea why the pool looks green 🤪) but I know it’s always made me feel happy.

I think there’s a physical activity for everyone - something’s out there that feels good for you, something joyful. It’s long been known that physical activities are good for improving mental health - when you physically feel better, you’ll often feel emotionally better too. Physical activities will give you something to do and that’s great for managing depression and anxiety – those two conditions tend to worsen when you have empty time to do nothing but ruminate and worry. If you ever do group activities like running clubs, adult sports leagues, etc. – then you’re also getting out there and meeting people and being social which also improves mental health.

Sometimes I ask people what it is that they like to do and they honestly don’t know because it’s been so long since they’ve done anything physical. And that’s okay, it’s a starting point. I think it helps just to Google things like “physical fitness near me” or maybe something more general like “different kinds of exercise”. There will be a ton of ideas that pop up, and you don’t have to do everything that you see – it’s good just to take a look at different things and notice how you feel when you think about different kinds of exercise. What seems interesting to you, what makes you feel more curious, what makes you feel confident when you look at something and think “I can do that”.

For a lot of of us, the first step to physical fitness isn’t actually going out there and doing something, it’s going to be looking at different ideas and finding something we want to try out. And maybe trying something out can lead to committing to it later on, and that’s where you might find your life changing in positive directions. I tell people to pay attention to their interests and go from there – follow what feels like it might be a good idea without placing any pressure on yourself to do anything performance-wise. Performance comes in time, at your own pace, when you feel ready for it. If you’re just getting started, take it easy and look at it as an interesting thing to do, not something that you need to pressure yourself to do in a certain way – and I think that’s the key to incorporating physical fitness into your life.

Okay, the place I’m going to next is definitely not my nearest military installation, but I’m looking forward to it as i...
06/03/2026

Okay, the place I’m going to next is definitely not my nearest military installation, but I’m looking forward to it as it is a new place to me and I like going places that I haven’t been to before.

I will be out for a few weeks, returning to work as normal on Monday, June 22. Lots of people can do things in my absence while I am out though; HMC always keeps on going with or without me there. Here is who to contact:

Scheduling, billing and all other admin needs:
[email protected]
(267) 528-9037 or (267) 528-6997

There is immediate availability for MEPS waiver assessments, go to:
https://hopeandmeaning.com/military-assessments/
Click on “schedule an assessment”, submit your information and our admin staff will reach out and get you set up.

I’ll see everyone when I’m back!

Peace looks like…my pasture at home. True story - I’ve never once been inside the fence. Not once! I’ve just looked at i...
05/28/2026

Peace looks like…my pasture at home. True story - I’ve never once been inside the fence. Not once! I’ve just looked at it from the outside, and that’s enough to make me feel content. Knowing its mine is a comfort, it’s an untouched piece of land that I can keep to myself or share with whoever I want to share it with. Right now, I share it with my neighbors’ sheep and goats. Someday down the road, who knows? For today though, I love looking at this little bit of calmness in my life.

Everyone should have a peaceful place in their life somewhere, where’s yours?

05/28/2026

Reposting this message from our governor feels a little surreal, kind of weird - but this is 2026, this is the direction our world has gone in. It isn’t just happening to kids either, plenty of adults can be fooled by AI too. It’s not about people being “stupid” or “naive” as much as it’s about how sophisticated AI products have become.

Congratulations to our intern Lauren, who just graduated with her Masters degree in Social Work and will be joining us s...
05/26/2026

Congratulations to our intern Lauren, who just graduated with her Masters degree in Social Work and will be joining us soon as a therapist! Lauren will be getting her LSW license shortly and she is able to do general counseling with a specialty in vocational and rehabilitative counseling. I’m really excited to have her join our team at HMC!

It’s been 18 years and it still hurts. Some things you just never get over; you just carry it differently as time goes b...
05/25/2026

It’s been 18 years and it still hurts. Some things you just never get over; you just carry it differently as time goes by. You never get over it though.

Mark’s the reason I went back in the Army after grad school and became an Army social worker. I didn’t want what happened to my family to happen to anyone else’s.

Su***de isn’t combat, but it can be a byproduct of combat. It can also be a separate battle soldiers fight against in secret until one day they can’t fight anymore. And then it can also be what happens when veterans can’t adjust after they get out. There’s so many reasons why it happens, but the reason doesn’t matter on a day like today. What matters is that they died fighting a battle no one should ever have to fight, especially not alone.

If your house was on fire, what would you save first? I would say - my cat. Maybe my purse if I had the presence of mind...
05/16/2026

If your house was on fire, what would you save first? I would say - my cat. Maybe my purse if I had the presence of mind to grab it. But definitely my cat. What would you save?

I bet you didn’t say your last performance review. You probably didn’t say your weight loss pills or pictures of your ex either. If your house is on fire and you only have seconds to spare, are you really running in there for a phone?

If none of those things matter when your world is falling apart, then why do they matter to you now? Why get upset about the things that don’t matter in the end anyway?

If you lose your phone in a house fire, you can buy a new one. Your ID goes up in flames, go to the DMV for a license and then apply for a new birth certificate. Most times, when upsetting things happen, there’s always a solution to the problem. You might not particularly like it, but there’s always a solution.

Put your energy into what really matters, what can’t be replaced, what you need in order to live. The rest is nice when it goes right, not great when it goes wrong, but not necessary. There’s no need to stress and obsess when something isn’t necessary to live. Do your best, then move forward when you’re done doing your best.

I get this may be true for some people, but not all of us - you can be eclectic if you have a plan in advance. “If the c...
05/13/2026

I get this may be true for some people, but not all of us - you can be eclectic if you have a plan in advance. “If the client gives me this, then I respond with that.”

I introduce myself as an ACT therapist who also does narrative therapy and MI. I know of things like EMDR and IFS, but honestly, I don’t have the energy to learn anything new, especially if I’m not sure I’ll like it. I’ve got way too many things going on to learn a whole new approach. I chose to stick with what I know and build on that, get better with what I know already.

Everyone in grad school learns CBT. You want to feel better, you have to change your feelings, thoughts and behaviors. It’s easiest to change your thoughts, so we teach you how to do that and then you will feel better and behave better. That is the extremely simplified concepts behind CBT. I graduated thinking that was enough, but it wasn’t. Try applying CBT to someone who has to cope with generational, poverty, America’s immigration system, and so on. CBT does have an ending point where changing your thoughts isn’t possible or helpful. Neither is telling people they just have to live with these unchangeable things – so when I was younger, that was when I discovered a whole approach designed to support acceptance – ACT. And it was then, over 15 years ago, that I had the time, interest, and energy to learn more about ACT. And as I worked with people with substance abuse, I learned about MI and I realize this is a good way to talk to anyone about anything while you’re incorporating a whole different approach at the same time. Where does narrative therapy fit in? I was a born writer, and I love the concept of storytelling. That’s a huge, personal interest of mine and writing is also a way that I cope with and process my own life. Narrative therapy encourages me to separate the client from the problem and to treat the client like they are the subject matter expert of their own life. I feel like that shows a lot more respect and empowerment to the client. Narrative therapy isn’t just changing the story of a person’s life, it is also helping them find control over their life again, helping them externalize problems so that they no longer feel defined by their problems. I think it’s really powerful, I’ve seen how it has worked in my own life and I love being able to share this with clients when their situation is appropriate for it.

Being eclectic means that you know some different approaches, but you also know how they can fit together and you can go back-and-forth in a planned and coordinated way that makes sense. There’s times I’ve watched myself ping-pong between ACT, MI, and some narrative therapy concepts all within the same session. And again when it’s appropriate, I do bring in CBT. I can’t tell you how many times I talk to clients about reframing and redirecting. That comes up pretty often for almost everyone.

But to this guy’s point, I do get it. I think there are a lot of therapists out there who are just winging it and hoping they don’t screw up. The way you prevent this is by making lifelong learning a meaningful part of your postgraduate life. Yes, you can watch a webinar during your lunch break and get a CEU for it, but I think that therapists should go a step further and find interesting books about therapy concepts that they can learn from. Don’t pay attention only what gets you CEUs, look at some of the videos on YouTube that the big names in therapy are putting out. There’s a lot of content that you can read or watch that will show you how to better understand and put different therapy approaches into action. I don’t think lifelong learning is encouraged in our field as much as it should be – we definitely encourage getting the CEUs, but we don’t collectively talk about how fun it is to learn about therapy concepts throughout our career. We don’t treat learning as something we want to do, we treat learning as something that we have to do because the licensing board says so. That’s the wrong attitude to have, and it really does take the joy out of growing as a therapist. I think if we adopt a better perspective towards learning, then we’ll find ourselves actually wanting to do it more often – and that’s what makes us better therapists.

I think this picture sums up my life right now 😂
05/11/2026

I think this picture sums up my life right now 😂

This is true! Many of my clients have heard me normalize their presenting problems, as in - “the way you feel makes sens...
05/11/2026

This is true! Many of my clients have heard me normalize their presenting problems, as in - “the way you feel makes sense after you had to go through XYZ experience”. For example, if I were to pathologize depression after the loss of a loved one, I would be disrespecting the normal and expected grief process. This is why I can’t diagnose Prolonged Grief Disorder unless it’s been a year since the event occurred. Healthy people do become symptomatic when we are placed in situations that work against our ability to maintain our mental health; I experienced this myself with my second deployment. It’s normal, and so are you when certain events in your life bring stress, confusion and chaos.

It helps so much to go through these times with people who can help you focus on getting back to your baseline or at least a point of stability - and it helps to be comforted and cared for during these times. These two things are how we survive the hard times, and then when the dust settles and you have a starting point, then it’s time to rebuild. I don’t suggest doing repair work until the dysfunctional event is actually over. Ongoing dysfunction is a thing to survive and problem-solve, not necessarily a time to heal.

The one thing we can all do, not just professionals, and I can’t stress this enough - encourage the hurting person. When an otherwise healthy person is brought down by a dysfunctional event, especially those out of their control, they need encouragement more than anything else. They know you can’t solve their problems, they know they have to ride it out, they don’t need you to fix them - they mostly just need encouragement and companionship.

Address

PO Box 250
Pipersville, PA
18947

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 8am - 9pm
Wednesday 2pm - 9pm
Thursday 8am - 9pm
Friday 8am - 9pm

Telephone

+12675289061

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