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  • Who We Are
  • What We Offer
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Lauren Canonico, LCSW
  • Asher M. Seruya, LCSW
  • Sophie Kuhn Bedaña, LMSW
  • Lee Warwick, LMSW
  • Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW
Avoiding Impulsive Shopping this Holiday Season

Avoiding Impulsive Shopping this Holiday Season

by Lauren Canonico | Dec 22, 2025 | Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW, Thoughts & News from ATC

Navigating shopping during the holiday season while struggling with impulse control can be a special challenge. The holiday season is one of gift-giving. But what happens when our brains are wired for impulsivity, and each purchase gives us a lovely dopamine hit?...

Recent Posts

  • Avoiding Impulsive Shopping this Holiday Season
  • Honoring our Culture in Eating Disorder Recovery
  • The Cultural Legacy of HIV/AIDS
  • Alcohol and the Holiday Season
  • Navigating Polyamory during the Holidays

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    Affirmative Therapy Collective LCSW LLC

    Body, Sex, Trauma, Neurodivergent, and LGBTQ+ Affirmative Psychotherapy

    Eating disorder and trauma treatment done differently

     

    80 University Pl, Suite 2G, New York, NY 10003

    info@affirmativetherapycollective.com

    (646) 504-1615

    Quick Links

    • Individual Psychotherapy
    • Couples, Relationship, & Family Therapy
    • Group Psychotherapy
    • Supervision & Consultation
    • In-Person Clinicians
    • Therapeutic Approaches

    Connect with us on Instagram

    affirmativetherapycollective

    🌈All of you is welcome here🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
    Body, Sex, Trauma, & LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy
    🛋️ NYC
    🖥️ NY, NJ, CO, CT, FL, MI, MN, PA, WI
    New clients ⤵️

    Navigating shopping during the holiday season whil Navigating shopping during the holiday season while struggling with impulse control can be a special challenge. Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW offers her tips for avoiding impulsive shopping decisions, including avoiding all-or-nothing thinking, leaning into mindfulness, and focusing on the loved ones around you instead of the gift-giving portion of the season.

Remember, though the holiday season may be one ruled by materialism, the real gift is the time we spend with people we love. At the end of the day, gifts are truly the least important part of the holiday season. Be with your people 🫂

Looking for therapeutic support around impulsivity, shopping or otherwise? Sophie has openings! Find out more about how to work with her at the 🔗 in our bio 💌
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🏷️ #adhdproblems #adhdprobs #shoppingaddiction #impulsivity #impulsiveshopping
    Recovery reminder from ATC associate Sophie Talmad Recovery reminder from ATC associate Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW!

Tonight we celebrate the third night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.

Hanukkah is a special holiday for the Jewish community that reminds us to stand up for ourselves, celebrate the light in the dark, and find joy where we can.

Hanukkah is also a time that we celebrate by eating fried foods, to honor the miracle of oil lasting eight whole nights when it should have only lasted one. But fried foods have gotten a bad reputation within our culture, and this can make Hanukkah celebrations complicated.

Instead of focusing on spending time with loved ones, the holiday becomes more about the stress and anxiety of navigating a complex relationship with food.

If you are someone who struggles with fried foods, let this be your permission to enjoy the holiday the way everyone else does, diet culture be damned. Stand up to diet culture and eat the food you want to eat!  Enjoy the holiday and the delicious food that goes with it, without guilt or judgment.

Looking for therapeutic support around food and body image? Curious about working with a therapist who shares your cultural background? Sophie has openings! Find out more about how to work with her at the 🔗 in our bio 💌
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🏷️ #happyhanukkah #disorderedeating #disorderedeatingrecovery #eatingdisordersupport #eatingdisorderrecovery #eatingdisordertherapist #eatingdisordertherapy #eatingdisorderhelp #bingeeatingdisorder #atypicalanorexia #atypicalanorexiarecovery #foodpermission #intuitiveeating #healthateverysize #weightinclusive #jewishmentalhealth #culturalcompetence
    December 2025: AIDS/HIV Awareness Month 🌈 Helmed December 2025: AIDS/HIV Awareness Month 🌈

Helmed this week by Lee Warwick, LMSW, the team at ATC wanted to take a moment to reflect on the cultural legacy of HIV/AIDS and honor those impacted by the AIDS epidemic.

The queer community as it currently stands is missing an entire swath of a generation of beautiful, unique individuals. These queer community members—people who would likely have survived if the US federal government had appropriately responded to a clear and persistent health crisis—never had the chance to become community elders. They never had the opportunity to pass along their knowledge; to live their own whole, magical lives; to love; to see how the world has changed, and how it hasn’t. And our current queer collective has suffered from the lack of role models, the anxiety around pleasure, and 

While those who survived continue their legacy, the empty places where those who we lost were meant to be are still felt to this day.

In honor of their memory, we as a collective queer community must continue to destigmatize HIV/AIDS, push for further advancements in treatment and management, and continue to keep one another safe through safe sex practices.
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🏷️ #hivaidsawareness #endthestigma #hivstigma #chronicillnessawareness #lbgt #lgbtqcommunity #lgbtqcouple #lgbtqcouples #couplescounseling #queercouple #queercommunity #queerhistory #queertherapist #nytherapist #sextherapy #sextherapist #queerlove #queerhealing #stigmakills #harmreduction
    No matter what or how you celebrate during the hol No matter what or how you celebrate during the holiday season, alcohol and drinking culture tend to be part of the equation. This can be stressful for those who are sober, sober-curious, or just trying to cut back.

But it has also become much more socially acceptable to be sober, or to at least be courteous of sober individuals’ needs. You don’t have to spend the holiday season isolated, or feeling like the dud at the party. With a little prep and maybe some planning, you can have an amazing holiday season, whether you’re drinking alcohol or not. ATC associate, Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW, walks us through her tips.

Looking for support around substance misuse and/or your relationship with alcohol? Sophie is taking new clients! Head to the 🔗 in bio or to our website to learn more about working with Sophie.
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🏷️ #holidaycelebration #alcoholfreelife #holidaydrinking #substanceabuse #substanceuse #substancemisuse #alcoholism #alcoholismrecovery #addictionrecovery #alcoholismawareness #sobercuriousmovement #soberlifestyle #sobercommunity #sobermovement #sobercurious #intergenerationaltrauma #alcoholaddiction #addictiontherapy #substanceusedisorder
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    Health At Every Size® and HAES® are registered trademarks of the Association for Size Diversity and Health and used with permission

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    Manhattan Alternative logo
    Poly Friendly Professionals listing logo image - white text on a dark background with overlapping purple circles on the left side.
    Covid Conscious Therapist Directory link
    Poly Friendly Professionals listing logo image - white text on a dark background with overlapping purple circles on the left side.

    Ready to start the process of matching you with one of our therapists?

    Fill out the screening

    For all other inquiries, please use the contact form below

    11 + 9 =

    Affirmative Therapy Collective LCSW LLC

    Body, Sex, Trauma, Neurodivergent, and LGBTQ+ Affirmative Psychotherapy

    Eating disorder and trauma treatment done differently

     

    80 University Pl, Suite 2G, New York, NY 10003

    info@affirmativetherapycollective.com

    (646) 504-1615

    Quick Links

    • Individual Psychotherapy
    • Couples, Relationship, & Family Therapy
    • Group Psychotherapy
    • Supervision & Consultation
    • In-Person Clinicians
    • Therapeutic Approaches

    Connect with us on Instagram

    affirmativetherapycollective

    🌈All of you is welcome here🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
    Body, Sex, Trauma, & LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy
    🛋️ NYC
    🖥️ NY, NJ, CO, CT, FL, MI, MN, PA, WI
    New clients ⤵️

    Navigating shopping during the holiday season whil Navigating shopping during the holiday season while struggling with impulse control can be a special challenge. Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW offers her tips for avoiding impulsive shopping decisions, including avoiding all-or-nothing thinking, leaning into mindfulness, and focusing on the loved ones around you instead of the gift-giving portion of the season.

Remember, though the holiday season may be one ruled by materialism, the real gift is the time we spend with people we love. At the end of the day, gifts are truly the least important part of the holiday season. Be with your people 🫂

Looking for therapeutic support around impulsivity, shopping or otherwise? Sophie has openings! Find out more about how to work with her at the 🔗 in our bio 💌
.
.
.
🏷️ #adhdproblems #adhdprobs #shoppingaddiction #impulsivity #impulsiveshopping
    Recovery reminder from ATC associate Sophie Talmad Recovery reminder from ATC associate Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW!

Tonight we celebrate the third night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.

Hanukkah is a special holiday for the Jewish community that reminds us to stand up for ourselves, celebrate the light in the dark, and find joy where we can.

Hanukkah is also a time that we celebrate by eating fried foods, to honor the miracle of oil lasting eight whole nights when it should have only lasted one. But fried foods have gotten a bad reputation within our culture, and this can make Hanukkah celebrations complicated.

Instead of focusing on spending time with loved ones, the holiday becomes more about the stress and anxiety of navigating a complex relationship with food.

If you are someone who struggles with fried foods, let this be your permission to enjoy the holiday the way everyone else does, diet culture be damned. Stand up to diet culture and eat the food you want to eat!  Enjoy the holiday and the delicious food that goes with it, without guilt or judgment.

Looking for therapeutic support around food and body image? Curious about working with a therapist who shares your cultural background? Sophie has openings! Find out more about how to work with her at the 🔗 in our bio 💌
.
.
.
🏷️ #happyhanukkah #disorderedeating #disorderedeatingrecovery #eatingdisordersupport #eatingdisorderrecovery #eatingdisordertherapist #eatingdisordertherapy #eatingdisorderhelp #bingeeatingdisorder #atypicalanorexia #atypicalanorexiarecovery #foodpermission #intuitiveeating #healthateverysize #weightinclusive #jewishmentalhealth #culturalcompetence
    December 2025: AIDS/HIV Awareness Month 🌈 Helmed December 2025: AIDS/HIV Awareness Month 🌈

Helmed this week by Lee Warwick, LMSW, the team at ATC wanted to take a moment to reflect on the cultural legacy of HIV/AIDS and honor those impacted by the AIDS epidemic.

The queer community as it currently stands is missing an entire swath of a generation of beautiful, unique individuals. These queer community members—people who would likely have survived if the US federal government had appropriately responded to a clear and persistent health crisis—never had the chance to become community elders. They never had the opportunity to pass along their knowledge; to live their own whole, magical lives; to love; to see how the world has changed, and how it hasn’t. And our current queer collective has suffered from the lack of role models, the anxiety around pleasure, and 

While those who survived continue their legacy, the empty places where those who we lost were meant to be are still felt to this day.

In honor of their memory, we as a collective queer community must continue to destigmatize HIV/AIDS, push for further advancements in treatment and management, and continue to keep one another safe through safe sex practices.
.
.
.
🏷️ #hivaidsawareness #endthestigma #hivstigma #chronicillnessawareness #lbgt #lgbtqcommunity #lgbtqcouple #lgbtqcouples #couplescounseling #queercouple #queercommunity #queerhistory #queertherapist #nytherapist #sextherapy #sextherapist #queerlove #queerhealing #stigmakills #harmreduction
    No matter what or how you celebrate during the hol No matter what or how you celebrate during the holiday season, alcohol and drinking culture tend to be part of the equation. This can be stressful for those who are sober, sober-curious, or just trying to cut back.

But it has also become much more socially acceptable to be sober, or to at least be courteous of sober individuals’ needs. You don’t have to spend the holiday season isolated, or feeling like the dud at the party. With a little prep and maybe some planning, you can have an amazing holiday season, whether you’re drinking alcohol or not. ATC associate, Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW, walks us through her tips.

Looking for support around substance misuse and/or your relationship with alcohol? Sophie is taking new clients! Head to the 🔗 in bio or to our website to learn more about working with Sophie.
.
.
.
🏷️ #holidaycelebration #alcoholfreelife #holidaydrinking #substanceabuse #substanceuse #substancemisuse #alcoholism #alcoholismrecovery #addictionrecovery #alcoholismawareness #sobercuriousmovement #soberlifestyle #sobercommunity #sobermovement #sobercurious #intergenerationaltrauma #alcoholaddiction #addictiontherapy #substanceusedisorder
    Follow on Instagram

    Health At Every Size® and HAES® are registered trademarks of the Association for Size Diversity and Health and used with permission

    • Follow
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