April 2026
Happy April to all of you from all of us at Inspire Behavioral Health! We wish you and yours the very best this month! We hope the new year is going well for you, that you are enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather! We hope your days so far been filled with good health and feeling content. We hope the remaining months of the year will be an outstanding time for you to learn and grow so that you will live a deeper, richer, more meaningful and purposeful life in the days ahead.
This month we observe Passover and Easter! And, along with some rain, April also marks some other notable days including April Fools’ Day, Arbor Day and Earth Day. April is also Counseling Awareness Month, the month of Holocaust Remembrance Day, World Autism Acceptance Day and World Health Day. It is also Alcohol Awareness Month.
Counseling Awareness Month
Promoting Mental Health and Support
Professional counselors help people gain personal insights, develop strategies and come up with real-life solutions to the problems and challenges they face in every area of life. Powered by the American Counseling Association—more than 62,000 members strong—Counseling Awareness Month provides an opportunity to celebrate both the counseling profession and individuals who do this important work.
This year, the ACA is spotlighting mental health for children and adolescents, along with other information for all ages about how to effectively engage with professional counselors.
Alcohol Awareness Month
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, an opportunity to update your knowledge about alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the adverse impact of alcohol misuse on health and society. Alcohol-related problems continue to take a heavy toll on individuals, families, and communities. Researchers estimate that each year there are more than 180,000 alcohol-related deaths, making alcohol a leading preventable cause of death in the United States. In addition, more than 200 disease and injury-related conditions are associated with alcohol misuse.
The National Institute on alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIAAA, offers a wealth of research-based resources related to alcohol misuse. These resources are free, cover many topics, and are available in multiple languages. Examples include the following:
- Facts About Teen Drinking: Designed for teens, this website contains in-depth information about how alcohol affects health, how to identify signs of an alcohol problem, and how to get help.
- NIAAA for Middle School: This web resource contains interactive activities to help parents, caregivers, and teachers introduce and reinforce key messages about peer pressure, resistance skills, and other important topics related to underage drinking.
- Alcohol and Your Brain: A Virtual Reality Experience: This educational experience shares age-appropriate messages through engaging visuals, informative billboards, and narration.
In addition, the Rethinking Drinking website features interactive calculators as well as tips and strategies to cut down or quit drinking. The Alcohol Treatment Navigator walks individuals through the process of finding treatment options and recovery resources. Whether you are seeking more information about what alcohol use disorder is, are thinking about cutting back on alcohol, are a parent looking for information about how to talk to your child about alcohol, or a health care professional looking for how to help patients with alcohol-related problems, NIAAA can help.
During Alcohol Awareness Month, you can also find information across the NIAAA website to learn more about NIAAA-supported research and initiatives. These efforts aim to generate and disseminate fundamental knowledge about the adverse effects of alcohol on health and well-being. Such research is critical in helping to improve the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol-related problems.
Please visit their website and then call us at Inspire for more help.
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/news-events/announcement/april-alcohol-awareness-month
What counts as a drink?
In the United States, a “standard drink” (also known as an alcoholic drink equivalent) is defined as any beverage containing 0.6 fluid ounces or 14 grams of pure alcohol.
What is Alcohol Misuse?
Alcohol misuse, which includes binge drinking and heavy drinking, increases your risk of harmful consequences, including AUD. The more drinks on any day and the more alcohol misuse over time, the greater the risk.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08%—or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter—or more. This typically happens if a woman has four or more drinks, or a man has five or more drinks, within about two hours.
NIAAA defines heavy drinking as follows:
- For women—four or more drinks on any day or eight or more per week
- For men—five or more drinks on any day or 15 or more per week
What are the Symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)?
Having even a couple of symptoms—which you might not see as trouble signs—can signal a drinking problem. It helps to know the signs so you can make a change early. Providers diagnose AUD when a person has two or more of the symptoms listed below. AUD can be mild (the presence of two to three symptoms), moderate (the presence of four to five symptoms), or severe (the presence of six or more symptoms). See if you recognize any of these symptoms—or others, such as feeling low, dysphoria, or malaise—in yourself. And don’t worry—even if you have a symptom, you can take steps on your own or with help from the professionals at Inspire Behavioral Health to reduce your risk of AUD and other alcohol-related consequences.
Have you had times when you ended up drinking more, or longer, than you intended?
- More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn’t?
- Spent a lot of time drinking, being sick from drinking, or getting over other aftereffects?
- Wanted a drink so badly you couldn’t think of anything else?
- Found that drinking—or being sick from drinking—often interfered with taking care of your home or family? Or caused job troubles? Or school problems?
- Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?
- Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you, or gave you pleasure, in order to drink?
- More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt (such as driving, swimming, using machinery, walking in a dangerous area, or engaging in unsafe sexual behavior)?
- Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem? Or after having had an alcohol-related memory blackout?
- Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want? Or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?
- Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, restlessness, nausea, sweating, a racing heart, dysphoria (feeling uneasy or unhappy), malaise (general sense of being unwell), feeling low, or a seizure? Or sensed things that were not there?
If you don’t have any symptoms, then staying within the limits provided in the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans could reduce your chances of having problems in the future. If you do have any symptoms, then alcohol may already be a cause for concern. The more symptoms you have, the more urgent the need for change. A health care professional can look at the number, pattern, and severity of symptoms to see whether AUD is present and help you decide the best course of action. If this is you, please call Inspire and let us help you.
Note:
The questions listed above are based on symptoms of AUD in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (V-TR). The DSM is the most commonly used system in the United States for diagnosing mental health disorders.
Autism Acceptance Day, 2026
April 2 is Autism Acceptance Day. Did you know that CDC statistics revealed that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 4.3 times more prevalent in boys than it is in girls? This is because girls “often go undiagnosed because they don’t fit autism stereotypes and they mask symptoms better than boys do,” according to the Child Mind Institute.
There is no better way to mark this day than by becoming more aware and accepting of the characteristics of people with this condition and how all of us can do better to increase our own understanding and promote kindness.
World Autism Awareness Day is also observed on April 2. The day recognizes and spreads awareness for the rights of people with autism. The condition typically starts during childhood and continues into adulthood.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by behavioral and communicational affections that impact a person’s ability to navigate social interactions and also causes repetitive and restricted behavior.
The first historical appearance of the word “Autism” was made in 1911 by the psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who used the term to describe a specific cluster of symptoms that were considered simple symptoms of schizophrenia as an extreme social withdrawal.
In that order, it was in 1943, when pediatric psychiatrist Dr. Leo Kanner characterized Autism as a social and emotional disorder in his article “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact”, and in 1944 Hans Asperger published his “Autism Psychopathology Article” where he described autism as a disorder of normal intelligence children who have difficulties with social and communication skills. These articles were an important contribution to the studies that helped to classified Autism as a disorder separate from schizophrenia in 1980.
Due to the continuous investigation and research on autism, World Autism Awareness Day was set to April 2 of each year by the “United Nations General Assembly” on “Resolution 62/139” and adopted on December 18, 2007, to encourage member states to take action in raising awareness about people with autism spectrum disorder and support the research finding new ways to improve wellness and inclusion.
Finally, the notion of autism as a spectrum was developed in 2013 by the “American Psychiatric Association” in the Fifth Edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” by combining all subcategories of autism and related conditions into one unified category, including varied characteristics, severity, and presentation of the symptoms.
Arbor Day/Earth Day
Arbor Day is generally celebrated on the last Friday of the Month, this year, April 24th.Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. This year, many localities are celebrating both days on the same day. Earth Day was first held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.
In 1969 at a UNESCO conference in San Francisco, peace activist, John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmental teach-in on April 22, 1970, and hired a young activist, Denis Hayes, to be the national coordinator.
The name “Earth Day” was coined by advertising writer Julian Koenig. Hayes and his staff grew the event beyond the original idea for a teach-in to include the entire United States. Key non-environmentally focused partners played major roles. Under the leadership of labor leader Walter Reuther, for example, the United Auto Workers (UAW) was the most instrumental outside financial and operational supporter of the first Earth Day. According to Hayes: “Without the UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely flopped!” Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work.
The first Earth Day was focused on the United States. In 1990, Denis Hayes, the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international and organized events in 141 nations. On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and 120 other countries. This signing satisfied a key requirement for the entry into force of the historic draft climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Numerous communities engaged in “Earth Day Week actions,” an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces.
On Earth Day 2020, over 100 million people around the world observed the 50th anniversary in what is being referred to as the largest online mass mobilization in history.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
The date for Holocaust Remembrance Day is the 27th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-la G’vurah (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), and is referred to as Yom HaShoah. The date was chosen as it falls within the timeframe of the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April-May 1943, which lasted for 29 days.
When the actual date of Yom HaShoah falls on a Friday, the State of Israel observes Yom HaShoah on the preceding Thursday. When it falls on a Sunday, Yom HaShoah is observed on the following Monday. In the United States, Days of Remembrance runs from the Sunday before Yom HaShoah through the following Sunday. This year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked on April 14, 2026.
Easter Sunday
This is the date when Christians around the world commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The date of Easter Sunday is not fixed because it is determined by a combination of lunar cycles and the spring equinox. Specifically, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon on or after March 21. This method ensures that Easter remains in spring, but the exact Sunday varies each year. This explanation satisfies readers curious about why Easter doesn’t fall on the same date annually.
Easter Sunday is the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, three days after His crucifixion. It symbolizes hope, renewal, and victory over sin and death. This day is central to Christian faith, marking the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation.
Understanding its meaning helps believers reflect on the spiritual significance beyond the rituals and festivities
We wish you and yours a Happy Easter!
Passover
Passover is the holiday that celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It is among the most widely observed Jewish festivals — and arguably the most significant. Passover commemorates what may be the most defining event in Jewish history, the redemption from Egyptian bondage, which was itself the precursor to the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Among the unique features of the holiday is that it calls upon Jews not merely to remember the Exodus, but to relive it through the Passover seder, an extravagant feast of symbolic foods and rituals that aims to reanimate the story for every generation.
World Health Day, 2026
On World Health Day 2026, WHO unites and mobilizes the world under the theme “Together for health. Stand with science.” celebrating the power of scientific collaboration to protect the health of people, animals, plants, and the planet. The year‑long campaign spotlights both scientific achievements and the multilateral cooperation needed to turn evidence into action.
Mental Health and You in April
Perhaps you set some new goals to work on this year; maybe you will try to change a behavior or a perspective, begin a new way of taking care of yourself, stop a self-sabotaging activity or habit, or incorporate a personal insight you have had into your everyday way of living. You may have stopped drinking (or cut-down on your alcohol consumption) and joined many others who have done the same. Maybe you are limiting how much you connect with social media or have begun a new physical fitness program; started working with a trainer or a nutritionist, or committed to reading more or registered to take a course.
One of the important dates this month may be the day you deepen your spiritual life. And at Inspire, we hope it is the month you decide to invest in your mental health and emotional well-being. Our staff of dedicated professionals is here to help you to work on what is most important, you! Please read about our many services and providers on our website: Inspirebehavioralhealth.com, and then call us to schedule an appointment.
Maybe April is marked by happy times celebrating some of the events mentioned earlier, or reflective times looking at our lives and our quest for meaning and purpose. You may feel troubled and anxious by the events in the world and feeling angry or helpless to change them. We encourage you to take concrete actions for self-care which may include limiting how much news you watch, listen to or read each day. You may try to take more breaks or place a higher emphasis on improving your sleep and feeling rested. You might want to limit your intake of not only alcohol, but also caffeine and nicotine (if applicable). You might consider joining a group of some kind, or a volunteer or advocacy effort. And, remember that while reflecting and journaling by yourself can be helpful and therapeutic, isolating is harmful and almost always exacerbates most of our anxieties, worries and concerns. Keep in mind that any physical exercise including walking will be more helpful than only staying at home worrying. You may want to give some thought to joining a gym or enrolling in a Yoga class. And, at Inspire we hope this is time you invest in your mental health and emotional well-being
April means we welcome Spring with even more sunlight, much warmer weather and the blooms of flowers and new growth everywhere. There is a rich metaphor here that is simple to see from a mental health perspective; that is, wondering how will this new season of growth outside of us be reflected on the inside, that is, in our interior life? Whether we endeavor to have a deeply spiritual renewal or an existential recognition of what is happening in the world, the truth is that a major change that is easily visible in the colorful environment around us is happening. May it also be a clear sign of hope for all of us.
We offer high quality and compassionate mental health care and treatment at Inspire for people living in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, both virtually and in-person with offices in Vienna, Fairfax, Sterling, Bethesda, and Washington D. C.
You may find yourself alone and feeling lonely; but these are two very different things, or realize that you are once again in a toxic relationship and need to end it. We are in the midst of a loneliness pandemic in the United States despite being more connected to one another (electronically) than we ever have before. A 2024 American Psychiatric survey found that one in three Americans say they feel lonely at least once every week. You may be experiencing this epidemic in an acute, real and personal way. You may be grieving the loss of a love, a human or pet. If you are, please call us because help is available. Please know you have our support. are ready to help and only a phone call away.
This may be exactly the best time for you to begin talking with a therapist individually or to join a mental health group at Inspire. Or, to join or return to community-based support group like the Twelve Step Program such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Sex and Love Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous and so many others which are free and available in-person and on-line. Inspire Behavioral Health offers a Grief Group and a Men’s Education and Therapy Group. Please call us for more information.
Please let us know if you know someone who would like to begin receiving our newsletter and will be happy to send them a copy. Our experienced psychiatrists, addiction psychiatrists and psychotherapists strongly believe that we all have solutions to resolving our struggles within us. We believe enjoying our mental health is a matter of learning how to tap into these solutions. Providers at Inspire Behavioral Health help people heal, cope and manage their mental health by allowing them to focus on their strengths and choose to access their available resources. We work together to treat your symptoms while helping you to identify the underlying causes for those symptoms, and by encouraging the use of more effective techniques to cope with life’s difficulties. We try to help you in building resilience to help maintain your optimal mental health. Call us for more information and to schedule a convenient appointment at 703-592-4600. We are often able to offer clients an appointment the same day as your call or the very next day. Please visit our website:www.InspireBehavioralHealth.com.
Our hope is that we all may feel loved and appreciated, especially beginning this month. May we all try to be a little kinder to each other as well as to ourselves, and may we begin to take better care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It is time to make an investment in your mental health and emotional well-being. It is time for you to begin living your best life and learn to free yourself from the worries and problems that burden you, so please call us at Inspire to schedule an appointment to see one of our mental health providers.
Grief in April
Many people acutely grieve lost loved ones. Facing the year ahead overcome by grief is not easy but there are supportive people who share your feelings of grief. Grief can be overwhelming. These feelings are normal and predictable. Individual therapy and a grief group can help enormously. If you are grieving, please call Inspire to make an appointment to talk with a certified grief psychotherapist or to hear more about our group. We can help you learn to grieve in healthy, effective ways as you learn to accommodate the loss of a loved one, including a beloved pet. Please let us accompany you on your grief journey.
What Is Your Story? How can we help you build a life worth Living?
Remember, taking care of your mental health isn’t a luxury – it is a necessity. Inspire Behavioral Health is here to help you improve your mental health, maintain your emotional wellbeing, manage stress and address any concerns you may have.
Remember that help available if you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health or substance use issue, and now is the time to get the help you or they need. Please call us at Inspire Behavioral Health to schedule an appointment to talk with one of our clinicians.
Let Us Help
Clinicians at Inspire Behavioral Health are here to help by joining you on the journey toward mental health and recovery from addictions. May of our providers are trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or DBT, and others are trained and credentialed in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT, Rational Emotive Therapy or RET, and many others, all with one goal in mind, to help you.
Our licensed professionals can help you to identify what seem like the dialectical or opposite sides of our thinking and feeling so that you can emerge more integrated and whole. You can come to understand how feelings can inform thoughts and vice versa rather than being controlled by intense emotions, irrational feelings, intrusive thoughts, cravings or triggers. We can help you with talk therapy, testing and medication (if clinically indicated) to live a life worth living and learn to thrive in your day-to-day life. Imagine living a more meaningful and rewarding life, communicating more effectively with others and enhancing your interpersonal relationships. Let us help you build that life, become more compassionate and strengthen your empathy by calling Inspire Behavioral Health for an appointment today. You can help yourself and when you are ready, begin to support the longevity, health, and well-being of all members of our society.
How to Find a Counselor
Once you decide to get professional health for a personal struggle, whether it is about anxiety, depression, grief, a mood disorder, an addiction to a substance or a behavior that has become out of control, a relationship issue, your sexual identity or a behavioral issue, or something else, finding the right type of provider and service can be daunting. Where do you start? Inspire Behavioral Health can help because we are home to many caring professionals with a variety of specialties. We are confident you will find the provider who has the experience to addressing your particular issues and unique circumstances. Please visit our website to read our providers’ biographies, areas of expertise and their perspectives on how to help you. If you are in a rural area, you may have difficulty finding a mental health professional nearby, so remember that all of our clinicians are available to you virtually.
Men’s Group
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a compassionate type of therapy behavioral therapy that is intended to help people move toward a more mindful, aware and purposeful life. The key skills addressed in DBT include Core Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotional Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Members of this group offered at Inspire Behavioral Health led by Psychotherapist, Ed Andrews, are taught the skills necessary to help deal with life stressors. This is done in a framework that helps people understand that they are doing the best they can while recognizing that there are newer strategies that may be more effective. This group is a safe, confidential place for men who are sustaining their recovery from chemical or process addictions, coping with chronic illness, aging, managing stress, anxiety and/or depression, accommodating change in their lives, coping with loss and transition, dealing with sexual issues, and seeking support and growth. Please call us for more information about this important group.
Thank you for being part of Inspire Behavioral Health, we appreciate you and wish you a happy March!
Office Location:
Vienna: 2110 Gallows Road Suite D, Vienna, VA 22182
Fairfax: 11211 Waples Mill Road Suite 150, Fairfax, VA 22030
Washington, DC: 3000 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 137, Washington, DC 20008
Sterling: 46090 Lake Center Plaza, Suite 103-104, Sterling, VA 20165
Bethesda: 6203 Executive Boulevard, North Bethesda, MD 20852
Ed Andrews, LPC, LMFT, Newsletter Editor
703-592-4600
info@inspirebehavioralhealth.com