Kortney Yasenka, LCMHC Therapist. Author. Speaker
A practical approach to finding balance, navigating life's challenges, and living with greater meaning and joy.
A Different Way to Live Better
STOICISM
Focus on what you can control.
Build resilience, change your perspective, respond rather than react, and direct your energy toward what truly matters.
PSYCHOLOGY
Understand yourself.
Use evidence-informed psychological principles to better understand your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, relationships, and patterns.
LAGOM
LAGOM
Not too much. Not too little. Just enough.
Find greater balance, appreciate simple moments, strengthen connection, and recognize when enough really is enough.
Meet Kortney
I'm Kortney Yasenka, a licensed clinical mental health counselor, author, speaker, and lifelong student of what helps people live well.
After more than 20 years working in mental health, I've learned that living well isn't simply about reducing stress or managing difficult emotions. It's about understanding what matters, making thoughtful choices, and finding joy in the life you're living.
Throughout my career, I've focused on resilience, emotional well-being, relationships, and helping people make meaningful changes in their lives.
My Swedish heritage introduced me to a way of living that values balance, simplicity, connection, nature, and lagom, the idea of not too much, not too little, but just enough. Stoic philosophy became another important influence, shaping how I approach life's challenges, uncertainty, and the choices we make each day.
The Stoic Swedish Way brings these three perspectives together: modern psychology to better understand ourselves, Stoicism to focus on what we can control, and Swedish living to find balance, appreciate life's simple pleasures, and recognize when enough is enough.
Books for Living Well
Swedish Lagom
Discover how the Swedish philosophy of Lagom can help you create greater balance, simplicity, connection, and contentment.
Swedish Christmas
Experience a calmer, more meaningful approach to the holidays through Swedish traditions centered on connection, simplicity, gratitude, and presence.
Stoic Series
Stoic Series
Practical Stoic wisdom for building resilience, gaining perspective, strengthening discipline, and navigating everyday life with greater purpose and clarity.
The Stoic Swedish Way for Everyday Life
Happiness & Contentment
Happiness & Contentment
Happiness & Contentment
Discover the joy of enough.
Happiness isn’t always found in having or doing more. Slow down, appreciate what you already have, and make more room for the simple things that bring genuine joy.
Stress & Anxiety
Happiness & Contentment
Happiness & Contentment
Find calm in what you can control.
Spend less energy worrying about what you can’t change and more on what you can do right now. Build perspective, manage stress, and feel more grounded when life feels overwhelming.
Relationships
Happiness & Contentment
Work & Leadership
Build strong meaningful relationships.
The Stoic Swedish Way emphasizes meaningful connection, healthy communication, and being present. Strengthen relationships through patience, understanding, healthy boundaries, and greater awareness of what you can and cannot control.
Work & Leadership
Parenting & Family
Work & Leadership
Manage pressure. Prevent burnout. Strengthen your culture.
Navigate challenges with greater perspective, respond more effectively under pressure, and develop sustainable habits that support well-being. Lead with purpose and consistency while contributing to a stronger, more supportive workplace culture.
Everyday Life
Parenting & Family
Parenting & Family
Live well.
A meaningful life is built in ordinary moments. Be intentional with your time and energy, appreciate what’s in front of you, and create more space for balance, gratitude, and joy.
Parenting & Family
Parenting & Family
Parenting & Family
Make time for what matters most.
Slow down, be together, and appreciate the everyday moments that strengthen family bonds. Meaningful connection is often found in simply sharing time, traditions, laughter, and life together.
Embrace the Swedish Life to Find Joy, Happiness, and Age Better
In this enlightening episode, host Barbara Hannah Grufferman sits down with author Kortney Yasenka to explore the transformative Swedish philosophy of "Lagom" (pronounced LAH-gom). Together they unpack how this concept of "not too much, not too little, but just right" can revolutionize our approach to life's challenges, particularly during midlife transitions. Kortney shares insights from her book, “Swedish Lagom: Finding Joy in Just Enough”, co-written with her Swedish mother, revealing how these ancient principles offer surprising solutions to modern problems from digital overwhelm to family dynamics.
Stoicism CBT: Bringing Ancient Wisdom to Modern Therapy
This discussion highlights Stoicism’s relevance to mental health, trauma recovery, and everyday challenges, emphasizing personal empowerment through focusing on controllable aspects of life and cultivating virtues. Practical strategies like the Stoic pause and negative visualization provide actionable methods to integrate Stoic principles. The dialogue also underscores the importance of self-reflection and ethical living as foundations for resilience and well-being. Through accessible resources and relatable examples, Stoicism emerges as a valuable framework for navigating modern life’s complexities with wisdom and grace.