Helene Zupanc

About Helene Zupanc

We’re Helene Zupanc and Beth Valdez—two Licensed Professional Counselors, residing in the beautiful Arizona desert, and co-authors of Sticky Note Mantras: The Art and Science of Choosing Your Thoughts—a playful, heartfelt, and science-backed self-help book that helps people stop living on autopilot and start rewiring their brains, one sticky note at a time.
Let’s be real: we didn’t write this book from some zen mountaintop of perfect mental health. Between the two of us, we’ve wrestled with OCD, ADHD, and enough “what if?” spirals to power a small city. But instead of letting our minds run the show, we turned to something simple—but powerful—mantras. These bite-sized cognitive behavioral tools helped us interrupt unhelpful thought loops and build healthier mental habits. We continue to use them every day to keep a positive mindset. Some of our favorite mantras are Focus on the Good, It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect, and You Can Do Hard Things. And yes, we literally stick them all over our homes (and cars, and purses…).
Drawing on more than twenty years of collaboration and combined clinical experience, Sticky Note Mantras weaves together authentic personal stories—some embarrassing, some laugh-out-loud, all real—with practical, research-backed strategies. Rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy and neuroscience, each chapter delivers empowering mantras and hands-on exercises designed to build emotional resilience and enhance mental well-being.
From gratitude and self-compassion to determination, breathwork, and even humor (yes, we believe laughing counts as self-care!), we cover the tools people actually need to navigate the ups, downs, and loop-de-loops of modern life.
We’d love to send you a digital or hard copy of Sticky Note Mantras—just let us know your preference! We’d also be thrilled to connect, answer questions, or chat more about how this book came to be (spoiler: lots of sticky notes and even more coffee).