Part of the experience of a traumatic event is a disconnect between the brain and the body. This disconnect or dissociation can become established as a pattern that continues to happen occasionally in response to triggers long after that person has survived the trauma.
However, it’s really important to become connected to your body and its
Despite the fact that we’ve come a long way in our culture regarding the de-stigmatization of therapy, it still seems as if reaching out and asking for professional help is the last option for millions of people.
There’s a list of strategies that come before therapy:
I am so tired of people lecturing about trust. About how it is the basis of relationships and what ‘3 things’ lead to trust. I’m tired of it because it is all too simplistic. I am tired of it because they try to make it sound neat and clean and easy. Something you can accomplish
People seek therapy to get help making an important personal change, by their choice or urged by loved ones.
Maybe you are being proactive and preparing for a happy event such as a wedding or a new baby, and you want to get off to a strong start.
Maybe you are struggling with a relationship, a diagnosis,
For many people raised in abusive, neglectful, or dysfunctional families, the message “you made your bed, now lie in it” is a common life philosophy taught and promoted throughout childhood. It’s a message typically passed down from one generation to the next, particularly when there was prior victimization or helplessness.
This mindset gets normalized
At least once a week I see posts on the internet about the importance of being kind to yourself, loving yourself, or self-care.
The message is great and an important one. Taking care of ourselves is incredibly important. The problem is, sometimes being kind to ourselves is a lot easier said than done.
When someone
The quieter moments of healing can be oddly disconcerting. Healing in general isn’t quiet: maybe loud is the wrong word, but intense would be accurate.
The feelings that go with healing from trauma loom large. The grief, sadness, sorrow, rage, anger, terror. These feelings take over your mind and your life. I have often compared them
In the last few weeks I lost track of how many times different clients uttered the phrase, “I must be crazy” as a way to make sense out of their symptoms or struggles.
It’s so poignantly common for trauma survivors to conclude that something is inherently wrong with them. Personal flaws and shortcomings become the explanation
Do you ever feel nagging self-doubt or insecurity that you know is irrational, yet can’t seem to turn off?
Often it is because we are still carrying around what I call a negative embodied belief that has inadvertently merged into our sense of self.
For example, John was a 48-year-old man who was frustrated by an inexplicable
To be completely transparent this is not the easiest subject for me to write about. I am pushing beyond my edge of comfort, as I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not alone; that what I am about to share about my story, will resonate with other Rockstars who have survived a
