Reparenting & Healing Your Inner Child
In recent years, the expression "inner child" has made its way to the general public. But it is rarely well understood. Yet it is a personal development tool commonly used in therapy. A person who is cut off from their inner child is parasitized by many toxic feelings, they may experience emotions such as shame, abandonment, guilt, feeling of helplessness without consciously knowing where these emotions are coming from.
How Self-Awareness Can Help You as a Parent
What you go through in childhood impacts how you show up as an adult today. Experiences that hang out in our brains and bodies without being fully processed become unresolved issues. Sometimes a state of avoidance and/or dissociation can be preferred; it might feel safer to ignore past experiences or maybe you have a hard time recalling that experience altogether. The tricky thing about trauma, is that even though it seems like you've disconnected from hurtful experiences, the pain is still there and may trigger unexpected or unwanted emotional responses.
Ring Theory: Supporting Individuals in Crisis
When we are in crisis, whether from grief, trauma, or illness, we need support. It can sometimes be difficult to know what kind of support we need, and it can be hard to let support in due to feelings of overwhelm, pain, and shame. Sometimes people offer us “support” that doesn’t feel quite right, and we may not be sure how to tell them or set boundaries that we need. At other times, we might want to support someone else that is in crisis but feel unsure of what to say or do that will ease suffering and not contribute to their distress. This is where Ring Theory can be helpful.
Eating Disorder Myths vs Facts
Ever since I started working with individuals who suffer from eating disorders, I have noticed that there are many myths and stigmas that people believe about eating disorders, diet culture, etc. These myths and stigmas perpetrate harmful stereotypes and ideas that harm all of us, especially individuals struggling with eating disorders and body image issues. For that reason, here are a few big myths I have noticed as a therapist working with this population that perpetuate harm.
Give the Gift of Love
While there are many parenting books, there is not one way to parent a child. Children are unique, and therefore, need to be parented in different ways. What works for you may not work for your sister or your neighbor.
How to Find the ‘Right’ Therapist
The word right is in quotation marks for a reason, right is subjective and will depend on the individual, therapist, and situation. That being said, having a good rapport, relationship, safety, and connection with your therapist is one of the most important aspects of a positive and effective therapeutic experience.
Am I a Monster: Hidden Fears and Harm OCD
Thoughts about OCD usually are accompanied by stereotypical images of someone scrubbing their hands or straightening a crooked picture frame. The truth this, OCD exists in many dimensions. Contamination and symmetry are two of the better-known dimensions where people with OCD may struggle. However, they are not the only two areas that exist. Two other dimensions where OCD can reside include harm and unacceptable thoughts. Although these areas may be lesser known, they are also very common.
Play Therapy for Adults: How Play Therapy Can Help Your Healing Journey
When people hear that I use play therapy with my clients, frequently I am asked if I ever use play therapy with adults. And the answer is yes! The questions that follow are, “Really? What is that like? And why is that helpful?” Play therapy is an approach that uses play to access emotions and beliefs in order to facilitate change and healing. Though it may look different at each life stage, play is essential for all ages. And play therapy may look different for each life stage as well.
10 Steps for Defeating Procrastination
I am a great procrastinator. I like to over-analyze whether I am actually procrastinating in different situations or whether I am being productive (this is a great procrastination behavior, by the way). Sometimes I like to think that my excuse for procrastination is that I have too many other things to do… I cannot know for sure whether this is true. Notice, when I over-analyze my procrastination, I am not actually taking steps toward doing the things that I need to get done. It is really easy to be tempted to then analyze why I know I am not doing things that need to get done…which leads me to further procrastination. Since I have experienced procrastination myself, I totally can understand if/when you choose to procrastinate AND I have specific steps you can take that WORK to resolve procrastination.
“Have You No Shame?”
Shame is a common motif in the world of psychotherapy. It is one of the most pervasive and malignant psychobiological processes that I see walk through my door as a therapist, and yet, it can be one of the most challenging and painful strategies to let go of even when we know letting go of the way we shame ourselves leads to self-love, compassion, peace, ease, etc.
10 Suggestions That May Be Helpful To Offer Support To Grieving Friends Or Family.
Grief and loss are the one thing that as humans we can not prepare for. Even harder is hearing about or being faced with a moment of grief. At times we all have faced this. Take for instance, you are in the grocery store and run into an old friend who tells you that their spouse was just diagnosed with cancer and may not live out the year. We are often unprepared for our own grief let alone a surprise attack. This is why we sometimes will fumble over our words, say something that does not make sense, or worse off just say "sorry" without out any context. Embedding of trauma arises not only from the nature of the event, but also from who is there with us before, during, and after the event happens.
Living in the Grey
You are right, they are wrong. They are right, you are wrong. What if I told you both can be right?
Derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), dialectical thinking helps us view issues from multiple perspectives and assign validity to both sides. All or nothing has become a prevalent thought in society, leaving many people feeling there is no room for in-between thoughts. You’re all in or you’re all out, it’s either this or that. But is it really?
7 Signs of Affective Codependency
Generosity, kindness, empathy…without these qualities no relational growth would be possible. The qualities and traits that often foster healthy and supportive relationships can also move into codependency when they become imbalanced in our life because any excess can quickly turn toxic. Here are some signs that you may be experiencing emotional co-dependency.
The Magic of Therapy
When it comes to improving your mental health, personal relationships, or personal development, you have a lot of options. There are self-help books, medications, pod-casts, talking to a friend or family member, and more. Skills can be learned from self-help books or podcasts. Insight can be gained from talking to a friend or family member. Finally, medication has a good chance of impacting how you feel. With so many other, and potentially cheaper, options why do people continue to choose therapy?
8 Signs You Might Need Therapy:
Rachel Wininger, LCSW, writes about how we can tell it is time to seek therapy.
Silent Drowning: When High Functioning People Struggle
Sarah Hunter, LCSW, writes about the signs someone may be struggling.
Thinking Errors - How Thoughts Can Be Unhelpful
Dausha Chriss, MSW Intern, writes about thinking errors.
