There are five stages in the family life cycle and the stage of parenting is considered the most stressful. This is the time in which divorce rates are at their highest, sex is at its lowest and couples feel the most disconnected. Here are some ideas to help maintain your relationship during this hectic time.

We might be only a year or two away from legalizing psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, for therapeutic use in the United States. Let’s talk about what that might look like for future trauma treatment.

With the well-earned buzz around this evidence-based approach to healing trauma, there are also plenty of misunderstandings. Let’s take a look at some common myths so that you are prepared to advocate for yourself and make decisions about your mental healthcare. 

When I ask myself: “What do all human beings have in common?” I always come to the same conclusion: we all have a wounded child that lives within us. That child may have been wounded by different systems and in different ways, but in the end, even if our identities are filled with privilege, we all have been injured, in one way or another in our early relational dynamics and that is part of being human.

What is a situationship, you ask? A situationship “is often discussed as being similar to a friends-with-benefits relationship, which usually involves sexual activity without a commitment to be exclusive to each other. The definition further explains that “a situationship is often described as a relationship that is more than friendship but less than a committed relationship.” So what are we to do if we find ourselves in one of these? Below are some ideas!

We’re in our shrooms era. That’s right. I said it. Psilocybin is having a glow-up in the psychotherapeutic community, and we are excited about what that means for future trauma treatments.

Throughout my practice as a somatic trauma therapist, I see patients whose painful experiences muted their connection to the body. For trauma survivors, focusing on their body sensations - even if only for a brief second - can become extremely overwhelming because it brings them back to their experiences of being neglected, abandoned, or abused.  Let’s explore the concept of somatic awareness and to help trauma survivors understand why this practice holds the key to understanding emotions, traumas, and overall well-being.   

You may be feeling vulnerable, hopeful, anxious, excited, uncertain, fearful, or any combination of emotions as you await your first session. Questions like what to expect during a 90-minute intake, what does a regular 45-minute session look/feel like, or how to plan/prepare for therapy in general may be on your mind (or search history). This is completely normal! Megan Bakva, ASW talks about her approach to trauma therapy.

Have you ever found yourself scrolling on your phone for hours and then not being able to remember what you watched? Or maybe you feel overwhelmed all the time. Or numb. Does this sound familiar? Let’s talk about the freeze response and dissociation 101.

If this time of the year brings up anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or loneliness for you, your body can be at the center of it. For many people, the memories that arise are filled with joy and happiness, for others  - survivors of childhood trauma - the body remembers this season with complex emotions.

There are a lot of things happening during the holiday season. Because the holidays are usually very nostalgic for people, it’s almost like our brains are primed to remember all our childhood trauma. So how can we survive the holidays with our romantic relationship intact? JHere are some ideas that might help.

Calendar filling up with events? Booking those tickets back to your hometown? A familiar sense of anxiety creeping in? You’re not alone. As the lights and holiday spirit go up around town, many of us are faced with less-than-festive feelings. 

If you’ve ever experienced a medical trauma, a traumatic experience related to the medical setting, you may have noticed some unexpected effects on your relationships. Maybe it’s more challenging than usual to interact with the people in your life and you’re wondering why. 

Research suggests that trauma, particularly in early childhood, can increase the risk the developing bulimia, anorexia, and binge-eating disorders.* This is useful information, not only in treating disordered eating, but also because it can help us to understand more about how trauma impacts a person’s development and healing process.

In the medical setting, the goal is to do no harm and bring healing, but it is rarely this simple. Patients discover they cannot control their circumstances and become vulnerable to the limits of their bodies and the medical expertise of others. Unfortunately, it can be extremely stressful, sometimes to a detrimental degree, to be a patient undergoing medical care.

You know how to read other people and assess for danger (read: rejection) better than you know yourself. That’s where that whole confusing-their-needs-for-yours thing gets so hard to tease apart: fawning can feel like knowing exactly what someone wants and being in alignment with that and that alone. But fawning is actually knowing how to protect yourself (most of the time) from being ignored, unaccepted, or pushed to the side by catering to the potential abandonment-risk-of-a-person in front of you.

 EMDR was developed as an evidence-based treatment for trauma that has gone unprocessed. You can read more about the basics of EMDR here. When it comes to religious trauma, EMDR can offer meaningful relief after years of triggers, overwhelm, and a dysregulated nervous system. 

Most people try to please others at some point. It’s a pretty human thing to do. But they’re usually doing it from a place of being in touch with their own needs, emotions, and sense of self-worth that transcends whatever they can do for another person. So what happens when someone isn’t?

When someone is in an abusive relationship, they might stay and try to “fawn” their abuser, making sure their meal is cooked by the time they get home, their favorite beer is fully stocked in the fridge, and their kids are put to sleep. They “fawn” so that their abuser doesn’t explode. It’s a protective mechanism to prevent their abuser from causing more damage.

Let’s say you’ve got a good handle on a couple of triggers you have. You thought you knew what put you in “The Bad Place,” but now you’ve got a couple more things that you’re aware of. Now you can recognize when you’re feeling terrible, and maybe even how you’re feeling, in general, a good amount of the time. That’s great! Let’s talk about actually *doing* all those things on that list.