“All of Us Strangers” is one of my all-time favorite movies. I certainly won’t give away any plot details here, but there is one thing I want to say about it: the film is an ode to recognition. The recognition that many of us missed out on from our parents as children. Recognition of our […]
“I feel invisible.” “I feel worthless.” “I feel a deep sadness.” Mental pain is the driving force behind the survival system. This means that pain, among other things, triggers the entire system. “When we feel emotional pain, we experience rejection or loss.” And these emotions send a signal to our brains: “This situation isn’t healthy—do […]
It was a beautiful, sunny morning, but I didn’t notice. I was in full resistance mode, because I was about to go to group therapy for the first time. A form of therapy I’d hated from the very first moment I heard about it. Talking about your problems with a bunch of other lost souls? […]
When your life—whether temporarily or not—feels really tough, empty, or lonely, and you’re lacking energy, you can sometimes feel quite down or depressed. Or maybe you recognize that you’re okay and satisfied with your life, but that you’re not really happy. Things might be going pretty well in some areas, but that one pattern or […]
“Standing in line at the Appie behind someone who stinks really traumatizes me, you know, Dad!” I recently heard a father tell this story about his teenage daughter, and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. This Gen Z’er has a pretty good life, I thought. WHAT IS TRAUMA? Although we use the word “trauma” […]
