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RECOGNIZING THE SIGNS OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS

How do you know if you need help? During the past year the United States has suffered several tragedies, including the Oklahoma tornados, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Sandy Hook School massacre, Hurricane Sandy, and the Aurora, Colorado shooting. With each passing...

SUFFER FROM LOW SELF-ESTEEM? CONSIDER A FEMINIST THERAPIST

A very common reason clients begin psychotherapy is to improve low self-esteem. While low self-esteem isn’t in mental health providers’ diagnostic “bible” of mental disorders (called the DSM-5), self-esteem issues can wreak havoc in multiple domains of a person’s life...

BRINGING GASLIGHTING TO LIGHT, PART I

“You’re crazy…” “You're just being emotional…” Sound familiar? If so, you may have experienced gaslighting, a sneaky, difficult-to-identify form of manipulation (and in severe cases, emotional abuse). The term “gaslighting” originated from Patrick Hamilton’s 1938...

BRINGING GASLIGHTING TO LIGHT, PART II

As discussed in Part I, gaslighting is defined as “a sneaky, difficult-to-identify form of manipulation (and in severe cases, emotional abuse)” that results in the gaslightee questioning his or her own perception, experiences, and even reality. In severe cases, this...

10 SIGNS OF GASLIGHTING, PART III

My last post ("Bringing Gaslighting to Light, Part II") discussed why gaslighters gaslight, and the contextual factors that can lead to gaslighting. In this post, the focus shifts to the gaslightees. Gaslighting is defined as a form of manipulation (on the mild end),...

POST-ELECTION STRESS DISORDER IN WOMEN

“Post-Election Stress Disorder” (PESD) is not one of the mental illnesses listed in psychologists’ overly verbose diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, but it is a phenomenon that feels real nonetheless. Countless Americans are reporting feeling triggered, traumatized, on...

BRINGING GASLIGHTING TO LIGHT, PART IV

Once you understand and can recognize the warning signs and negative effects of gaslighting, you can easily disentangle yourself from it, right? Not usually. While increased awareness is necessary to address gaslighting, it is not sufficient. It can take a large...

HERE’S YOUR BRAIN ON TRAUMA

Approximately 50% of the population will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. While reactions to trauma can vary widely, and not everyone will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), trauma can change the brain in some predictable ways...

MY THERAPIST KEEPS TELLING ME TO BREATHE…. WHY?

If you’re like a lot of people who’ve been to therapy, you’ve probably heard your therapist tell you to breathe. The recommendation might have been in passing, or perhaps they even taught you some specific diaphragmatic breathing exercises to practice at home. Either...

ANXIETY: THE PERPETUAL GAME OF MENTAL WHAC-A-MOLE

Regardless of the type of anxiety you experience, you know it feels exhausting. This is for a couple of reasons. First, anxiety wears us out because it’s characterized by sympathetic nervous system arousal. This autonomic arousal, known as the “stress response” or the...

TO HEAL TRAUMA WORK WITH THE BODY, NOT JUST THE MIND!

What do you know about trauma? You probably know that when bad things happen some people get stuck there and some people don’t. You also probably know the symptoms like nightmares, feeling on edge, flashbacks, keeping others at a distance or not trusting, never being...

WHY YOUR MEMORY IS POOR, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Hint: It’s probably not Alzheimer’s. In February I posted a video on YouTube, “The link between stress and memory!”In this video I discuss why people who suffer from chronic stress tend to have memory problems. In a nutshell, when under stress, the memory center of...