Trauma can have a variety of impacts on survivors, and each is often intense in its own way. One such impact traumatic experiences can have is called a “trauma bond.” Trauma bonding is a strong connection that occurs between victims/survivors and perpetrators of trauma or abuse. These bonds are complex…
Q: Marriage advice needed My marriage of over 20 years is in deep trouble. How do you reconnect with someone you have ZERO intimacy with or seem to have no meaningful relationship with? We go through day-to-day life like we are roommates. We rarely have difficult conversations about our relationship….
Thriveworks recently commissioned a study investigating whether a potential romantic partner’s therapy status would impact the likelihood of a respondent pursuing a relationship with them. According to the results, some Americans are much more likely to enter into a relationship with someone who has attended therapy, seeing it as a…
Kids depend on their parents in many senses, but especially emotionally. However, sometimes parents can seek a level of emotional support from their child that should be pursued and fulfilled in an adult relationship. This dynamic is called “emotional incest,” with the child taking on an inappropriate level of emotional…
Navigating commitment issues in a relationship — sometimes referred to as gamophobia — can be challenging, and recognizing the signs is the first step toward resolving them. The root causes of these issues can vary, but often, they stem from a fear of vulnerability, fear of abandonment, lack of trust,…
Q: Someone who lives with me has their gf over. The guy and his gf go off with someone I don’t know. Each time they come back, she starts flailing around and making weird noises and asking invisible people to help her. She claims it’s just a panic attack. So…
Imagine suffering a terrible loss and not having it be understood by hardly anyone. Sounds pretty awful, no? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what disenfranchised grief is—a profound and often overlooked emotional pain experienced by individuals following a significant loss that society does not fully acknowledge or validate. Disenfranchised grief can have…
Self-care refers to a routine of behaviors a person performs, on their own with the intention to maintain and improve their own health. Because self-care is inherently unique to a person, it is difficult to say what will work for each. For that reason, I have delineated some of the…
When we think of grief, often the first thoughts that come to mind are of the emotional waves that come crashing down. Feelings of powerlessness, disbelief—and even shock. These powerful and dysphoric emotions are not just limited to their impact on the mind. In fact, researchers have long known that…
Sometimes, the world can feel like too much to deal with. Other times, it can feel like people might be the source of our issues. Coexisting with other people around us isn’t always easy, often due to our differences, or even because their shared traits might remind you of things…
Most of us aren’t exactly thrilled about having to give a presentation to our entire company. We might feel slightly awkward having to make small talk with a stranger. Perhaps we get the jitters before a blind date. But we’ll still complete that presentation, engage in chit-chat, and go out…
Journaling is a powerful tool. It serves as an outlet, allowing us to express our emotions and process our thoughts without fear of judgment — there is no need or temptation to censor ourselves when we’re writing to and for nobody but ourselves. What a gift. And yet, for some,…
