Staying Connected When You Disagree: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Navigating Political Differences with Loved Ones
In today’s polarized world, it can feel especially painful when the people we love hold political beliefs that contradict our values—especially when those beliefs impact our identity, rights, or lived experience. Whether it’s a parent who dismisses LGBTQ+ rights, a...
Rewriting the Script: Changing the Song and Scenery of Our Now
Part I: As I listen to Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” on a loop, I mentally counter the lyrics with the fantasy that the sun will just fall from the sky. Can’t it do me the courtesy of burning out and shrouding me in complete darkness at long last? All...
Understanding the Spectrum of Spiritual Trauma
As a complex trauma clinician, survivor, and interfaith minister, I’ve come to understand that true recovery is incomplete without addressing the wounds of spiritual trauma. By spiritual trauma, I refer to the profound psychological, emotional, and existential wounds...
Abuse Happens – Even During the Holidays
It is almost Christmas. A season for families to get together and spend quality time catching up on the year that has been. Most families have relatives who travel home from out of the State or even from other countries. We live in a fast-paced world where the...
The Split-Second Sense of Danger
There are certain traits that trauma survivors downplay because they sound far-fetched to those who have never lived inside chronic unpredictability. One of the most common is the ability to sense danger before any visible cue appears. Not fear, not a hunch, but a...
The Incredible Perspective of Trauma Survivors
What perspective are you viewing life through today? This is a discussion point I often have with my clients—and one I encourage you to sit with as you read. As a therapist who specializes in working with individuals who have experienced complex trauma, I am...
When Christmas Hurts: Why the Holidays Trigger Trauma
When Christmas Hurts: Why the Holidays Trigger Trauma — and How Survivors Can Find Peace I had made it all the way from Europe to the United States, landing at JFK International Airport in New York City with a newborn baby in tow. I was a wreck. My husband, stationed...
When Healing Hits Hard: CPTSD Truths
The Whiplash of Healing (And Why It Still Catches Me Off Guard) If you’ve read my blog for more than five minutes, you already know I’ve been on this healing ride for a long while. Long enough to have collected a whole scrapbook of “Oh wow, I finally get it” moments…...