Meeting the Bear: What Nervous-System Healing Looks Like in Real Time
I am a mountain climber at heart, and I live in California, home to the Sierra Nevadas. I’ve spent much of my life moving through the backcountry with a pack on my shoulders. Over time, I learned to bring only what truly matters for survival. The lack of comforts...
How to Set Therapy Up for Success — Especially for Trauma Survivors: 5 Ways to Create a Strong Foundation for Healing
Therapy can be life-changing — especially when it’s set up with intention, structure, and the right support. For trauma survivors in particular, creating the right conditions for healing is essential. Recently, we shared how therapy works. Now let’s explore how to...
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...