Trauma-Informed Therapy is a therapeutic framework that prioritizes understanding the effects of trauma on individuals and incorporates this understanding into the therapeutic process.

I was inspired to write this as I often encounter the question, “How does therapy work?” which I believe should always be asked, even though the answer is both elusive and varies greatly among therapists. This gives it a flexibility that can confound clients and beginning therapists alike.

I’ve been wanting to write about fear for a long time but was – perhaps not ironically – afraid of how to put thoughts into words. . And then in publishing, facing the fear that some of my own existential thoughts might not align with those who are reading.

Because in a nutshell, the more we strive for something that is unattainable (assuming the cliché is true), or far out of reach (if the cliché isn’t quite true), the more we allow room for feelings of disappointment to emerge.

I specifically chose the title of that piece, “Presence, as Opposed to Perfection, Within,” because I knew at the time that I wanted to write a second part. I knew that I wanted to provide commentary on the ways the perfectionist voice can impact how we exist among the relationships that encompass our worlds.

Psychotherapists tend to talk a lot about feelings. We do have the tendency in psychotherapy to focus on more negative emotions, then processing and making sense of them, all the while trying to work through them.

Have you ever — or often — said to yourself, “wow, I can’t do anything right”? You would definitely not be alone. Instead, I might say that you are normal and have a strong inner critic.

I wanted to outline my working knowledge of the “inner critic,” , everyone has one, but not everyone is consumed by his or her inner critic. I am not one of those “extremely lucky” few, and I was inspired to write this post because of my own inner critic.

It was much easier when I didn’t have to know that anyone read my blog because I told myself, “I just have to publish something, that’s the goal.” After a relatively short period of trial and error – the first few posts were a bit tricky – I focused on the process (see my very first blog post) and not the product (or outcome), and in retrospect I think it worked out well.

I had to include a Carly Rae Jepsen song title in my blog. I’ve apologized in advance, now we can move on… And when I say “cut to the feeling,” I also like to visualize us moving towards the feeling, maybe even leaning into it.

Shame is a powerful experience, and can lead to seemingly unexplainable behaviors because it is often buried deeply under a lot of defenses. Even in my work with clients, it can take a long time to peel back the layers and see that underneath, shame is what we have to grapple with.

As a child, were you encouraged or even allowed to express anger, fear and other natural emotions? Despite what you may have learned, feelings are neutral with no positive or negative values attached.

In an online class Sunday morning I found myself with the privilege of being paired up to focus with a Chinese man, living in Wuhan at the time of the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Our previous class with this same group was around a month ago...

I'm thinking that during a time like this, sharing bits of my experience would be a better way to connect with you. I'd try to process my own, and hope that through connecting to my process, it can help you better understand yours.