Religious beliefs, in some way or another, have touched most of our lives, whether we are deeply involved in a religious institution or have simply referred to God during the pledge of allegiance. Spirituality and religious practices can be big parts of our lives and mostly offer a safe, secure place to land when we... Continue Reading →
Have you ever felt mixed emotions about leaving a situation or a person? If so, you are not alone; it makes sense to feel this way because human beings are complex and nuanced. Although we may not always have the emotional bandwidth to facilitate all emotions at once, we can experience them. Because of the... Continue Reading →
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), while concerning, is a commonly misunderstood behavior. While it does involve intentional harm to oneself, it does not necessarily mean the act was meant to be life-ending. It can be difficult for some to understand why someone would intentionally want to cause pain to themselves. But once we can empathize how deeply... Continue Reading →
The most known definition of ambivalence is having concurrent and contradictory attitudes or feelings toward an object, person, or action. People may have both positive and negative feelings, which cause them to feel stuck or confused. Many people may view themselves as someone who “sees all sides” of situations. There is nothing inherently negative about... Continue Reading →
Social workers, counselors, and educators are just some of the many individuals who spend their careers in service to others. By nature of their work, many helping professionals are exposed to painful, difficult stories and experiences from the people they serve. Secondary trauma has become an “occupational hazard” among helping professionals that is leading to... Continue Reading →
Stories: We share them, we remember them, and we hold onto them. We use them as connection points, or as a way to process information. We recall details and reminisce; maybe we even add new parts to a story each time we tell it. When we think of the stories we tell, we probably think... Continue Reading →
When we care for someone we want to help them because that may be the way we can show them we care about them. When we care for someone so much we sometimes enable them and we think we are helping them. It's normal to want to help anyone, but it's not OK to enable... Continue Reading →
Truly healing from something requires time. Whenever we have to make hard decisions, whenever we need to quit something, we must remember that there is no easy way to do hard things. It can be hard at times to remember or even try to accept that life can be hard at times, so we may... Continue Reading →
Our brain is shaped in three primary ways: temperament (inborn basic personality traits), genetics, and experience. Experiences of trauma, especially chronic childhood trauma, impacts how the brain develops and responds to threat in a number of ways. Our brain’s primary job is survival, and a brain that’s been through trauma is hypersensitive to threat. When... Continue Reading →
