What That Really Means—and How Couples Therapy Can Help Life gets busy. Between raising kids, working long hours, and managing daily tasks, it’s easy for romantic connection to take a back seat. Many couples come to therapy saying: “We’re not really fighting… we just feel more like roommates than partners.” If this resonates with you, […]
Trapped in Survival and Silence You know, I spent so much of my life stuck in survival mode, always afraid, always trying to keep the peace around men’s anger and criticism. Growing up, it was like walking on eggshells, scared I’d get screamed at or berated for any little thing, like I could never just […]
A Childhood Shaped by Fear Growing up, I navigated a world where intense emotions, like my dad’s unpredictable anger, taught me to stay quiet and keep the peace. My nervous system adapted, wiring me to be cautious, always sensing the mood around me to feel safe. That early pattern carried into adulthood, where I found […]
In the intricate web of mental health, the link between depression and disordered eating has emerged as a significant concern for mental health professionals and individuals alike. Both conditions, deeply emotional and psychological in nature, can intertwine, exacerbating each other and creating a cycle that’s hard to break. Unpacking this complex relationship is crucial for […]
Letting go of a narcissist you love hurts like hell. Love is how you navigate life, how you feel your way through the world. But if you were wired to love people who hurt you—people who demanded you sacrifice yourself, manage their emotions, and abandon your own needs while being treated in ways you didn’t […]
It is common to feel nervous or stressed in sports. However, when nervousness intensifies beyond a window of tolerance to heightened anxiety, athletic performance can decline. Anxiety An anxiety disorder requires a clinical diagnosis and is different from ordinary feelings of nervousness. Symptoms are often defined as “excessive” and “persistent”. Anxiety disorders often consist of […]
In a world that’s always pushing us to perform, to do, to measure up, it’s so easy to lose ourselves. When you add narcissistic abuse—whether from parents, partners, or family—it’s like a wrecking ball to your freedom. You’re told your feelings don’t matter, your ideas aren’t valid, and your autonomy? Forget about it. That kind […]
Anger, excitement, sadness, and frustration are all normal emotions in childhood. But school-aged children don’t instinctively know how to manage these big feelings. Emotion regulation—the ability to monitor, evaluate, and modify emotional reactions—is a crucial skill they must learn from the adults around them. As art therapists, caregivers, and educators, we play a critical […]
People new to therapy commonly worry about how long treatment will take to be helpful–or if it will ever be helpful. If you are starting therapy due to feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope, of course you would want therapy to help as soon as possible. Even if you know therapy takes some time, it […]
Let him go. Die to the self and hurt like hell once. Endure his narcissism, and it’s death by a thousand cuts, hurting forever. Both paths sting, but which one do you choose? I’ve been there, and I can tell you—the path of no longer tolerating narcissistic abuse is the one that heals your health […]
