Healing Deep Wounds with Faith and Evidence-Based Care What Is Complex Trauma? Complex trauma—often referred to in clinical settings as Complex PTSD—develops from prolonged or repeated exposure to emotionally painful or unsafe experiences, often in early life. Unlike single-incident trauma, complex trauma is relational. It can stem from neglect, chronic stress, abandonment, or unstable caregiving. […]
Maya sat quietly on the couch in her therapist’s office, her shoulders slightly slumped and her eyes tired.- “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said softly. “Some days I just feel… exhausted. Like everything is too much. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just shut down.” Her therapist nodded gently.-“Nothing […]
Setting boundaries with a family member who struggles with addiction can be frightening, stressful, and often does not end up with positive results because people set boundaries when they are upset, emotional and have “had enough”. As an Addiction Therapist who, over the past 30+ years, has worked with people affected by addiction (whether it’s […]
When you love someone struggling with addiction (for example, drugs, alcohol, food, porn, gambling), your world often shrinks until it revolves entirely around their choices, their safety, and their moods. You may find yourself trapped in a cycle of “saving” and “rescuing” them, only to watch the same patterns repeat. The hard truth that many […]
What Do Couples Argue About? www.bastiontherapy.com You may have wondered what other couples argue about. And if you reflect on your own arguments, you may have wondered how your arguments relate to how other couples argue and whether couples therapy might be helpful. First, let’s recognize that disagreements among couples is normal, but that conflict […]
In psychotherapy and couples therapy at Bastion Therapy, we can explore tools that can help with couples conflict and conflict in general. www.bastiontherapy.com Have you ever wondered if the way you and your partner communicate during conflict might not be ideal? One potential tool is changing your opening statement in a conflict discussion. In a […]
A lot of people come into therapy thinking something in them is wrong. It’s a place I’ve sat in myself. It’s not always spoken so directly… Often, it sounds more like: “I don’t know why I react like this.” “I understand it… but I still can’t change it.” “I don’t understand why I keep […]
Before working with couples, I always start with one individual session with each partner. These sessions are 50-minutes long, and they are much like a regular initial individual psychotherapy session. While confidential, I explain that there are no secrets held within the individual sessions away from their partner. That means that anything discussed in the […]
When there’s addiction in a family, most loved ones eventually arrive at the same painful place:Nothing seems to be working. They’ve tried being supportive. They’ve tried being patient. They’ve tried pleading, helping, rescuing, fixing, and worrying themselves sick. And yet the addiction continues. The reason that nothing seems to be working is often something families […]
Complex trauma and narcissistic abuse leave deep emotional wounds that often feel impossible to heal. Traditional talk therapies sometimes fall short in addressing the intense and layered effects of these experiences. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has emerged as a leading approach in trauma healing, offering hope and tangible progress for many survivors. […]
