Facing Codependency and Depression

Codependency is an emotional disorder that causes people to ignore their own needs while constantly fulfilling the needs of others. Someone struggling with codependence may forfeit his or her own well-being and values in the pursuit of assisting someone else. It’s not surprising that this disorder would often coexist alongside… Read More

Major Depression Rates Surge

Major depression cases in America are climbing rapidly, according to a study of medical claims by the health insurance group, Blue Cross Blue Shield. Read More

Confessions of a (Mostly) Reformed Perfectionist

By: Tracy Harder, MSC, LAC, Survivors Workshop Facilitator Do you remember the one question you missed on that fourth-grade science test that kept you from scoring 100 percent? Or the word you missed in every spelling bee you were in? I do. In fact, I am very clear about the… Read More

Find Your Way Through the Pain of Depression

Lori was in a deep, dark depression after her marriage of 27 years ended. She was filled with fear and was experiencing suicidal tendencies. The Meadows helped her learn to sit with her pain, process it, and find hope for the next chapter of her life. Learning how to accept… Read More

The Connection between Your Fuel and Your Mental Health

When you think of managing your mental health, what comes to mind? Maybe you meditate or take yoga, perhaps you participate in group activities to stay connected to others, or maybe you focus on getting enough sleep. Do you ever think of the role food plays in all of… Read More

Frozen Tears: Processing Hidden Losses

Grief is normal, and it is a direct result of attachment and love. There is really no one-size-fits-all approach to grief. Still, normal grief tends to follow a pattern, whereas complicated or what psychologists refer to as disenfranchised losses can go underground and truthfully never get processed at all. This is when grief becomes what is referred to as complicated and can block our enjoyment of life and even undermine our ability to be intimate. Read More

Finding Resiliency in Vulnerability: Shifting Perspectives on Genes and Environment

Clients frequently ask me if their mental and emotional struggles are a result of their genes or their environment. My answer is always the same – “yes”. Of course, my simplistic response refers to the interaction between genes and the environment that characterizes nearly all mental health conditions, but it… Read More

How PTSD Treatment Cured my Back Pain

I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in my early twenties. Why were my young bones already losing tissue? Like me at the time, women who struggle with anorexia nervosa are at a higher risk of developing the disease. I also believe that my eating disorder may have contributed to my sluggish… Read More

Building Strength and Resilience In the Face of Life’s Challenges

Resilient qualities are not only what we’re born with but also the strengths that we build through encountering life’s challenges and developing the personal and interpersonal skills to meet them. It is one of life’s paradoxes that the worst circumstances can bring the best out of us. According to the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) studies performed by Robert Anda (2006) and his team at Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, we will all experience four or more serious life stressors that may be traumatizing, and according to positive psychology research, most of us will grow from them. Read More

Why We Grieve and the Importance of Mourning Loss

By Tian Dayton, Ph.D. Senior Fellow at The Meadows Grief is a life issue that strikes at the very heart of being human, while we live in a body, pair bond, and procreate we will love and we will lose. The effect of loss can be shocking and dis-equilibrating and… Read More