The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Adult Sexuality

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has the potential to transform the trajectory of your life in a multitude of ways. While the effects of childhood sexual abuse are largely individualized and can manifest at different points throughout your lifespan, commonly reported symptoms and long-term effects include dissociation, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, relationship difficulties, and addictive or compulsive patterns of behavior. Read More

COVID’s Impact on Mental Health Issues in Children and Adolescents

By Wesley Gallagher The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of nearly everyone in the world over the last year and a half. While it has impacted people differently, no corner of the world was immune to the coronavirus and the implications of a worldwide epidemic. Thankfully, we are seeing… Read More

Maintaining Your Emotional Immunity During COVID-19: How to Create a Sense of Calm in Uncertain Times

Read some tips that will help you to manage anxiety and actively create some balance and calm throughout this challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

Why Loving What You Have Can Feel Scary for Those Who’ve Had Adverse Childhood Experiences

To ring in the New Year, I could quote statistics of how certain feelings benefit your cholesterol levels and pump up your immune system and extend your life by 2.3 years. We could discuss that science has proven that appreciation begets happiness and happiness is healthy. But you’ve already heard… Read More

Trauma’s Rising Public Profile

By Wesley Gallagher Trauma—it’s a big word with many connotations. Terms like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have entered the American lexicon, tied to news of terrorist attacks or stories of combat soldiers. But trauma is something that is experienced in big and small ways by people in all… Read More

The Many Masks of Unresolved Grief

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding and could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which… Read More

Men’s Trauma Affects Their Recovery and Relationships

Mental health professionals can improve treatment through trauma-centered and gender-responsive approaches. When men seek treatment for addiction, depression, and mental health disorders the outcomes are often quite positive. However, there is still room for improvement, since the risk for relapse after treatment is still somewhat high. Dan Griffin, an American sociologist who has studied gender and recovery and trained at Hazelden as a chemical dependency counselor, thinks that the men would be more likely to maintain recovery if treatment programs take a more trauma-centered and gender-specific approach. Read More

The Connection Between Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and PTSD

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a significant public health problem in individuals deployed to war. PTSD is a mental health condition linked to many other issues, including anger, insomnia, substance abuse, and chronic depression. Particularly, PTSD is linked to people who are deployed to war. Research shows that… Read More

Experiential Therapy for Trauma Treatment

By Tian Dayton, Ph.D. Understanding trauma requires us to feel the stories of our lives to heal them. Traumatic recovery is all about not feeling. Even asking someone about their trauma can be befuddling, if not disturbing, for the client who has learned to put their head down, turn off… Read More

Understanding and Coping with Grief and Loss

Grief and loss are unavoidable. They are a natural part of the human condition. No one can escape experiencing several forms of loss throughout their lives. However, in the American culture, many people attempt to avoid the feelings associated with grief and loss by denying the impact it can… Read More