The Long-Term Impact of Deep Stress on Children

Everyone understands stress. We work too hard, play too hard, and get little to no sleep. We’ve got too many balls in the air and ignore self-care, resulting in deep stress. As a result, everything suffers—our mood, health, and work. Minor problems feel more significant, and our reactions to anything… Read More

The Trauma Timeline: A Journaling Exercise for Understanding the Impact of Relational Trauma

“The essence of psychological trauma is the loss of faith that there is order and continuity in life. Trauma occurs when one loses the sense of having a safe place to retreat within or outside of oneself to deal with frightening emotions or experiences.”… Read More

From Learned Helplessness to Learned Optimism

Tian Dayton, Ph.D., TEPTrauma can leave us feeling helpless in the face of our own lives, our own days, our own relationships. “Learned helplessness,” a term coined by psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman, describes an aspect of trauma akin to giving up. We learn the negative lesson that no matter what we do, we cannot seem to make a difference in the lives of those we love and we can generalize that feeling to other areas of our lives as well. But Seligman who studied this phenomenon began to ask the question, ‘if we can learn how to be helpless then why can’t we also learn how to be optimistic?’ 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

Neurofeedback and The Sacred Path To Emotional Regulation

By Deirdre Stewart, MSC, LAC Director of Trauma Resolution Services for Meadows Behavioral Healthcare Bessel van der Kolk, world-renowned trauma researcher and Senior Fellow of The Meadows, recently published his Randomized Controlled Study of Neurofeedback for those suffering chronic symptoms of developmental trauma. He showed a 40… Read More

Delicate Dynamics of Intimacy: The Effects of Early Relational Trauma

Tune or out of tune with those who bring us into this world from conception onwards. Our nervous systems are fashioned by nature to resonate with the nervous systems of others to achieve a sense of balance and connection (Schore, 1999), and these early interactions become the neurological templates upon… Read More

Denied Grief: When the Heart Hurts in Silence

By Tian DaytonPsychologist, Senior Fellow at The Meadows, Author, Specialist in Addictions and Relational Trauma, Psychodramatist “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” - Washington Irving Read More

Practicing Mindfulness Meditation

By Joyce Willis, Therapist at The MeadowsMindfulness is the innate ability to be fully present and aware of where we are and what we’re doing while not being overreactive or overwhelmed by what’s happening around us. Mindfulness meditation allows you to slow down racing thoughts, release negativity, and connect with… Read More

The Gifts of Emotional Acceptance

By Brenna Gonzales, MS, LPC, Therapist at Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows  In our culture, we’re taught that certain feelings are off-limits. There’s a general sense that if you’re not happy most of the time, you’re doing life wrong. We experience emotions for a distinct reason. They are a… Read More

Helping Therapists Healing from Their Own Trauma

The Meadows has been facilitating its signature workshop, Survivors, for more than 30 years. Many people’s lives have been changed by the opportunity to confront the deep emotional impact of their childhood trauma. Read More