With social distancing and stay home orders, many are noticing their insecure attachment imprints emerging. Being that humans are essentially pack animals, both self-preservation and social engagement nervous systems are involved in our adaptation to life’s circumstances. The “wires” of these two systems can get crossed and/or dysregulated when a child is bonding in a…
As we begin to experience the reality of COVID-19 stay-at-home/shelter-in-place orders, it is not uncommon to experience high levels of restlessness and even panic. Therefore, it is important to understand the polyvagal nervous system, so that we can depathologize and reset these states. Developing an understanding of this phenomenon is what Deb Dana calls “befriending…
As the Holiday Season approaches, please remember that many people with Complex Trauma (Trauma incurred in the Attachment Field as opposed to an acute stress event) have had their hand forced to cut off or greatly limit their relational ties for the sake of their biological and psychological health. No one comes to such and…
Football-or Soccer as it’s known in the US-is a team game, and a fan game. It is a sport that requires incredible skill and athleticism, yet the emotional tone of the team and it’s fans deeply influences performance. Every 4 years, people from every corner of the planet, descend on venues in a host country,…
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would always say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there…
When couples are working through their childhood trauma through the dynamic of their relationship, it is important to remember the stress reaction cycle and conscious communication guidelines. Although, life feels like a stimulus leads to a response, there are emotional states that lead to one’s reactions. Conscious Communication Through Emotions: Mad, Sad, Glad, Afraid We…
Psychotherapy is the vocation of soul tending. It means, “healing of the soul” from the Greek words psykhe ‘the soul’ and therapeia ‘curing, healing’. Soul Tending Is Healing The soul of every human being is encoded with an image of desire. The ultimate symbolic aim of this desire is a human/divine marriage: The integration of…
Tomorrow-April 5th-I will be a guest panelist for AB Tech’s “Addiction, Recovery, and Coping” Event. This panel will focus on the opiate epidemic in our area. It is important to name, that our country is also suffering from this unfortunate phenomenon. A recent article by Chris Hedges entitled “A Nation of the Walking Dead” on…
Although empaths possess exceptional neurological abilities in emotional coregulation and capacity, it is important to name that there are other unique adaptations to being an empath that exceed the neurotypical brain. Three of these phenomena are over-containment of ones own state, cognitive autoimmune responses, and tracking. All three of these are sophisticated threat responses that…
Over the last couple of years, there has been a groundswell of articles written about empaths. Much like their polar opposite-the narcissist-empaths have been anecdotally defined-often in a manner that is misrepresentative. Therefore, it is imperative to accurately explain the characteristics and etiology of the empath. What does empathy mean? Firstly, let’s define empathy: Contrary to…
