Assessing Safety in Your Relationships
As a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, I often work with clients on issues that come up in relationships. When someone grows up in an unstable or unhealthy environment, they may be unable to recognize red flags in relationships. It’s...
Exercise – Another Disordered Behavior?
Exercise is often considered a panacea in both the treatment and prevention of physical and psychological concerns. Whether you want to improve your cardiovascular health or reduce your symptoms of depression, exercise is among the list of natural antidotes...
From Victim To Survivor To Thriver
We live in a world where being called a “victim” implies a connotation of weakness. “Don’t be a victim” is a phrase we hear all too often. But what if that is actually your experience? Victim is a term the legal system uses to identify someone who has been the...
Anorexia Nervosa in Males
Men can have anorexia, too. Yup, you read that correctly. Unfortunately, an obvious stigma exists towards men who struggle with eating disorders, although these conditions can affect anyone when certain risk factors are in place. As a society, we must recognize that...
Grief and Loss After Trauma
Often when we think of grief and loss, we associate it with the loss of a loved one. The five stages of grief are not necessarily what one thinks of in response to a sexual trauma but often survivors will report going through the stages at some point. While the stages...
Bulimia Nervosa – What Help is Available?
The struggle with bulimia can feel like you’re trapped in a downward spiral with no way out. You may be deeply entrenched in bulimic behaviors, whether they include binging and self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, other drug abuse, fasting, or...
What Are Boundaries and Why Do We Need Them?
As a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, I often work with patients who struggle with setting and maintaining boundaries. Often when someone grows up in a violent or abusive home, they miss out on the opportunity to explore their likes,...
Why Diets Don’t Work
Recently, I asked a friend if she wanted to get some ice cream. “I can’t,” she said. “I’m on a diet.” A few years ago, when I was stuck in my own cycle of chronic dieting, I would have felt fear for giving in to this craving, and some shame that I didn’t have the...
What Happens in Trauma Therapy?
In the last blog, we explored some of the effects people may experience after being exposed to trauma in childhood. When someone experiences trauma early on, they can miss out on learning important skills such as calming the nervous system and how to function in...
Bulimia Nervosa: Side Effects
For someone who struggles with bulimia, using behaviors for emotional relief or to counteract weight gain can become habitual and all-consuming. When you’re deep in the cycle of bulimic behaviors, whether they include binging and self-induced vomiting, laxative or...
The Link Between Childhood Trauma and Mental Health Issues
As a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, I work with many patients who come into therapy with symptoms such as substance abuse, self harm, relationship problems, and low self-esteem. Sometimes people will come into therapy with an...
Media, Body Dissatisfaction, and Eating Disorders
With the advancement of technology, we are practically forced to experience messages and images about a certain prototype of beauty, body size, and health. We also learn from these same sources that certain body types are “undesirable,” “shameful,” and “unhealthy.”...
Everyday Sexism and Sexual Harassment
After watching Laura Bates “Everyday Sexism” Ted Talk, I felt inspired to write about sexual harassment. As a trauma therapist, I work a lot with people who have experienced sexual violence but often people brush over sexual harassment as if it’s a lesser issue. It is...
Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents
Prevalent, Yet Often UnrecognizedEating disorders in children and adolescents tend to be underdiagnosed although they are highly prevalent, and rates of treatment and full recovery are low. Most of these diagnoses are exhibited by females, but pediatric...
The Aftermath of Trauma: Coping and Skill Building
In several previous blogs we learned about how trauma affects the brain and body. What is equally important to know is how to cope with the trauma in the aftermath. As a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, I often get people asking for...
Eating Disorders and Co-occurring Conditions
Eating Disorders Don’t Stand AloneWhenever I meet with clients struggling with eating disorders, they tend to exhibit additional mental health struggles. Research shows that there is a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in both men and women...
Recovery from Anorexia – What Does This Look Like?
Imagine that someone you barely know offers to take you traveling to a country that you’ve never even heard of, and they don’t tell you any details about the destination. You have no idea what to expect or how to prepare. For all you know, the country...
Sexual Violence- Not Just A Women’s Issue
As we approach Sexual Assault Awareness month in April, I feel even more of a desire than usual to talk about sexual violence. One issues with sexual violence is that when we don’t talk about it, the cycle of guilt and shame for survivors continues. By...
Medications for Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are the result of a multifaceted overlap of biological, psychological, and social factors. While psychotherapy can help address the psychological and social aspects of such disorders, pharmacological treatment (i.e. medication) can be...
What is Bulimia?
A Misunderstood DiagnosisI remember learning about bulimia in high school, and holding onto this image of a White female teenager who would run to the bathroom and make herself throw up after eating lunch in the cafeteria. While this can be a specific...