Managing Emotional Discomfort in Challenging Times
When the world feels loud, uncertain headlines, personal stressors, and a nervous system that won’t quite settle, many people assume they should be “handling it better.” But what if the goal isn’t to feel calm all the time? What if the goal is emotional regulation: staying connected to yourself even when life is not cooperating?…
The Impact of Trauma on LGBTQ Mental Health
Across studies and lived experience alike, LGBTQ people report higher rates of anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidality, and substance use. That gap isn’t a mystery; it reflects the layered pressures of stigma, rejection, and unsafe environments (yes, traumas). To understand how to care for ourselves, we first need to understand trauma and the LGBT community, how…
Healing After Trauma for LGBTQ+ People
Healing after trauma is never a straight line, and for LGBTQ+ people, it’s rarely just one wound. It’s a pile-up: the comment at school, the sermon that said you were wrong, the laws that make you less safe, the breakup that touched every earlier rejection. That’s why a general discussion of trauma doesn’t quite land…
Parts Work Therapy for Trauma: Understanding How It Promotes Healing
Parts work therapy starts with a simple, very human observation: we are not just one thing. You know that feeling of “one part of me wants to rest and another part of me is saying ‘get it together’”? Or “part of me misses that relationship and another part remembers why I left”? Parts work therapy…
Authenticity vs. Attachment: Finding Balance for Emotional Well-Being
In my many years as a trauma therapist in Chicago, I have witnessed firsthand the delicate interplay between two fundamental human needs: authenticity and attachment. Drawing on the profound work of Dr. Gabor Maté, I have come to understand that our very survival depends on nurturing both these aspects of our being. Yet, as Dr….