woman holding her neck in pain

Pain Reprocessing Therapy

A Case of Chronic Pain Marina is a 30-year-old woman who played tennis on her high school team and continued to play recreationally until a lower back injury sidelined her from the courts. One day, she was lifting some boxes in preparation for a move and felt something give out. The pain was excruciating. AndContinue reading Pain Reprocessing Therapy

person leaning against a wall appearing to be in distress

Childhood Trauma and the Body: Pain, Autoimmune Functioning, and More

Have you ever wondered why people who were exposed to extreme stress early in life tend to suffer from physical ailments more than the general population? The ACEs study, a large-scale research endeavor, showed that those who were subjected to childhood trauma were, as expected, significantly more likely to develop mental health symptoms, such asContinue reading Childhood Trauma and the Body: Pain, Autoimmune Functioning, and More

woman with her hands placed on top of her heart

Cultivating Self-Compassion

One of the things that comes up consistently in therapy, regardless of demographics or diagnoses, is difficulties with self-compassion. Let’s take a look at this concept here, as well as how folks can cultivate this important way of being in their lives. The word “compassion” is derived from the Latin com (with) passion (suffering). Self-compassionContinue reading Cultivating Self-Compassion

hand skimming the surface of a body of water

Polyvagal Theory

Polyvagal theory is an approach to understanding the mind and body that highlights the autonomic nervous system. As background, our autonomic nervous systems are composed of two parts, the sympathetic nervous system (responsible for our fight-or-flight response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for calming us/slowing us down, or in life-threatening situations, the freeze response).Continue reading Polyvagal Theory

woman hiding her face in her hands

Shame Resilience: A DBT Approach

Shame can be one of the most uncomfortable emotions we experience. It can be triggered by a host of events or internal experiences, including rejection (or fear of rejection); being belittled, made fun of, criticized, or betrayed;  comparing ourselves to others, or just thinking that we’re  not good enough. When we experience shame, we mightContinue reading Shame Resilience: A DBT Approach