Memoir
Published posts from the time in my life my forthcoming memoir ONE REASON TO LIVE.
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Intrusive thoughts are unwelcome ideas, images, or impulses that enter your mind unexpectedly. They come out of nowhere and can be disturbing, violent, and highly distressing. They may be about something terrible or violent, sexual or profane, or even self-harming. Intrusive thoughts can feel like a betrayal of what we value most in life: our
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Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, can be hard to deal with in a relationship. It can be stressful at any time, but the closeness and vulnerability that come with being in a relationship can add to that. It can also cause issues with trust, closeness, and communication. This is especially true if your PTSD is
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For most people, holidays like Christmas, thanksgiving, and new years are a source of joy. They include festive traditions, gifts, and time off work to relax. Holidays can also be a time for family. Many people don’t get to see their family year-round. Holidays are a convenient time to gather. People travel to see and
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Love bombing is a term widely used within the context of a romantic relationship. It’s essentially a form of manipulation that attempts to artificially create intimacy. When someone love bombs you, it means they lavish you with intense affection, attention, and praise in an attempt to win your trust and affection early in the relationship.
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In a moment, you can lose everything. The stability of your world is rocked. You no longer trust what you see or believe. What was once solid and trustworthy now feels fragile and rotten. Nothing is safe, nothing is reliable, nothing makes sense. Maybe you were a child when it happened. Maybe your parent died.
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Last week I published a post called “3 Tips to Help You Cope With PTSD” in which I listed three distress tolerance tools: Wise Mind, Name Your Emotions, and Radical Acceptance. Today I’d like to focus a little more on Name Your Emotions. Naming emotions is a very useful and helpful exercise. It allows you
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If you or a loved one has experienced a terrible event or significant loss, it’s possible to manage the resulting PTSD, if not recover from it. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) are two effective methods that target problematic thinking patterns such as racing thoughts, logical fallacies, and painful memories. I particularly like DBT. Although it
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Last week I saw Robert B. Weide’s incredible documentary Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. It brought me back to my twenties when I voraciously read 13 Vonnegut books back to back. He is utterly brilliant. When I heard that he had died in 2007, I remember saying, “How is the sun still shining or world
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When we think of trauma, we think of something that happens in the present. Perhaps someone witnesses a murder or is the victim of a home invasion. Or perhaps someone grows up with an alcoholic parent or has experienced sexual violence. However, there’s also something called “generational trauma” that can cause just as much damage
