Articles on therapy, attachment, and being a therapist
Deeply Rooted
Why I tossed those CBT coping strategies out the window!
Many folks come to therapy to learn coping strategies, tips, and tricks, concrete techniques that will help them feel grounded and at peace.
Talking about suicide: Advice for communities, friends, and families
A high school student in our community died in 2022, likely by suicide, though no one officially identified the cause of death or released the student’s name to the larger school community. The principal and district superintendent sent emails shortly after the incident. They offered additional mental health support and lamented the loss, imploring us to take care of each other. This sudden, traumatic death was otherwise shrouded in silence.
Making sense of perfectionism
It was a typical session in my therapist’s office in the early 2010s. The topic? My deep sense of shame and the feeling that nothing I did was good enough. “It’s not that I’m a perfectionist. It’s just that everything I do and everything I say has to be perfect.” My therapist gave me a wry look. “Not a perfectionist?” she asked gently. When something is so integral to your being, to your sense of self, it can be hard to see it for what it is.
Cloudy skies inside: Checking in with your emotional weather
This morning I lay in bed, too early to be awake. I felt my internal weather pattern shift and move—a roiling of clouds and keening winds. I didn’t try to make sense of these sensations, though they were informative. Something is stirring me up.
Every parent was a child once
I registered my son for high school today. Therapists aren’t generally in the habit of talking about their lives in public, but as a child and adolescent therapist, filled with a strange mélange of feelings this morning, I thought it was relevant. Apart from the usual where does the time go thoughts—the time just goes, it passes, I think I’m getting used to it—I was struck by memories of the messiness of my high school years.