I don’t know when it happens, exactly. No one wakes up one morning and decides they’ll become the strong one. There isn’t a ceremony or a title that’s handed out. It usually happens quietly, over years. Someone gets sick, and you step in. Your parents are overwhelmed, so you grow up a little faster than…

When most of us picture loneliness, we imagine someone sitting alone in a quiet apartment, eating dinner by themselves or watching television with no one to talk to. We picture empty houses, empty calendars, and empty chairs around the dinner table. It makes sense that we’d define loneliness that way because it’s what we’ve been…

Have you ever noticed how quickly your mind can convince you that the worst-case scenario is the most likely one? Your boss asks if you have a few minutes to talk tomorrow, and before you’ve even closed the email, you’ve already imagined yourself cleaning out your office. Your spouse doesn’t answer their phone, and your…

There are some stories that are so unbelievable they almost feel like fiction. If someone pitched them as a movie script, we’d probably shake our heads and say, “That could never happen.” Yet every once in a while, history reminds us that the human spirit is capable of far more than we imagine. One of those…

I have a feeling that if I asked ten people what comes to mind when they hear the words self-care, most of them would paint a pretty similar picture. Bubble baths. Face masks. Pedicures. Candles. Yoga. Maybe a massage or a weekend away. None of those things are bad—in fact, many of them are wonderful—but…

Most people probably don’t notice it. It’s an old antique skeleton key that hangs around my neck every single day. I’m not sure what it goes to or where it’s even from but I can tell you why I keep wearing it. It reminds me of who I want to be. There have been seasons…

One of the unexpected gifts of healing has been learning how to dream again. There was a time in my life when I wasn’t thinking five or ten years into the future. I was simply trying to make it through the next day. When you’re struggling with anxiety, grief, trauma, addiction, or depression, your world…

Standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, I kept trying to capture it with my camera. Every photo looked beautiful, but none of them came close to what it felt like to actually stand there. No picture could communicate the depth, the scale, or the overwhelming reminder of how small I really am. And…

When most people hear the word trauma, they immediately think of the worst things imaginable. They picture combat veterans returning from war, survivors of horrific abuse, devastating car accidents, natural disasters, or other life-threatening experiences. Those absolutely are traumatic experiences, and they deserve every ounce of compassion they receive. But somewhere along the way we’ve…

One of the things I love most about being a therapist is watching people discover that there is actually a name for something they’ve experienced their entire lives. They’ll describe a feeling or a pattern they’ve noticed and then look at me almost relieved when I tell them, “There’s a reason that happens.” Suddenly what…