Every time I write one of these Survival Story Saturday posts, I find myself asking the same question. What is it that allows one person to survive something that seems impossible? Is it luck? Is it grit? Is it hope? Is it training? Is it faith? The more stories I read, the less convinced I…

One of the questions I’m asked most often as a therapist is, “What exactly is EMDR?” Usually someone has heard that it helps people recover from trauma, they’ve seen videos of people moving their eyes back and forth, or a friend has told them it changed their life. But beyond that, most people aren’t really…

I’m in and out of a new life phase and I’m bordering on wondering if it includes a nervous breakdown… it’s got me thinking a lot lately about transitions, but probably not in the way most people think about them. It’s easy to recognize the obvious ones. We start a new job, move to a…

One of the reasons I love stories of human resilience is because they remind me that the human spirit is capable of far more than we give it credit for. It’s easy to assume that survival belongs to people who climb mountains, cross oceans, or find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. But the longer I spend…

One of the things I hear most often from couples when they come into my office is, “We probably should have done this a long time ago.” It’s usually said with a nervous laugh, but underneath it is often a lot of regret. By the time they decide to reach out, they’ve spent months, and…

For a long time, I assumed routines were mostly about productivity. They seemed like something highly organized people enjoyed, people with perfectly color-coded planners, spotless houses, and enough discipline to wake up before the sun every morning. I admired those people, but I never really thought routine was something my own life needed. It felt…

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about stress is that we assume we’d know if we were stressed. We picture panic attacks, tears in the car, sleepless nights, or the feeling that everything is falling apart. We imagine stress as something loud and unmistakable, something that demands our attention. Lately, life has been gently…

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…