Archive for the Psychology Category

Presence What does it mean to be present or to hold strong presence or space for someone? As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I do this for my job. Essentially holding space for someone means sitting with full focus and offering a safe container for the flow of

What is PTSD? By Dr. Susannah Smith PTSD is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In order to be diagnosed with PTSD, one has to have “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence….” (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V). This exposure can be by way of

Parental Alienation: What is this About? In the circle of forensic evaluators, and families who are dealing with parental alienation issues, the fact that alienation exists is quite real. There was some concern about “Parental Alienation Syndrome,” or PAS, which was developed as a result of a

Treating Depression Depression comes in all forms, and no one is exempt from occasional periods of “the blues.” However, when one goes from being down occasionally, to an excessively prolonged period of depression, it’s time to seek help. There are many different types of diagnosable depression. There

While most of us are familiar with many of the problems and issues that arise from being strapped financially and raising children, we may not be as familiar with the issues that arise from being financially well-set, or affluent, and also raising children. Children raised in affluent

The recent spate of accusations of sexual assault has shocked and alerted the people of our country, and the members of our community. What has become clear to all is how pervasive sexual predation is in the United States. The constant media attention and headlines are also

I wrote previously about the codependent and dependent personalities. We find that codependency is created by the family system. Codependency is a set of behaviors and attitudes that form a diagnosable complex: codependent people are overly responsible; they want and try to please everyone; they are extremely

The terms “codependent” and “dependent” have relatively new meanings in the vocabulary of personality and mental health issues. While the “dependent personality disorder” is an actual diagnosis for mental illness from the diagnostic and statistical manuals we use today, in the jargon of dependency and codependency, you

When to Give and When Not to Give: Tough Love Most of us were raised to believe that giving to others is the generous and ethical thing to do. However, there are times when giving is not only inappropriate, it could be destructive for the recipient. Coming

It Can Be Difficult to get Adequate Mental Health Care Our country has been mentioning accessibility to mental health care more and more lately, especially in light of all of the mass shootings and bombings that now seem to be daily affairs. When I listen to journalists

Eating Disorders Eating disorders are characterized as an unhealthy relationship with food. The literature in the field discusses anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binging eating disorder (BED). Additional focus on behaviors related to eating disorders would be on compulsive eating, anorexia athletica (or compulsive exercising),

Couples: Don’t Wait Too Long to Get Help Relationships give us meaning in life. We live in relationship to our families and families of origin, friends, societal and business groups, and most of all, our partners or significant others. When a relationship is bad, it affects our

What is Hypnosis and Why Should We All Learn It? Hypnosis is a natural, normal state of consciousness, which we all go in and out of routinely throughout our waking hours. In the hypnotic state, we focus on one thing to the exclusion of others. If you