What is Childhood Abuse?
Childhood abuse is multilayered. Neglect and physical and sexual abuse are always accompanied by devastating emotional damage. This childhood abuse can appear as aggressive actions of harm as well as passive failures to act.
Controlling the Volume on Negative Messages
Negative messages need to be turned up, but only so you can evaluate them; they are not meant to be cranked up for the rest of your life. The goal of turning up the volume of negative thoughts is so you an really hear what they’re saying and learn to put those messages in their proper context.
Stepping out of Blame Mode in Emotional Abuse
When dealing with your emotional abuse, it may be easy to view things with tunnel vision. All you may see is the pain and damage of the abuse. You may not see some of the reasons behind it. Nothing can explain it away.
Reality Check: Are You Living an Emotionally Healthy Life?
Are you getting on with your life with courage and enthusiasm, knowing that somehow you will fulfill your dreams, or have you all but thrown in the towel? Your answers reflect how you see yourself today but they also may suggest that you are still believing and living out too many of the lies your life script may have been feeding you.
Relinquishing Your Anger
Anger is a natural emotion, but it is harmful when it becomes our focus or a continual part of our personality. Some anger is obvious, but there is also an inordinate amount of hidden anger lurking in the hearts, souls, and spirits of people.
Relationships: The Ambivalent Attachment Style
In a previous post, we discussed the traits of individuals with The Secure Attachment Style. Now, let’s discuss The Ambivalent Attachment Style. An ambivalent attachment style comes from a childhood in which love and affection are inconsistently given, based...
Living with PTSD
Imagine being involved in a terrifying incident where you were physically harmed or threatened. Then imagine reliving that awful memory over and over again, each time as fresh and horrific as when it happened. This is the essence of PTSD.
Letting Go of the Reins
I believe one reason women turn acorns into catastrophes is because you have so many responsibilities. Because you are responsible, you believe you should be in control. The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you really have control over any given...
The Pressure Women Feel to Perform
Women today are under stress. Stress is defined as when a force presses on, pulls on, pushes against, compresses, or twists something else. Many women can completely relate. It seems like life itself is pressing in on them, pulling them one way, pushing against them...
When Informal Counseling Leads to Sexualized Relationships
You may think you’re not a formal counselor, therapist, doctor, or attorney. Because you don’t hold one of these specific titles, then your job doesn’t put you in a position to offer advice or counseling to other people. So you don’t have to worry about it, right? Not...
Runaway Thoughts and Panic Attacks
Jill suffered a devastating anxiety attack. She had been depressed for months over her upcoming fiftieth birthday. Instead of being a celebration of a half-century of life, Jill dreaded the date. She forbade her family from making “a fuss.” She refused...