When someone is experiencing urges to self-harm, it can be really difficult to think clearly. Psychological pain can cause executive function (that is, the set …
While PTSD Flashbacks tend to get attention in books and media, many trauma survivors experience something called emotional flashbacks. Flashbacks flood brains with images, physical …
How do particular colors make you feel? Your answers compared to a partner’s, family member’s, or client’s might surprise you. I developed this simple …
Often when young kids ask parents hard questions, they are seeking emotional support, not necessarily data. In this article, I’ll share: Tips for responding to …
Emotions prompt behavior. In this new emotion wheel, I’ve created a visual representation of how emotions and behaviors are linked. Understanding these connections, and how ourselves …
In Collaboration with MoMA Recently, the Museum of Modern Art reached out with a request to commission an illustration for their digital platform’s work to …
On bad mental health days, basic self care can be hard. Really hard. I designed this resource to provide gentle structure and a mood-boosting sense …
Most of us are more than a little concerned about the mental health of the kiddos that we care about during this pandemic. The natural …
Some stress and anxiety are part of coping with everyday life. Prolonged stress is hard on our bodies and our mental health, but with support …
Genograms can be powerful tools to build awareness of patterns in families and organizations, but what we don’t often acknowledge is that genograms can be …
Good play helps us rest in more satisfying ways, bond more deeply with friends and partners, work more productively, and grow resilience to burnout. So why are so many of us so bad at it? In this article, I share a visual summary of how adults play, according to Dr. Stuart Brown in his book PLAY. Want to learn your play style? Log in via Patreon to take the quiz.
Attunement and Containment – along with Rupture and Repair – are key building blocks for relationships that support the formation of healthy attachments. In this article, we’ll dive a little deeper into understanding containment and attunement and how these puzzle pieces fit into the larger concept of forming healthy attachments to the people we care about.
When we endure traumatic events, the experience may stay with us in various ways – even in ways we may not recognize. Good trauma treatment …
Although bullet journaling is about saving time and space, when it comes to a mood tracker, research suggests that slowing down may have benefits. In this article, learn how I used my training as a mental health therapist and my personal experience as a bullet journaler to reimagine a new mood tracker layout for 2021 and beyond- based on peer-reviewed research exploring the intersection of journaling and mental health.
Bullet Journal blogs and hashtags are filled with mental health and self-care focused templates, but are these layouts actually effective for maximizing the mental health benefits of a bullet journal? In this article, I explore existing research on how journaling and expressive writing can benefit mental health and, from that research, outline three ways to maximize the mental health benefits of your bullet journaling practice. Along the way, I’ll show you a few of my worksheets and resources that are perfect for adding to a bullet journal.
External boundaries are where we bump up against each other (like setting boundaries around our time or how we allow others to treat us), while internal boundaries are where we bump up against ourselves in ways that bring dissonance between competing desires (like wanting to take on a new project but knowing we can’t don’t have the resources to complete it). In this illustration, I tease out some of the nuances between internal and external boundaries.
When you’re new to therapy and aren’t really sure what therapy is supposed to feel like, it can be really confusing to try and figure …
Love is always complicated. However, love is rarely as complex as the love felt by a person for their therapist. Although it’s often dismissed, buried, …