It can often be difficult for trauma survivors to understand how or why they reacted a certain way during a traumatic experience. Instead of seeing their trauma response as the result of a split-second, unconscious decision made by their nervous system, your client may blame themself for not reacting differently. This can be especially true […]
Helping Clients Talk About Shame
When Clients are Reluctant to Talk About Shame Working with clients who suffer from deep feelings of shame can be a delicate and nuanced process – for a few reasons . . . To start, shame can disguise itself in a number of ways. It can hide beneath anger, outrage, self-sabotage, or abusive relationships. What’s […]
How to Help Clients with Trauma Find a Sense of Belonging, with Bessel van der Kolk, MD
When a client experiences trauma in childhood, and they aren’t able to develop crucial attachment relationships . . . . . . they may struggle to feel any true sense of belonging right up through adulthood. Instead, they can carry painful messages that they’re unwanted, unneeded, and never truly accepted. So in the video below, […]
An Intervention to Help Put Aside Resentment, with Terry Real, MSW, LICSW
One major challenge of working with resentment . . . . . . is that the more we try to confront it directly with a client, the stronger it can become. So in the video below, Terry Real, MSW, LICSW walks us through an intervention that can help clients “shelve” their resentment until they’re resourced […]
When the Fear of Rejection Leads to Appeasing Patterns
When a client fears rejection, their ability to set boundaries can become severely compromised. Instead of voicing their own needs and desires, they may go out of their way to please others in an attempt to be accepted. So in the video below, Ron Siegel, PsyD shares an example of one client whose fear of […]