We have video funerals, like we have video conferences, and video doctor visits. We’re starting to gather, in some cases, with 6 feet between a handful of local mourners. It doesn’t feel like enough to me. Even the most satisfying funeral for a single COVID death isn’t the place to address the connection between all the deaths, and all the mourners. All the common threads among the lives that will never be the same after this pandemic. I feel a need for an additional way to mourn that acknowledges the global community of mourners, and honors the collective nature of our losses. One that enables mutual support among mourners who perhaps have different losses that are all part of the larger phenomenon.

For this installment, I spoke with Kate Thompson, an existential psychotherapist with a private practice in Boulder. Kate has written the book “Therapeutic Journal Writing: an introduction for professionals and co-edited books, “Expressive Writing in Counseling and Health Care”,  “Writing Routes” and “Writing Works.” Kate also offers workshops on using expressive writing, journaling, bibliotherapy and poetry. 

Over the years I’ve noticed that my clients who are struggling the most in terms of mental and emotional pain are often the clients who also have the most trouble getting good sleep. Indeed, difficulty sleeping and nightmares are both criteria used for officially diagnosing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). So for the 8th interview in this series, I decided to look into the link between trauma and sleep.

I speak to a lot of people in a lot of different contexts about sexual consent. I always advocate for asking before you engage someone in any kind of physical contact. A lot of people tell me that they don't like to directly ask, especially when it comes to kissing or sex. It spoils the mood, they tell me. And it's awkward. 

Here's the thing, though. If you do want consent (which I hope you do!), and if you don't directly ask your partner if what you are doing is OK with them, then the main way you can know whether you have their consent is by their body language. But body language is notoriously unclear. 

For this sixth interview, I spoke with Rachel Mahloch of Battlemom about self defense. She has a 2nd degree black belt in a mixed martial arts self-defense system and a 1st degree black belt in Shaolin Kempo, as well as a passion for teaching self defense.

Unfortunately, the 2016 election season has become filled with material that is potentially triggering to sex assault survivors. I hear from many of my clients that they are struggling to cope. If you are feeling like living in our world these days is a minefield, here are some quick tips to help protect yourself.

This week the election drama took a turn toward something close to home for me, when Donald Trump made some statements about PTSD. As with most significant things the candidates say these days, this statement is being extensively quoted both with and without its larger context. I wanted to take a minute to explain the effect that Trump’s statement has had on me and some of my clients.

Last Friday, the halftime show of the Rice University Marching Owl Band (MOB) focused on their opponent Baylor’s recent title IX violations. This turned out to be a controversial move, with some viewers outraged over the MOB’s insensitivity and others pleased to see attention paid to such an important topic. I decided to delve deeper and draw my own conclusions.

10 Ways to Boost Trauma Recovery: 2. The Feldenkrais Method with Erin Ferguson.

Are you in therapy to recover from a bad experience, and wish you could see more progress faster? Welcome to the second post of this blog series about different ways to boost the effectiveness of trauma therapy. I am interviewing professionals who provide services that experts recommend to help you optimize your recovery from trauma.