As the holiday season ends and the new year begins, media messages about weight loss seem to be everywhere. I’m struck by the shaming tone these often take. Rich foods are framed as “guilty pleasures” or “temptations”—as if enjoyment is a sin. Gaining a few…
Susan* came to me in turmoil. For the past month, the 42-year-old attorney had been having terrifying nightmares about being chased down by men in hoods. Nagging, inexplicable anxiety drove her to check her locks repeatedly, and to look over her shoulder constantly, even when…
Liz,* age 25, came to therapy for help with work stress triggered by her unreasonable boss. In the course of taking her history, I learned she had been sexually abused by her third-grade teacher on about 10 different occasions. He threatened to hurt her little…
A child huddled on the roof of her home, pelted by rain while floodwaters rise around her…A Gulf War soldier stunned and powerless as a convoy of his comrades is blown apart by an IED… A woman cowering as she is punched and kicked, yet…
Can you really heal from the terror of a traumatic experience? What about the chronic trauma of childhood physical or sexual abuse? Over and over, my client-survivors have taught me the answer is yes. The lingering sense of helplessness and horror can soften and, with…
LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS If the Buddha Dated: A Handbook for Finding Love on a Spiritual Path by Charlotte Kasl Spiritual, yes. Stuffy? Not one bit. If your “chooser” is broken, this could be your go-to guide for finding love. Kasl offers a Buddhist perspective on…