Attachment

Editor’s note: This article is the second in a two-part series. See Part 1: Opposing Attachment Styles. The conflict is both a fight for and a protection against intimacy. If we can hold ... Read More

Editor’s note: This article is the first in a two-part series. See Part 2: A Built-In Path to Healing. Few of us might consider pain a gift. To be clear: Relational trauma/abuse is not ... Read More

The experience of trauma often shapes our beliefs of self, other, and world. In turn, those beliefs shape our relationships, pervade our families, spread to our communities, and stretch ... Read More

People pleasing is a way to reduce anxiety and eliminate stress. Some please to assure good feelings that come with positive responses like being approved of, admired, praised, or respected. ... Read More

Maddy: “I hate myself. I’m just like my mother. She always bossed my father around and was so controlling with me and my brother. Now I do the same things with my husband and kids. ... Read More

Some people say they do not want to come out of therapy blaming their parents for everything. After all, their parents did the best they could at the time, especially with what they were ... Read More

“It’s like a mother: when the baby is crying, she picks up the baby and she holds the baby tenderly in her arms. Your pain, your anxiety is your baby. You have to take care ... Read More

When Mommy’s little girl grows up and goes off into the world to have her own life, struggles with issues of separation and difference may occur. Eye rolls, hugs, tugs-of-war, and ... Read More

Being in relationships is a natural and necessary part of life. Human beings are designed to form bonds with each other. In fact, a lack of healthy bonds with other people can cause a variety ... Read More

This is a gut-wrenching position you find yourself in. On the one hand, you’ve done some great work with this therapist and built a strong relationship with her; on the other hand, ... Read More

Parents sometimes find themselves worrying whether they’re interfering too much or too little in their children’s friendships. But a parent’s relationship with his or ... Read More

Wow. It sounds like you feel like you’ve really had the rug pulled out from under you. It’s certainly understandable; you’ve had daily contact for three years and it has ... Read More