Thoughts From a Therapist
Spirituality, Creativity & the Present Moment
Presence, awe, the observer, play, and creativity, and the practice of returning to what is here.
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Why Do I Get Triggered So Easily? The Four Stages of an Emotional Reaction
Why we still react after years of work: the three stages of an emotional reaction, what can and cannot change, and why sensitivity is…
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Why Am I Disappointed Even When Things Are Good?
Why am I disappointed even when things are good? Expectations, efficiency, and fixation on flaws can pull attention away from what matters most.
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Why Do I Feel Things I Know Are Irrational?
Why do I feel things I know are irrational? Thoughts, emotions, physiology, memory, and behavior can create and interrupt emotional feedback loops.
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How Parenting Made Me More Controlling
Control can be an adaptation to anxiety, responsibility, and parenthood – and eventually the thing that perpetuates it. A therapist on letting go of…
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Exercise Snacks: How 10 Seconds Can Build Both Physical and Psychological Strength
Ten squats, whenever I thought of it. What started as a fitness habit turned into a lesson in discipline: make the goal small enough…
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Meditation Is the Practice of Returning
“I didn’t do it well” is the most common thing I hear about meditation. But every time your mind wanders and you return, you’ve…
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Understanding Anxiety Is Only the Beginning | The Gap Between Insight and Action
Understanding anxiety is only the beginning. Learn how insight, physiology, habits, and values work together to reduce anxiety by turning awareness into meaningful action.
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The Anxiety of Efficiency
A reflection on the paradox of rushing in order to relax, and how efficiency can sometimes reproduce the very anxiety we are trying to…
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Treading Water / the Addiction to Doing
Some people believe that if they stop kicking, they will drown. They are exhausted, and they also trust the effort more than the water.…
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The Realities of Rigid Identity
Rigid identity develops when beliefs become protective structures rather than flexible perspectives. Whether through victimhood, perfectionism, spiritual bypassing, or rigid religious and political identification,…
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How to Listen Empathically | Staying Present When Defensiveness Takes Over
Listening empathically is less about technique and more about staying present with your partner’s experience—especially in the moments when defensiveness begins to reorganize your…
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The Question of Enough | Stimulation, Fulfillment, and the Physiology of Contentment
One pattern I see repeatedly — in my office and in my own life — is the question of enough. Not the familiar concern…
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The Necessity of Adversity
Expanding Our Capacity to Navigate Everyday Stress When we think about stress tolerance, it is easy to imagine it as something we either possess…
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Somatic Descent Into the Hidden Narrative: A Clinical Vignette about Anger and Grief
She came into therapy with a sharp, immediate reaction whenever the subject of suicide emerged. Her face tightened. Her posture stiffened. The anger arrived…
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Emotional and Social Intelligence as a Living Balance | A Map for When You Want to Grow
This content discusses the importance of emotional and social intelligence for personal growth, emphasizing the need for balance in various capacities such as self-awareness,…
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The Fractal Field of Mental Health
The text outlines a fluid and dynamic model of mental health, emphasizing that it encompasses multiple interdependent dimensions: Individual, Relational, Embodied, Integrity, Dialectical, Engaged,…
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The Observer and the Observed
Detaching from identity through acceptance of our contradictions Hello. Let’s use the observer to notice our attachments to identity. When I was in college,…
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State Shifting: Breaking the Feedback Loop of Rumination
Rumination isn’t just mental—it’s physiological. Learn how cold water and other state-shifting techniques can disrupt the feedback loop and restore clarity.
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The Practice of Differentiation: Becoming the Observer of Ourselves
Differentiation is the ability to observe our inner life without being consumed by it. In this post, we explore how becoming the witness to…
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The Snake in the Room: A Mindful Approach to Understanding Anxiety
Not all anxiety is the same. This post explores three distinct forms of anxiety—trauma, adaptive fear, and cognitive worry—through the metaphor of a snake…
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