February 22, 2016
When I was in high school, my mom implemented a policy for mental health days. One day per semester I was allowed to take a day off of school, which she would call in and officially excuse me for.
The term “gaslighting” comes from Patrick Hamilton’s work Gas Light (1938), a play that was adapted into two movies in 1940 and 1944. The basic plot of the play and movies deals with a husband who systematically manipulates and psychologically abuses his wife by trying to convince her she is insane. He does this by changing small elements of their environment (such as the dimming the representative gas lights of the house) and then insisting she’s mistaken or misremembering details
The transition from high school to college is inherently destabilizing. For many people, college is the first time they spend a significant amount of time outside their childhood homes. Likewise, it is the first time that many teenagers experience their first taste of adulthood. This independence can be thrilling and profound, offering young adults full agency over themselves. Such independence can also be overwhelming, crippling even, because greater amounts of independence correspond with an increasing amount of personal responsibility. College
September 2, 2012
Traumatic events bring up all past traumatic events. The article suggests that behavioral therapy aimed at desensitization is optimal. This is not correct. The most effective form of treatment for trauma is the activation of mourning. It is only in the guided mourning process that the current event and the PAST events that have emerged alongside of it can be resolved. Mourning cannot be done alone but needs to be facilitated in a safe, secure, neutral environment with a neutral,
April 14, 2012
Recent research is indicating the possibility of an actual ‘illness of the brain’ which can come on suddenly and tragically, and lead the person to suicide. The article below is told in first person by a professor who is fortunate enough to look back on experiencing this phenomenon. It appears almost like a ‘possession’ – leading me to remember how ancient peoples described emotional illness as being possessed by the devil. This gentleman describes feeling led into a comatose or