


3 ways to recognize shame
Once you know how to recognize shame in all its forms, you can begin to heal this most toxic of emotions. When you feel shame, you think you feel awful because you deserve to feel awful. in other words, the shame feels like an inevitable and unavoidable consequence of... Read more
“I have strong fear reactions to things that aren’t in themselves traumatic”
If you have strong fear reactions to small stimuli, you may be experiencing subtle trauma. When you recognize the signs of subtle trauma, you move a step towards healing it. A reader, who I’ll call Sarah, sent me a thoughtful email addressing a topic that closely... Read more
“I don’t like to label myself sensitive!”
In a recent exchange with Alex, who was inquiring about Focusing, I sent along information about high sensitivity (HSP). Alex mentioned that he had come across Elaine Aron’s book, The Highly Sensitive Person. He commented, “Very interesting. I don’t like labeling... Read more
Repeating the same story over and over? There may be a good reason.
When I start describing a recent event to a friend and they stop me and say, “You already told me about this,” my first reaction is to feel mortified. My next reaction is to feel worried I’m starting to lose my marbles, since we all know that repetitive story-telling... Read more