Why do we go back to partners that kinda sucked?  This episode is an exploration of the draw of a partner who has already let us down so many times that they can't really disappoint us anymore (or can they?).  I close with some tips on how to help people we care about who keep returning to unhealthy relationships.   

This weekend I went to two funerals for people who died before their time due to complications from dementia and/or alzheimer's.  I share some observations about how grieving can be different in cases when there is a death after a long illness or when a person was struggling and the complex feelings that can create.  

Self Injury is typically not life threatening it is an unhealthy coping skill.  We often use impulse control logs to treat them.  The segments of the log are:  time, place, location, trigger, feeling, want to feel, options tried, result.   

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/471279.Bodily_Harm  

That is a link to the book Bodily Harm, referenced in the episode.  

Some things teens hate and some ways to get them chatting.  

In this episode I explore how to determine if you can fix your relationship with your therapist or if it is time to move on.  

In this episode I break down the continuum of mental health support from chatting with friends to residential treatment and the factors that might lead a person to need a higher or less intense level of care.  

In this episode I reflect on a conversation with a brilliant client of mine who challenged my way of thinking of eating disorders as an addiction.  This led to a number of other reflections on how we view and treat all of these Toxic Partnerships, some of which are addictions.  Also I change my term for eating disorders to Food Fixation Disorders because I think that creates a more appropriate focus on what the treatment will be.  

A former client asked me some questions about her a-sexuality.  Some musings on my responses and some Seinfeld references.  

Some reflections on how a lack of sex positivity leads to sexual assault and women being afraid to assert themselves.  The main theme is how we need to stop teaching young men to look for consent and instead to look for enthusiasm.

In this episode I explore some concepts related to Emotional Support Animals and talk about Paws for Patrick and how we connect people to ESAs.