Therapy Thursday

It's important to not throw around terms like "toxic" at every little thing that bothers us. But it's equally important to be able to identify when something or someone actually is, truly, toxic. Unfortunately, there isn't a DSM5 diagnosis for "toxicity." So in this episode we break down a few ways to identify when a behavior or person may be considered "toxic" in my opinion.

We, as a society, have developed a bad habit of overusing and misusing terms like "toxic," "gaslighting," "trauma response," and more. We need to pull the reins on these terms being thrown around or we risk creating a boy-who-cried-wolf situation. 

If you are following along with the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial, you likely have heard about Borderline Personality Disorder and Histrionic Personality Disorder. So let's examine what these personality disorders are exactly, what they mean, and what they don't. 

Lately, more and more studies are proving just how closely linked our mental and emotional health are to our gut health. So let's examine why this is, and what we can do to improve our gut health, which in turn can improve our mental and emotional health!

Dialectical thinking (basically, being able to hold two seemingly opposite truths at the same time) is a key therapy skill, so let's practice it!

This episode is different from what we normally do. Instead of sharing a quick therapy tip or insight, I wanted to get vulnerable about what has been going on in my life, to not only shed light on what I feel is an important issue, but also to demonstrate how everyone deals with mental health struggles, and it's okay to be vulnerable about that. 

A common concern for people in therapy is not wanting lose the "real" them, or wanting to find a way back to the "real" them. But what does this actually mean? Is there actually a "real" you in the first place? Let's find out. 

With all the LGBTQ+ related legislation going on, I want to take a minute and discuss what an ally is, and how looking at being an ally as being an accomplice can help create a bigger impact. 

Unfortunately the English language doesn't have a good word for what we mean when we talk about things that are "anti-fragile." So in this episode we explain what we are talking about, and how it impacts our mental and emotional health.

Yes, it's a Taylor Swift lyric, and maybe a bit cliche, but the staggering truth that you are literally the only one of you who has ever and will ever live on the planet has some pretty massive mental health implications to help increase acceptance and self-love and abolish shame.