This week Licensed Therapist, Kati Morton, LMFT explains why we can want to do things in life, but struggle to find the motivation. She talks about depression’s role in this behavior, and what we can do to get ourselves back on track. Next, she talks about healing from emotional neglect, why grieving is part of trauma healing, and how we can be diagnosed with PTSD. She also discusses why us being traumatized has more to do with what we experienced, not just what happened. All that and much more in this week’s episode of Ask Kati Anything!   

Ep.142 | Your mental health podcast, with Kati Morton, LMFT  

Audience questions: 

1. In my head I always want to do all of these things (like workout, study, clean, etc.) but I can’t get myself to actually do anything. I don’t feel like I’m depressed because I really want to accomplish these things. I just can’t get myself to physically...  

2. I grew up with emotionally immature parents who couldn’t tolerate, let alone help me handle, any of my emotions, and instead responded with anger, silent treatment and isolation. I was also groomed as a young teen by a much older, married man. Now, as an adult, I’m finally doing all the “right” things: therapy, journaling, not judging my feelings, daily exercise, meditation, healthy eating, vitamins, so many self-help books...

3. Could you talk more about grief in relation to trauma? I’ve heard that people still essentially go through the stages of grieving when healing from trauma. How important is it to grieve what could have been?  

4. I was wondering if it’s possible to be traumatized by something that isn’t actually traumatic? I never had any big T traumas but growing up I struggled with terrible anxiety mostly separation anxiety and social anxiety...  

5. How can one be diagnosed with PTSD (noting that C-PTSD isn’t a recognised diagnosis in the DSM5) if they “only” experienced emotional neglect growing up?   

6. As a therapist yourself, how do you manage to trust other therapists? And what do you do if you feel like you "know better" / would handle things differently? I'm currently in training, but I'm also in therapy myself...  7. I’ve had the same therapist for about 6 years, but recently I’ve started to consider looking for a new therapist. Not because of anything that went wrong- I just think that it’s time for a change and having a new therapist might help me grow...  

8. What is the role of a loved one, parent, spouse, sibling, or child, in the treatment of their mental health? Sometimes I feel the therapists of loved ones are missing a major issue...  

9. How did you balance having a relationship now with a parent who was abusive growing up? I believe my dad's intentions were never bad, but he was still very harmful and contributed...

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