Having done a decent amount of grief work during my years practicing, I have had the honor of sitting with others experiencing grief due to the loss of a loved one by suicide. Grief work is always difficult, but the suddenness of suicide brings...

One person dies every 40 seconds by suicide (www.who.int). Suicide is a word we do not often hear or talk about, yet it is happening every day. In recent years the deaths of celebrities like Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams have brought...

During my undergraduate program, in one of my textbooks I read a paragraph that has stuck with me. It talked about self-esteem and how our self-esteem is rooted in our childhood, that if we had a childhood filled with chaos, neglect or abuse that...

The term “trigger’ in psychology has been around for a long time. While there has been a more popular culture explosion of the term, with both positive and negative effects on the original meaning, we still conceptualize triggers as things that can cause intense...

I love to stand up for others, especially when it comes to matters of social justice. It is relatively easy for me to verbalize when I feel someone is being mistreated for the color of their skin, their gender, their sexuality or their social...

Sometimes when I work with kids (and even adults) who struggle to express their feelings or ask for what they need or want I will say, “You know you best.” Or, “You know yourself better than anyone else.” In other words, “speak up for...