Tag Archives: Mental Health

Unveiling the Dark Side of Healthcare: Navigating the Corrupt System and Seeking Justice

Abusers are attracted to medicine and psychology because the culture gives them easy access to multiple victims and protects them from accountability. The behavioral health industry benefits much by keeping us coming back for more crappy therapy and ineffective medications … Continue reading

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7 Years of Disbelief

For over seven years, I’ve been forced into the role of “my own best advocate.” This is because the people I turned to for care refused to understand what I need for recovery from severe Complex PTSD and quadrilateral Complex … Continue reading

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Connection Is the Cure: Meet My Nervous System’s Needs

My nervous system is desperate for the kind of connection that feels safe. Because all my life, I’ve been chronically and acutely deprived of that safety. Sometimes it’s been extreme, other times less so, but never enough. When I had … Continue reading

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Psychiatry Hasn’t Cured Anything

Psychiatry hasn’t “cured” anything in the way most people think about cures. What it has mostly done is reframe human suffering into categories, attach labels, and then try to manage symptoms, usually through medication or behavior-based interventions. 💊   There’s … Continue reading

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Why the Ego, Id, and Superego Do Not Apply

The ego, id, and superego are abstract inventions, not observable processes. What can be studied are phenomena such as attachment, defense mechanisms, resilience, meaning-making, and identity processes. These are evident in behavior, physiology, relationship patterns, and lived experiences. The psychological … Continue reading

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What is Institutional Betrayal and How Does It Harm Us? 

Institutional betrayal occurs when the systems or structures a person depends on for safety, care, or justice–such as hospitals, universities, police, or legal bodies–fail to protect them, or worse, participate in their harm. From an Interpersonal Neurobiology perspective, these betrayals … Continue reading

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The Therapist’s Mirror: How Lack of Self-Awareness Can Dysregulate Clients

A therapist who lacks the capacity for self-awareness and attunement may, at best, provide surface-level support, but they’re also likely to cause harm, especially to trauma survivors. Without the ability to co-regulate and deeply connect with their clients’ internal states, … Continue reading

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From Trigger to Transformation: How Creative Acts Can Shift the Nervous System’s Response

This spring, a patch of red sprouts emerged in my garden. To someone else, they might have looked intriguing or even beautiful. But for me, their appearance instantly triggered an unwanted body memory from childhood trauma. At that moment, my … Continue reading

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When Things Fall Apart, Recommit

Recently, I drove 90 minutes round-trip to see a specialist at the University of Pennsylvania Neuroscience Center at Radnor. That was a lot for me. My arms aren’t used to driving that long. It caused burning and muscle pain. The … Continue reading

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Dear Doctor: I Have Lots of Therapists. Including You.

Your Presence Is the Treatment. Or the Harm. It is striking how many doctors, especially pain specialists, have doubly verified that I have a good therapist. Or a therapist. That I’m “in mental health care.” I understand why they ask. … Continue reading

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