How Tattoos Tell Our Stories
I used to have a bumper sticker—fortunately, never affixed to my car’s bumper—that read, “tattoos: not just for sailors and whores anymore.” The sex worker-shaming [...]
trauma
When Your Trauma Doesn’t Fit the Image of PTSD
I’ve run a blog for the last five years about the intersection of my chronic physical and mental illnesses and my hopes of living a life of joy despite and sometimes even [...]
When Netflix Traumatizes You
Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” is a breathtaking masterpiece and searing indictment of the American criminal justice system. The four-episode, Netflix series [...]
Post-Traumatic Growth & Why Game of Thrones Fascinates Us
Warning: contains spoilers for Season 8 Game of Thrones is arguably the most popular television show of all time. With its multitude of characters, story lines, and plot [...]
Children Aren’t Angry, They’re Anxious: 8 Ways to Spot Anxiety in Children
Almost every week, I receive calls from parents seeking therapy for their “angry,” “aggressive,” or “obnoxious” child. My answer is always the same: [...]
Anxiety Blob | Anxiety Blog: Jumping Back In
One of the biggest challenges of living with anxiety is figuring out how to re-enter the world after you’ve been in retreat mode. You know that feeling, say, when you’ve [...]
That’s What She Said | All I Want for Christmas is to be Made Whole
Christmas is hard. Also, that’s what she said. While there are many – quite vocal – people who love the holiday season, with the lights and baking and [...]
Notes from Nanea | Scar-Gazing
My dear Sweatpants & Coffee tribe, I’ve been in the mental health trenches lately, as perhaps many of you are, and have been. Therapy has been wild. I wrote the other [...]
That’s What She Said | How To Deal With Light When Emerging From Grief
It’s hard to have nice things. Really hard. Also, that’s what she said. After I had children and discovered the sheer destruction that they wrought on – [...]
That’s What She Said | Dumb Lies You Need to Know During Hard Times
We tell ourselves dumb lies, especially when times are hard. The voices that live in our heads tell us lies about our value, but here is some truth. [...]
