Trauma can feel overwhelming, confusing, and isolating, but the way our bodies and minds respond isn’t random or meant to harm us. These responses are built-in protection systems that help us survive and cope with extreme stress or danger. Recognizing them as natural and necessary can shift how we view trauma and recovery. The Bible acknowledges our human vulnerability: “For He knows how we are formed; He remembers that we are dust”  (Psalm 103:14). This verse reminds us that

A few years ago, a social media post read: "Denial means Don’t Even (K)now I’m Actually Lying… to myself. "That clever acronym untangles the mystery of denial. The truth is, no one realizes they’re in this blissful state of ignorance—until they’re already on their way out. Merriam-Webster defines denial  as “the refusal to admit the truth or reality of something. "It’s a definition that echoes the pivotal moment in The Matrix , when Neo is offered a choice: the red pill or

My great aunt had a green thumb. Her house was filled with an array of plants, Venus Fly Trap, Chicken and Hen, Aloe Vera, Philodendron, and Mother-In-Law Tongue. Her home felt peaceful and smelled fresh, like a mini greenhouse. My first attempt at growing plants was dreadful. I overwatered some and underwatered others. When I shared these awful deaths with my great aunt, she laughed and gave me a piece of her Philodendron. She instructed me to put it in a glass of water and,

The scene opens with a desperate, codependent wife—scrambling to “make” her addict husband sober up and become the man she prayed for. Scene after scene, we watch her move in and out of offices, searching for the cure to his  problem. What she doesn’t yet realize is that his problem has quietly become the family’s problem. But at this stage, she’s deaf to that truth—blinded by the need to fix him. After months, even years, of the treatment-recovery-relapse cycle, she finds he

My first job was in a neighborhood beauty slash barber shop where the owner was an eccentric. He would mesmerize clients with his burning...

I love Romantic Comedies. They can be great coping tools when you just need to relax and allow yourself to feel love, joy, and happiness....

Anger is a powerful, complex, secondary emotion that I like to describe as part of our default system. It’s often easier to be angry than...