Articles
SIMPLY ENGAGING
Please be advised that some of the content below includes sensative material.
Anxious for the Holidays? Here’s How to Help
Why your mental health is worse during the holiday season and what to do about it. BY SARAH AND MICHAEL ZELLER To read the actual article as it appeared in Nashville Lifestyles Click Here. Gone are the days of daydreaming about what might be awaiting us under the...
Tips to Keep From Slipping Into Old Family Patterns Over the Holidays
Does this feel familiar? You’re back home for the holidays. You wake up at noon and roll out of bed to find the coffee pot empty. You’re surprised by how outraged you feel at your brother, who most certainly took that last cup. Your mom asks you a question about your...
Why is Setting Boundaries so Hard?
When you think about setting boundaries, what happens in your body? Do you notice a change in your heart rate? You may feel a weight in your chest or a pit in your stomach. Are you flooded with extra nervous energy or are you falling into a sleepy lull? If so, you...
Free from Shame: Deconstructing Purity Culture
If you grew up in purity culture, you may find it nearly impossible to connect with your sexuality in a way that feels genuine and enjoyable. You may experience PTSD symptoms during consensual sexual experiences, even within marriage. You may wonder if the sexual...
Am I Dissociating?
What does it feel like to dissociate? If I have trauma, does that mean I dissociate? If I don’t have trauma, does that mean I can’t dissociate? Sometimes I zone out while I’m driving, does this mean I have a disorder? Dissociation is a hot topic these days. Now that...
Four Ways to Build Resilience & Begin to Heal Anxiety.
“Human beings are extremely difficult to kill,” said the nurse practitioner I was seeing at the time. She was trying to convey to me how resilient we are as a species and provide some reassurance. I struggled then with illness anxiety. And, if I am totally honest, I...
Hack your Anxiety in 5 Easy Steps with Mindfulness.
Staying in my head had been my best survival tool until it wasn’t. I thought that if I could stay with my thoughts, I could fix things or, at least, understand the why behind each problem. And it worked for a while. Wow, did it work! I thought it helped ward off...
“I was Raped”: 4 Ways to Respond when a Sexual Abuse Survivor Confides in You.
When I first started working with survivors of sexual abuse, I struggled with the vivid images my mind created when listening to their stories. I remember having difficulty staying present, not to mention being triggered, with client after client and story after...
One Simple Technique that Will Change How You Move in the World
How Noticing your Surroundings Can Change How you Feel The Thrive Global Community welcomes voices from many spheres. We publish pieces written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not...