Author name: Mary Joan Brinson

Do you ever fantasize about finding an escape? Some beautifully blissful way to escape the misery and challenge of the current moment. Continuing to live through the social isolation related to COVID-19 and ongoing uncertainty is hard. And when life gets really hard, the temptation to escape can feel powerful. Our chosen path for escapism may […]

Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is possible. In my previous article, Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the symptoms of PTSD were reviewed. If you have been experiencing these symptoms for more than a month, there is a very good chance that your life is being significantly disrupted, and you could benefit from therapy. But

Pandemics, like Covid-19, challenge the way that people cope. Our brains are designed to react to novel and unfamiliar things as threats. Fear of infection, a lack of understanding and a lack of control impact us on deep levels. For some people this can be considered a traumatic experience. However, it does not necessarily mean

Mothers are so hard on themselves. I often joke with clients that when women give birth someone secretly implants a guilt chip in their brain making them feel guilty about everything. Although the brain chip is not real, the issue of mother guilt is very real and it is depleting mothers who experience it and

Trust is vital in a relationship. Many people would agree with this statement. However many couples struggle and lack of trust is often cited as a problem. It is impossible to feel emotionally safe in a relationship when there is a lack of openness and transparency. There are secrets that clearly destroy trust in a relationship,

Now that we are over a month into the pandemic, the experience of being quarantined with our children has become real. Juggling the responsibilities of taking care of the home, keeping our children fed, active, educated, and entertained while possibly working from home and managing the various stressors caused by Covid-19 has begun to take

Have you gone through something as a child that was really challenging for you emotionally? Many of the clients we work with have. And these experiences can have long lasting impacts. When children experience such emotional challenges, they will find a way to cope that helps them to get through and survive. For many, that

We understand this is such a hard time. We are feeling it too. We miss our old routine. We miss our freedom to move about our community. We miss the ability to visit and enjoy our family and friends. We miss life as we knew it before the pandemic. We are collectively experiencing a traumatic response

Self-compassion is having the same compassion towards yourself that you have towards others. I often ask my clients to talk to themselves the same way they would talk to their best friend. And I will light-heartedly say,” if you talked to your friends the way you typically talk to yourself, you would not have any friends

Let’s face it, the current situation we are living in is proving to be challenging for ANY parent right now. Whether it is motivating them to do schoolwork or understanding what ‘social/physical distancing’ means is difficult for anyone. I thought I would share some insight into making lasting connections with your child and avoiding the power struggle that often occurs