Toxic Shame: What It Is and What to Do about It
Shame is a popular topic these days, with educators and mental health professionals alerting us to the effects of toxic shame on our health and wellbeing. But identifying toxic shame and how it creeps into our lives and relationships—particularly our relationship with ourselves—can be quite tricky. You may have heard about the effects of toxic shame from speakers like Brené [...]
Video Blog: Happy Independence Day!
I want to wish you a Happy Independence Day in America. Here in America, we like to emphasize autonomy, individuation, how we take care of ourselves, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and do empowering, powerful, and resilient things. We have talked about the importance of independence and dependence – we need both to have interdependence, which is the hallmark [...]
Video Blog: Happy Father’s Day 2021
What Is a Father? Fathers play an impactful role. Ideally, they provide a container of safety and security for the entire family. I learned a lot from my dad. I’m sure you could take a moment to reflect on how your dad has influenced you. My dad instilled a sense of service and helping my community. He was a kind [...]
Video Blog – Honoring Memorial Day
Let’s take a moment to remember those close to us who have given their lives serving our country. Let’s extend that globally to all of the men and women who were brave warriors for their own countries, and take a moment to feel that gratitude for them. At the end of WWI, Miss Moina Michaels found a beautiful poem by [...]
May: Celebrating Mothers and Mothering Presence
May is time to celebrate Mother's Day. Take a moment to reflect on your relationship with your mother. Sometimes our relationships with our mothers are challenging, but we can look at what or who provided a loving, nurturing and mothering presence. Even a male person, like a father or brother, can have a mothering presence. See if you can take [...]
Video Blog: Try an Exercise “Create-a-Day” for Secure Attachment This Spring
Spring is a time for renewal, but it might also be time to try something new for neuroplasticity. I like to call these Create-a-Days where you set aside time to engage in your interests, but you never seem to have time. Create-a-Day could include new recipes, trying new art galleries, planting a garden for the first time. The important thing [...]
Video: Dr. Heller on FoxNews about Trauma Resources after the Boulder Shootings
Colorado therapists, Dr. Diane Poole Heller and Jennifer Silacci were interviewed on FoxNews on March 26, 2021, to discuss the far-reaching arms of trauma and how each time one of these mass shooting events occurs, it can re-trigger the families and communities. Re-opening these wounds does not have an expiration date, even as far back as Columbine and beyond. Resources [...]
Response to Boulder Tragedy: Tips to Calm the Nervous System and Therapy Resources
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the mass shooting tragedies that have occurred in the US in Atlanta, GA on March 16th, 2021 and Boulder, CO on March 22nd, 2021. For families of other mass shootings, even those as long ago as Columbine, these events can be triggering, causing the reliving of grief, loss and fear for people [...]
The Relationship Between Attachment and Trauma
As therapists, a strong understanding of attachment theory can inform nearly every aspect of your clinical practice, since attachment informs adult behaviors and relationships. How we respond to trauma often depends on attachment history and emotional resources developed early on, and can include medical conditions, birth trauma, or temperament. We are looking here mostly through the lens of caretaking patterns [...]
Happy St. Patrick’s Day Video Blog
We have had a few spring-like days in Colorado, and it even smelled like spring! For me, this is always time for renewal, both on the Earth and in our lives. With the pandemic dragging on, everyone I know is excited to get outside for some socially safe get-togethers. Having that social connection is so important to secure attachment. In [...]