Brilliant Adaptations
How we learned to cope, and how we learn to heal
- Apr 10, 2026Mental Health
Treatment Spotlight: SSRIs and SNRIs — The Scaffolding for Your Healing
I remember a conversation with a client named Elena. Elena was incredibly dedicated to her recovery. She showed up to every session, she read every book I recommended, and she practiced her grounding skills religiously. But after a few months, she sat on my couch and let out a long, heavy sigh.
- Apr 3, 2026Mental Health
Treatment Spotlight: Internal Family Systems — Healing the 'Parts' of You That Feel Broken
I remember a session with a client named Marcus.Marcus came to me because he felt like he was 'losing his mind.' He described it as having a boardroom full of people inside his head, all shouting at once.
- Dec 26, 2025Mental Health
Treatment Spotlight: Somatic Therapy --- Why Your Body Needs to Speak
I remember a specific session with a client named Sophie (name changed for confidentiality). Sophie was what we in the business call a 'perfect' therapy client. She was incredibly articulate and self-aware. Over the months we worked together, she had mapped out her history of childhood neglect with precision.
- Dec 19, 2025Mental Health
Treatment Spotlight: DBT --- The 'Brake Pedal' for a Hijacked Brain.
I hear this story way too often in the therapy room. A client sits down, looking defeated, and says: 'I don't know what happened. I was fine. And then my partner made one small comment, or I got one stressful email, and I just... snapped.'
- Dec 12, 2025Mental Health
Treatment Spotlight: How Moving Your Eyes Can Heal Your Past (The Science of EMDR)
I can't tell you how many times I've sat across from a client who looks at me, completely exhausted, and says something like this...
- Dec 5, 2025Mental Health
Rewiring the Survival Brain: A Guide to Treatment Options for Complex Trauma
We have spent the last few posts validating the heavy reality of trauma. We've looked at how it hijacks the brain, lives in the body, and obscures our true identity.
- Nov 28, 2025Mental Health
'Who Am I?' aka: How Trauma Obscures Your Authentic Self
In this series, we've traced the path of trauma through our brains, our bodies, our mental health, and our relationships. We've seen how 'brilliant adaptations' like Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn helped us survive.
- Nov 21, 2025Mental Health
Why Can't We Be Friends? How Trauma Shapes Our Relationships
Have you ever been told that you are 'too nice'? That you are 'too controlling'? How about a 'commitment-phobe'? 'You never listen when we are having a serious conversation'?
- Nov 14, 2025Mental Health
When Survival Mode Gets Stuck: Trauma and Your Mental Health
So far, in this blog, I've covered the neuroscience of the brain's alarm system and the deep, physical footprint trauma leaves on the body. We've seen how the brain gets hijacked and how the body gets stuck in a state of emergency.
- Nov 7, 2025Mental Health
Beyond the Mind: The Physical Footprint of Trauma
Remember the brain's alarm system---how the amygdala pulls the 'fire alarm' and floods the body with stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to prepare us for danger?
- Oct 31, 2025Mental Health
Your Brain's Alarm System: What Happens to Your Brain in a Traumatic Event
So far on the blog, we've talked about our 'brilliant adaptations' and the 'Four Fs' (Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn) that our bodies use to survive.
- Oct 24, 2025Mental Health
Meet Your Four Bodyguards (And Why They're Working Overtime)
Remember that term 'quiet trauma' the idea that our present-day struggles are often brilliant adaptations to past unmet needs? There's actually machinery behind those adaptations: your body's own internal security system.
- Oct 17, 2025Mental Health
The Trauma You Don't Know You Have
When you hear the word 'trauma,' what comes to mind? For most of us, the word conjures up intense, life-threatening events: a soldier's experience in combat, a major car accident, a natural disaster or a violent assault. We think of flashbacks and nightmares. We think of 'Big T' Trauma---the unmissable, life-altering lightning strikes.
