It’s a strange thing, but it makes sense when I break it down and be honest with myself. Recently I was watching an episode of,“The Real Housewives of New York,” and one of...
Today I Love Friends Having Adventures
No heat yet ... Today I love friends having adventures like the one my friends Bob and Caroline are on. I love that they are seeing parts of Spain that we missed, everything needs to be experienced in this world and if we team up we should be able to accomplish that....
Back to Reality
In my article Time Out of Mind (Toronto, Ellen L. K. (2009). Time Out of Mind: Dissociation in the Virtual World. Psychoanalytic Psychology. 26 (2) 117-133. ), I discuss the idea...
Random Acts of Kindness From Parrots
Pearl and I have a bond that has outlasted nearly every other connection in my life - including with most humans! My 21-year-old cockatiel, Pearl, knows what "belly kisses" means. (Just in case you don't, it means I want to kiss his soft belly feathers). Sometimes I want to kiss his belly feathers -...
Early Sexual Victimization of Children & Adolescents: 19 Signs
Early sexual victimization can create both immediate and long-term challenges for survivors. Prolonged and intrusive sexual abuse on the developmentally immature psyche of a child frequently contributes to the dilemmas of identity formation and development. Child sexual abuse impairs self-esteem, identity development, abilities to trust, and challenges with problem solving. As a result, the adolescent is...
Life Is Unpredictable: Making Each & Every Day Count
In a single week, it was my nephews one-year memorial and two families from my community tragically lost their husband and father prematurely to massive heart attacks. It was hard to see...
Enmeshed Emotional Covert Incest: The Physical, Sexual Aspect
In this series on the cringeworthy topic of enmeshed, emotionally incestuous parents (EEIPs for short), this will be the most bleeeeh article. So far, we've assumed in this series that the EEIPs are "only" emotionally over-involved with their child. I was careful to predicate each article on the (hopeful) assumption that physical incest has not occurred.
When it Comes Down to Winter Survival
My tiny house in the snowy night Even though I took my birthday week off, I’m coming back with a self-indulgent theme; the winter storm I just weathered in my tiny house, with pain, limitations and all. This is something that will touch most of us at some time or another—survival skills in storms...
Bipolar Disorder and Chronic Pain
I live with fibromyalgia and arthritis alongside my bipolar disorder, which can be really challenging. Chronic pain can influence my moods, just as my moods can worsen my chronic pain. It can be a delicate balancing act to live well with both physical and mental illness.
Too Many Irons
I also do laundry ... when I remember to Some day I'm going to do an episode of my radio show on word association. The problem is that my radio show is about music, not writing or ADHD or any of the other things I do. In fairness, I do music too. I've written...
Today I Love Wording On The Ether
The dawn came out of a night sky Today I love wording on the ether or whatever this that I do is called. I love that I almost always refer to this as writing a column when I talk to people and I recently realized that I do that because I'm so...
“Good” Interrupting and ADHD
People with ADHD often have a habit of interrupting others in conversation, even when they know it’s inappropriate. Thank you, poor impulse control!
Enmeshed Emotional Covert Incest: Boundaries Just Don’t Exist
"I bet you didn't have any boundaries," my friend said the other day. "Boundaries? What are those?" I responded, sarcastically. But it's true. If you are The Beloved Child of an enmeshed, emotionally incestuous parent (EEIP for to be confused with ROUSs), boundaries simply don't exist. Ever. There isn't even a millimeter thick membrane protecting any facet of your human existence...
Mental Illness in the Enlightenment
I’m suspicious of histories that attribute 21st Century DSM 5 diagnoses to characters who lived long before such conditions were ever identified. But then again, manic depression certainly existed before it was named by Emil Kraepelin in the late 19th century, and major depression, once called melancholia, has always been with us.
In This World
They are there ... In this world there are rules. Some of them are unwritten, assumed to be known and understood. Some of them are written, and also assumed to be known and understood. But the written rules are often written somewhere where they can't be seen by people living in this world. And...
Today I Love Tuesday’s That Work
Seems like it might be just the right amount of Tuesday ... Today I love Tuesdays that work right out of the box. I love when they start out being exactly what I ordered and then reveal themselves to be even better. I love how there are Tuesdays that...
Are You the Family Scapegoat? (10 Question Quiz)
by Rebecca C. Mandeville, MFT It would be nice to believe that when children turn into adults they are somehow magically released from the family scapegoat role. However, this is not at all...
Religious Sexual Abuse: A Return to Shame
It'd been some time since my husband, Rhys, and I had scorched the sheets together. Poor health and physical pain are as good as a cold shower. But with healing, comes desire...
Schizophrenia & Family Support: 5 Essential Benefits
Schizophrenia is characterized as a serious mental health disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. The disorder involves a range of problems with thinking (cognition), behavior and emotions. For some, schizophrenia may result in a combination of hallucinations, delusions, extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, which can be disabling. Although, people with schizophrenia...
Coping with Anger from a Loved One’s Mental Illness
Dr. Aimee Daramus shares her insight and expertise in this guest blog about managing emotions when someone you care about has a mental illness.