The challenge of being authentic for someone who is neurodivergent is that privilege often gets in the way. There exists a whole spectrum of innate personality characteristics. Layered on that, we have culture, which sets the norms for what behavior is acceptable and what is not. To some extent, we must adapt our behavior to function [...]
Loneliness is universal, especially now with social isolation. If we don’t learn anything else from this time, I hope we learn it now. The truth is, I think we have always been lonely. We just had a million-and-one ways to distract ourselves from it. Trauma-Related Loneliness Do you ever wonder why people can be lonely [...]
Today I read a post from George W. Bush pleading the need for compassion during the Covid crisis. I was surprised to see it coming from him. During his presidency he neglected to send aid to New Orleans for five days following massive flooding caused by hurricane Katrina. At the time, I thought his [...]
Healing from the trauma of oppression is necessary to ensure our survival and well-being. In spite of the need, in the world of mental health, injustices are rarely acknowledged and if they are, you rarely find answers as to what to do about it. Often, the message is when you struggle to deal with injustice, [...]
We are living through a challenging time. The changes have been unprecedented and leave us isolated and feeling uncertain. As a mental health care professional I think it is important to acknowledge that this is a source of stress at best and at worst traumatizing. These times require us to focus on self-care during [...]
The name Common Violet Therapy was created to refer to my desire to develop an organization based on the value of recognizing the contribution of each individual as unique and containing inherent value that can be shared with the collective. The common violet as a little jewel of a plant that is rare and [...]
