Sexuality and relationship issues often stem from past experiences that have left emotional scars or negative beliefs about one’s self and others. EMDR facilitates the reprocessing of these memories, helping individuals to integrate positive and adaptive information, and desensitize the emotional charge associated with past traumas. In the realm of sexuality, EMDR can assist individuals in overcoming inhibitions, shame, or negative self-perceptions that may hinder their healthy sexual expression.

An Invitation as You Navigate the Israel-Palestine Conflict

When you approach someone from a place of curiosity and understanding, they become less of a monster and more of a human. It’s your choice who you connect with right now. You don’t have to cultivate empathy for other people but I encourage you to embrace nuance. Recognize the conflict in the Middle East is complicated and layered. The temptation to sort yourself into a group is very strong right now but, in the end, we’re all just humans, no matter what group we belong to.

Denise RenyeOctober 18, 2023trauma, trauma healing, trauma response, trauma bond, collective trauma healing, israel, palestine, war, ptsd, PTSD

Exploring the Synergy: The Roles of Psychologists and Marriage & Family Therapists

Marriage and family therapy and psychology are both invaluable fields in the mental health arena, each offering a unique set of skills and approaches. The choice between these professions depends on the specific needs of the individual or family seeking help.

Reconnecting Body and Mind: The Transformative Power of Focusing and Felt Sensing

In a world where we are increasingly encouraged to divorce our bodies and minds, Eugene Gendlin's work on focusing and felt sensing offers a powerful antidote. These practices not only facilitate the reconnection of body and mind but also serve as transformative tools for communication. For folx who have been oppressed, these practices are particularly valuable, as they provide a means to speak from a place of authenticity and empowerment. By embracing these techniques, individuals can unlock their true selves, paving the way for healing, personal growth, and societal change.

The Link Between Perimenopause and Anxiety

However, one does not necessarily cause the other. Some women go through perimenopause without anxiety or depression. Biology is only one factor, there are others such as life stressors, economic insecurity, racism, past trauma, and many more that may also contribute to the development of anxiety in women during this time of life.

Trauma Response or Procrastination? How to Tell the Difference

Many people deal with wanting to put off tasks that are hard, physically and emotionally. Perhaps you are at a job that you don’t really enjoy but stay because it’s financially advantageous. If you find yourself putting tasks off until tomorrow (or the next day…or the next day) and you have had traumatic events or relationships in your life, it may be hard to discern if the avoidance of a task is procrastination or a trauma response. Both trauma response of freeze and procrastination can involve avoidance behavior, but they have different underlying causes and motivations.

What Exactly is PTSD though?

As a trauma-informed practice, we work with many folx who have experienced trauma. Sometimes this may result in a diagnosis of PTSD. This can feel very stigmatizing for some patients, while others feel freed by finally having a name for what is happening within them. Yet others may feel all sort of things in between. We hear PTSD on the regular these days. But what exactly is it?

How Active Imagination and the Inner Child Work Together

You can communicate with your inner child(ren) as much as you’d like, and as with anything, as long as it doesn’t interfere with other areas of your life. Your active imagination can take you far. Where do you want to go?

Witches, Women, and Psychology

Witches, of today and yesteryear, accept all parts of themselves, which promotes psychological healing for us all. There is a depth of healing that can occur when individual work is done that enacts not only on their own psyche but also heals collective trauma. When intergenerational and collective trauma are more richly understood and focused upon, deeper layers of healing can occur.

Hypervigilance and How it Thwarts Pleasure

Some people may go along with something sexual in order to people please, to make sure the other person doesn’t get angry with them, feel disappointed, become upset or whatever it is they’re afraid will happen. The person is “fawning” and not engaging in the sexual activity because it’s pleasing or pleasurable to them, rather, they’re doing it for the other person.

The Stages of Inner Child Healing

People in the process of healing their inner children may undergo this acceptance process as well. They may no longer fight life but accept it as it is. They may also start to trust the process and themselves, knowing it will lead to somewhere new, more integrated, and more whole.

How to Cultivate a Deeper Relationship with the Body

If you want to feel more spacious in your life, if you’re craving a slower pace, slowing down your breath is a great place to start. Try it right now. Inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold for a count of four. This is called a box breath. Repeat this sort of breathing as much as you like. There’s a journal prompt below to help you engage in this breathing experience.

Addiction: Dancing Between Worlds

They don’t belong because the child knows on some level there’s a healthier way of existing, that there’s another way to show up in the world and live, even if they’re not quite sure what that looks like. For a child who perpetually feels like an outsider in their own home, or an adult who feels untethered to anyone, this can lead to numerous symptoms, including addiction and addictive tendencies.

How Overturning Roe v. Wade May be Affecting Your (Mental) Health

Rigorous, long-term psychological research demonstrates clearly that people who are denied abortions are more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety, lower life satisfaction and lower self-esteem compared with those who are able to obtain abortions. In addition, there is no research to indicate that abortion is a cause for subsequent mental health diagnoses.

How Yoga Nidra Can Help You

yoga nidra can help with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction, insomnia, anxiety, and more. That’s not conjecture, by the way. A study from 2011 found yoga nidra helped war veterans reduce rage, anxiety, and emotional reactivity while increasing feelings of relaxation, peace, self-awareness, and self-efficacy. In 2014, a study by Pamela Pence found sexual trauma survivors reported significant decreases in PTSD symptoms, negative thoughts of self-blame, and depression. They also reported an increased feeling of joy.

Denise RenyeMay 10, 2022yoga, yoga therapy, yoga nidra, PTSD and sexual assault, ptsd, trauma, trauma healing

How to Work with Judgment

Whatever you're judging yourself about, it's worth it to ask if maybe the judge is mistaken and practice accepting yourself as you, right now. You don't have to do it alone, if you look around you might find there are already people in your life who love and accept you without changing a thing. Seek them out and let them shine that love upon you while you learn to do it for yourself.

Denise RenyeMay 2, 2022judgement, self love, trauma, trauma healing, healing

Healing is Not Linear

Healing is also not swift, despite the numerous people in the world trying to tell you otherwise with their quick-fix products and programs. Awareness of an issue is one thing – something afforded by the use of psychedelics, for instance – but integration is another.

Denise RenyeApril 4, 2022healing, healing the body, sexual healing, trauma healing, trauma

What is Polyandry?

There’s so much attention on men with multiple partners, but what about the reverse? What about a woman in a consensual relationship with multiple men?

The Importance of Belonging

Belonging contributes to self-worth, self-esteem, and a sense of who you are, even. And it starts young – not at school in terms of who you sit with at lunch, but before that, with your family. Yes, they may provide shelter and food but that’s simply not enough to engender a feeling of belonging.

Denise RenyeMarch 16, 2022belonging, trauma, trauma healing

Are you Gaslighting Yourself?

Gaslighting can be unconscious. It can be so effortless you don’t even know it’s happening. It could be your normal way of operating and last for years unchecked because it thrives in the shadows. That also means by looking at the shadow, by doing shadow work, it’s possible to reconnect with reality and that internal light can shine forth like a beacon.

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