Taylor Swift’s sparkly ballad “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” highlights a harsh reality for many individuals struggling with their mental health: the need to hide their pain…
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The British television series, Fleabag, offers a clever depiction of dissociation through its heroine’s frequent asides to the camera. These moments extend beyond a dramatic device; they serve as a…
I recently came across a research paper that found a link between childhood trauma and adult headache disorders. A comprehensive meta-analysis detailed in the October 2023 issue of Neurology suggested…
In Taylor Swift’s moody synth-pop track “The Tortured Poets Department,” one particular lyric stands out for its raw portrayal of manipulation and control: “You told Lucy you’d kill yourself if…
As a clinical psychologist specializing in birth trauma, I’m all-too-familiar with the many ways the medical experience of childbirth – which 33-45% of birthing people report as being a traumatic…
When Prince Harry recently started speaking out about the harmful ways that both his family and the media treated his wife, Meghan — and how it re-triggered his trauma around…
When I was in second grade, a classmate approached my desk. “You’re brown,” he declared, his face contorted with repugnance. I turned and we locked eyes. He was brown like…
When Nicole* came to see me, she was pregnant with her second child. Nicole, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, was terrified about giving birth again. And she felt completely…
Imagine this: there are two people in labor at the same time at a hospital. Both of them planned vaginal childbirths. But their labors didn’t go smoothly, and the well-being…
We are currently living through a confluence of mass trauma events: a global pandemic; oppressive forces of white supremacy; a dangerously partisan political environment; an escalating climate crisis. Mounting evidence…