Resources & Articles
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Understanding Depression: From a Normal Emotional Response to a Debilitating Mental Health Condition
This post is educational for the purpose of building self-awareness. It is not a tool or substitute for professional or medical advice and should not be used to diagnose clinical depression. When people talk about being “depressed” in a casual, everyday manner, it blurs the line between a normal emotional response of sadness to…
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Deconstruction Does Not Equal Losing Your Faith
Almost 10 years ago I was alone in my kitchen, anxious, and taking deep breaths in an attempt to stop physically shaking. I’d just wrapped up a text exchange with a respected and influential member of my former church community where I’d indicated I held a theological perspective that differed from hers, all via…
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Understanding Anxiety: From a Normal Emotional Response to a Debilitating Mental Health Condition
This post is educational for the purpose of building self-awareness. It is not a tool or substitute for professional or medical advice and should not be used to diagnose clinical anxiety. From high anxiety situations like public speaking and looming deadlines, to experiences of being the “new kid” or going on a first date,…
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You’re Not Meant to Do This Alone: The Power of Community for Emotional Health
Over the last few months, I’ve written about tools that we can use to help ourselves feel more emotionally regulated, particularly in a polarizing social-political climate. We’ve explored why we react with big emotions, ways to calm down and self-regulate when activated, and how to listen to others when it’s outside of our comfort…
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Things We Don’t Say Out Loud: Taboo Topics to Bring to Your Therapist
We’ve previously written about how you don’t have to be in crisis to benefit from psychotherapy, proposing instead that regular and consistent psychotherapy can function as a kind of self-care or protective factor for maintaining your mental health. People often wonder what to talk about in therapy if there’s nothing outwardly “wrong” or “not…
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The Art of Listening: How Active Listening Transforms Relationships
Think about the last time you felt truly heard. Not just tolerated while you talked or nodded at while someone waited for their turn, but actually heard and genuinely felt like the other person had received what you said? How long ago was that? And more importantly, how often do you offer that to…
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Post-Graduation Slump: Why You Feel Lost After Graduation (And How To Reorient)
You turned in your last papers, donned your cap and gown, then crossed that stage to receive your diploma. You did it! You graduated. But after the graduation parties are over and the last of congratulatory cards from relatives arrive, something inside feels uneasy. Everyone told you that this was the beginning of the…
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How to Calm Down When You’re Activated: Emotional Regulation Tools That Actually Work
A few weeks ago I wrote about why we react the way we do when we are triggered and briefly explained how we can move out our window of tolerance into hyperarousal or hypo-arousal when we are activated. Today we’re getting practical, because understanding why we get activated is only half the equation. The…
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Why Do I React That Way? Understanding Your Emotional Triggers in a Polarized World
You scroll past a headline and your chest tightens. Someone at dinner says something you disagree with and you feel your jaw clench. Or maybe it’s the opposite; you go quiet, feel yourself go numb, and check out of a conversation you know matters to you. Sound familiar? You’re Not Overreacting, You’re Wired This…
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Connection And Play: Essentials for “A Life Worth Living”
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking to nearly 100 undergrad students at the University of Washington. A dear friend of mine is a professor of religion and he invited me to speak to his class on the topic of what makes “a life worth living.” The basic premise is, as the course…