Surviving Real Life Horrors

Trigger Warning: Holocaust

My family and I are refugees. We moved to the United States to escape violence related to being Jewish. With the recent rise of Anti-Semitism, I was already feeling threatened. Last Saturday, an angry man with a gun claimed 11 lives of innocent elderly human beings, one of whom, Rose Mallinger, was a 97-year old Holocaust survivor. My heart shattered that day.  Continue reading Surviving Real Life Horrors

Mental Health Representation Matters

Many of us like talking about pop culture, whether it’s comics, TV shows, movies, books, or video games. For those of us in the mental health field (and for many outside of this field), it may be fun to occasionally speculate about a fictional character’s psychological perspective. Perspective taking can actually help foster  empathy building and compassion toward others. However, diagnosing characters or people whom therapists have not evaluated in a session can be risky. Continue reading Mental Health Representation Matters

Overcoming the pain of disconnection

Two weeks ago my best friend of 17 years permanently removed me and over 70 other people from their life. There was no warning. There were neither signs nor conflicts leading up to this. There wasn’t an opportunity for a discussion, an agreement, or closure.

Sometimes loss has no rational explanation. Sometimes an end of a friendship, relationship, job or career, can feel like a part of us died. Jim Butcher, the author of the best-selling Dresden Files, describes a scenario in which his main protagonist, Harry Dresden, a wizard/private investigator discusses heartbreak as if someone’s soul is being ripped apart with a barbed wire on the inside.  Continue reading Overcoming the pain of disconnection