How to Recognize and Cope with Anxiety in the Age of Overwhelm
Anxiety is not a flaw. It is an adaptive mechanism designed by evolution to alert us to danger and prepare us to respond. When functioning as intended, it sharpens attention, heightens awareness, and mobilizes energy for action. However, in the age of constant stimulation, anxiety can become chronic, disproportionate, and exhausting. The amygdala, the brain’s threat detector, can remain on high alert even in objectively ‘safe’ situations, while the prefrontal cortex struggles to exert its calming, rational influence. The result is a body perpetually ready for danger, and a mind constantly scanning for what could go wrong.
What to Expect in Your First Trauma Therapy Session
You don’t have to share everything right away. The first session is not where you’re expected to recount your trauma in detail. In fact, most therapists won’t ask you to. Instead, we start by getting to know you: what brings you in, what life looks like day to day, and how trauma symptoms are showing up for you now. If talking about certain things feels too overwhelming, you can say that. Pacing is part of the process.
Supporting a Loved One with PTSD
PTSD is the nervous system stuck in “protect” mode. Your loved one isn’t choosing these reactions; they’re having responses shaped by past danger. Understanding this helps you shift from “Why are they acting like this?” to “Their body thinks it’s not safe right now.”
You don’t have to memorize neuroscience. Just remember: trauma responses are automatic, not intentional.
Play Therapy Techniques for Children with Trauma
One of the first things that happens in trauma-focused play therapy is the establishment of safety. This doesn’t mean avoiding difficult feelings; it means creating a space where the child feels secure enough to explore them. Children learn quickly whether an adult can handle their emotional world. A therapist trained in trauma understands how to sit with intensity, aggression, fear, or grief without becoming overwhelmed or trying to shut it down.
What EMDR Is and What to Expect in Therapy
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is one of the most researched and widely used trauma therapies in the world since 1987. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR involves a structured, neuroscience-informed process that can feel unfamiliar until you’ve spent some time inside it. It’s experiential, adaptive, and deeply collaborative. And while the method is unique, the goal is simple: to help the brain complete the healing response that trauma once interrupted.
Understanding Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) has gained clinical attention in recent years for one key reason: it reliably increases neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections, while creating a temporary state in which clients can engage more effectively in therapy. Ketamine itself is not new; it has been used safely as an anesthetic for over 50 years. What’s new is how it’s being applied in mental health care.
