The “White Noise” of Gender Dysphoria

Much of my work at Live Oak focuses on working with those who experience gender dysphoria, or those who identify as part of the Trans* community. This experience can take many shapes, including feeling at odds between one’s mental experience and physical body,...

How Does Psychotherapy Help the Brain?

Psychological approaches to mental health—like psychotherapy—and biological approaches to mental health—like the medications prescribed by physicians—address many of the same human problems from different directions.  It is a mistake to think of ourselves as merely...

Doubt: From Dread to Choice

Doubt has a negative connotation; it is often associated with fear or dread. However, the origin of the word in Latin (dubitare) does not carry the same ominous weight. Dubitare meant to question, hesitate, or to consider the choice between two things. It wasn’t...

10 Strategies for Healing From Trauma Now

Often when we think about healing from trauma we think about how daunting the journey may be.  We may even choose to put off directly addressing our trauma because the challenge may feel too great.  Whether we choose to engage in the formal process of...

What is Trauma?

Defining Trauma Historically, there has been controversy over what constitutes “trauma.”  Mental health definitions have changed over time, but most explanations still discuss exposure to an event (or witnessing an event) that threatens our physical or emotional...

Trauma and Our Multiple Identities

It is virtually impossible to understand trauma without understanding the extent to which it resides within our multiple, complex, and shifting identities.  The same traumatic experience will be understood and metabolized differently when experienced at age 3 than at...

How Does Psychotherapy Help?

I will be answering this question in a short video that will be available soon at http://projectpsychotherapy.blogspot.com.  My thoughts here are a version of what I plan to say less formally in the video. Psychotherapy helps by offering a unique place in which to...