Safety and Safe Spaces: Are They Possible?

News reports, radio, and the internet have been highlighting a recent letter sent to incoming undergraduates from the administration at The University of Chicago (U of C). Among other things, the letter states that the University does “not condone the creation of...

Life Has No Trigger Warnings

More and more I hear people asking for trigger warnings when there is a chance something someone may say or do will evoke emotional pain. This is happening on college campuses where students are asking faculty to provide warnings about difficult classroom material, as...

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...