The Journey of Self-Discovery — Have you ever seen the movie Never Been Kissed that stars Drew Barrymore? We see Josie “Grossie” Gellar as the movie flashes back to her awkward teenage years in high school in which she was bullied; fast forward to the present and she is still somewhat an awkward adult, a…

Prolonged Exposure, Equine-Assisted Therapy, and Art — Many people may use avoidance as a coping mechanism after experiencing traumatic events, unaware that this is very maladaptive and can lead to greater harm and dysfunction. Avoidance, often enabled through substance abuse, is reinforcing and causes the traumatic memories to linger in the subconscious. Through sleep disturbances, flashbacks, nightmares…

Part 4 of 4 — Like a cancer left untreated that keeps on growing, if you do not heal the source, trauma will continue to linger causing more and more dysfunction. The American Society of Addiction Medicine has been around since 1954 and are committed to removing stigmas that surround addiction through public outreach. There…

Part 3 of 4 — Perhaps history can shed some light onto the attitudes and the treatment of those struggling with addiction today. Hundreds of years ago, mental institutions or insane asylums housed the mentally ill and drug addicted, but the cost was too expensive and so many of the hospitals were shut down. Worse…

Part 2 of 4 — If trauma is in our genes, passed down generationally, and mental diseases and addiction are rooted in trauma, what needs to change about how society perceives and treats these issues? I first began studying psychology 20+ years ago (informally, I read immensely) before ultimately completing my bachelor’s degree in the…