Why some gay men feel alone even around others, and how to change it. For many gay men, loneliness often stems from unspoken feelings and unmet emotional needs. Hiding parts of ourselves to avoid judgment can create chronic isolation. Healing begins when we speak honestly about how we feel and let ourselves be seen. Loneliness is one of the most common issues that comes up in the work I do with gay men. Regardless of age, it’s a topic that is often talked about in therapy. Ga

Keep connection strong by leading with values, setting boundaries, and more. Lead with core values, not headlines; ask curious questions to build empathy and trust. Listen more. Set clear boundaries on topics, time, and tone; pause or exit respectfully when needed. Take breaks. Protect your relationships by prioritizing connection over winning; seek shared goals and common ground. When politics heat up, your nervous system does, too. That knot in your stomach is your body’s a

Parents' insights into acceptance and emotional growth. Fears about donor conception typically fade. Embracing donor conception and parenthood often comes with time. Creating a narritive that feels right for you can be comforting. Donor conception will not always be the focal point of your parenting concerns. Using the genetics of someone you don’t know to help you build one of the most intimate relationships in your life can be very difficult. It can generate feelings of los

Festering anger that damages us and those around us can soften. Strong, chronic anger from childhood adversity damages us physically, mentally, and interpersonally. Anger can be resolved by softening angry memories and cultivating affirmative emotions This post is part of a series on adverse childhood experiences. Read the other parts here. Among Doreen’s six adverse childhood experiences was a cynical, angry, and emotionally abusive father. Today at 55, Doreen’s father has p

What your brain does under threat—and what healing looks like. Trauma hijacks the brain’s survival systems, shutting down higher-order thinking. Freezing and dissociation are survival strategies, not failures. PTSD disrupts the brain’s ability to “turn off” the alarm. Evidence-based PTSD treatments restore the brains ability to modulate the threat response. Have you ever questioned why you—or someone close to you—froze, went numb, or seemed to shut down in the midst of trauma

How to bring self-worth back to center, again and again. Managing your low self-worth emotions when they strike is the key to overcoming low self-esteem. If you learn how to manage your triggers differently, self-efficacy develops. The more you know you can cope with setbacks in the moment, the more peace and joy you can feel. If you read my posts on How Low Self-Worth Quietly Shapes Your Life and How to Reset a Low Self-Worth Default, you now have an understanding of how the

Recognizing the distinction between OCD and BFRBs matters for diagnosis and treatment. Both OCD and BFRBs involve repetitive behaviors that can feel hard to stop. OCD and BFRBs can overlap, but they are separate conditions with differing treatment approaches. Getting the right diagnosis is the first step toward the right kind of help. Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often confused. Both conditions can cause significant dis

Embracing grieving and forgiveness can help heal anger, blame, and pain. High-conflict gray divorce can cause estrangement between parents and children. Forgiveness is for our healing, not excusing the person who hurt us. Grieving and forgiveness practices can ease pain and heal and rebuild wounded relationships. Gray divorce refers to couples aged 50 and older ending their marriage. Researchers found that the divorce rate for this group has been the fastest growing in the U.

Understanding our family through the multigenerational transmission process. Families pass on behaviors, emotions, and relationship patterns from generation to generation. The family is the first social system to which an individual is exposed. Becoming aware of our inherited patterns, we can choose which to continue and which to change. Imagine navigating through a forest, where each tree represents a family , and its roots represent its members that span back many generatio