Category: Recovery
Posted on June 3, 2014
by MJ
6 Comments
There is one core dialectic nestled in the DBT assumptions: People are doing the best they can, and people need to do better, try harder, and be more motivated to change. Here is the entire list of DBT assumptions: People are doing the best… Continue Reading “DBT Assumptions”
Posted on June 2, 2014
by MJ
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I’ve stated that my daughter and I started a 25-week Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills group. There are five other teens in the group with their parents so it’s not a big group. Most of the kids seem to struggle with “target” behaviors on… Continue Reading “DBT 101”
Category: Borderline Personality Disorder, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, mental health, Recovery, relationships, therapyTags: bio-social theory, dialectical behavior therapy, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, invalidating environment, mindfulness, self-validation, validation
Posted on May 26, 2014
by MJ
9 Comments
I recently spoke with a beloved friend experiencing emotional pain due to a family interaction. Her sentiments were familiar. This interaction was similar to an older one, and it brought forth latent feelings of ontological insignificance. “I don’t matter.” Isn’t this something we can… Continue Reading “You are the Masterpiece”
Category: encouragement, Healing, mental health, Moving Forward, Recovery, TruthTags: art therapy, encouragement, healing process, lost Van Gogh painting recovered, ontological significance, Recovery, restoration, safe people, truth
Posted on April 19, 2014
by MJ
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I have four daughters, and, for whatever reason, they are all susceptible to anxiety. Studies have shown that people born with a smaller hippocampus in comparison to others tend to struggle with anxiety and a propensity to develop PTSD after trauma. My husband has… Continue Reading “Anxiety, DBT, and The Dialectic”
Posted on February 27, 2014
by MJ
3 Comments
In my last post, I talked about learning to make plans for yourself in the context of possessing a sense of a foreshortened future. This can feel almost impossible if one has poor distress tolerance. Distress tolerance is very important when it comes to… Continue Reading “Learning to Deal”
Category: abuse in families, anxiety, encouragement, mental health, Recovery, therapyTags: anxiety, coping strategies, distress tolerance, healing process, PTSD, sense of foreshortened future, trauma
Posted on February 11, 2014
by MJ
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I’m finally getting around to writing a follow-up post to Breaking The Mold. What are our options if we have confused our personae for our authentic identity? More than that, what if we can’t tell the difference and feel trapped in some sort of… Continue Reading “A False Perception of Self”
Category: abuse in families, anxiety, emotional abuse, God, Healing, mental health, Moving Forward, Recovery, relationshipsTags: dysfunctional relationships, low self-esteem, persona vs. identity, safe people, safe relationships, self-esteem
Posted on February 6, 2014
by MJ
5 Comments
I want to talk for a moment about dissociation. There will come a moment in almost all our lives when we will check out. A part of us will go away in order to cope with pain. The human brain is very complex,… Continue Reading “Dealing with Dissociation”
Category: abuse in families, Christianity, emotional abuse, God, Healing, mental health, Recovery, Sexual Abuse, therapyTags: abuse, dissociation, Donny Lee Silk, El Roi, Faith, God, healing process, sexual abuse, therapy, trauma
Posted on January 26, 2014
by MJ
4 Comments
I have never contacted an author for any reason. Never because I’ve liked their material. Never to complain. Never because I was fan-girling over their latest novel or having a fit over how they wrote a character out of a storyline. I am… Continue Reading “Breaking The Mold”
Category: abuse in families, Borderline Personality Disorder, Christianity, emotional abuse, Faith, Healing, mental health, Mothers, Recovery, Sexual Abuse, TruthTags: abuse, adult children of borderline parents, Borderline Personality Disorder, Christianity, God, persona vs. identity, self-actualization, self-loathing, therapy, truth
Posted on December 29, 2013
by MJ
3 Comments
I had a really weird social interaction yesterday. I didn’t think I was going to write about it, but here I am, sitting in my bed in my pajamas under the down comforter, exhausted from the day, and my mind feels restless and preoccupied.… Continue Reading “Being Your Authentic Self”
Category: Christianity, encouragement, Faith, God, Healing, Jesus, Moving Forward, Recovery, therapy, TruthTags: authentic self, Christianity, false self, God, healing process, performance-based Christianity, persona
Posted on October 8, 2013
by MJ
13 Comments
I decided to practice self-care so I met with a therapist. This is what this new therapist has observed. The “cognitive stuff” is done. I know what is true, and I know how to apply it. That feels like a huge victory. What isn’t… Continue Reading “The Box”
Category: anxiety, mental health, PTSD, Recovery, therapyTags: anxiety, anxiety in children, coping strategies, EMDR, perseveration, Recovery, The Box, therapy, trauma, triggers