Since the publication of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III), psychiatrists and insurance companies have required certain diagnoses to be rendered based on its contents. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a lot of clients falling through the gaps, and many of them have not been able [...]

  It’s not uncommon for trauma victims to shy away from relationships, and most of the time, they don’t really know why they feel so awkward about them. Perhaps you can relate to feeling this way in your own life. It’s possible that you’ve even tried to have a romantic relationship (or more than one) [...]

  Children have various coping styles, and thanks to the work of Mary Ainsworth and Mary Main, two American scientists, we now have a better understanding of what those coping styles are. Through countless hours of observing how infants and children interacted with their mothers, they were able to discern several different coping styles. They [...]

  Traumatic events can happen at any point in your life. Some women experience trauma when they become involved in relationships that involve domestic violence. Some men experience trauma when they return from war as veterans. Other people (both men and women) develop traumatic responses to situations such as being bullied on the playground as [...]

  As a victim of some sort of traumatic event in your past, you probably struggle with the fact that there are many times during the course of your day when you experience feelings of all kinds, but you lack the words to be able to express them. This is very common for trauma victims, [...]

We tend to think of trauma as something that occurs because of a serious physical event that happened to us at some point in our lives. Most of the time we equate it to instances of physical abuse or sexual abuse. However, that’s not always the case. When an individual experiences emotional abuse or neglect, [...]

  Everything about our lives is made up of social networks. Think about the relationships you have (or wish you had) with your friends and family members. Those people offer you the social support you need and they provide you with a social structure for your life. These connections with people are very important to [...]

  For someone who isn’t trying to cope with a traumatic event in his or her past, it’s normal to spend a fair amount of time being “on guard” and ready to defend. In fact, this is the case for all mammals, and in most cases, human beings aren’t much different. However, there comes a [...]

  People respond to trauma in a variety of different ways because no two people are the same. Our brains are all very unique, and while some people respond with a type of panic response, others are only able to offer a blank stare and minimal conversation. Perhaps you’ve been through a traumatic event in [...]

  When you have been through a traumatic event in your life, it’s common for you to experience a type of overreaction whenever you have a trigger. Perhaps you can relate to that, but you struggle to realize why there seems to be a connection between the way you feel and the events that have [...]