Articles
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Sexual violence takes many forms. While most of use are aware of violations including rape, incest and child sexual abuse, sexual violence can be defined to include “any event in which someone is sexually touched or violated without giving consent.” This definition...
A therapist reflects and soul searches after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Shooting
On Feb. 14th , 2018, Valentine’s Day, there was another mass shooting. 16 students and one teacher were killed as a result. I learned of the tragedy in between my sessions that day. I don’t recall whether it was from reading my Google news in between sessions as I...
Trauma: The Complexity Within
Sure, we have all heard the word. Chances are we have spoken about it from time to time, and felt as though we firmly understood its meaning. Maybe we use the word in a joking context or with hyperbolic flare. Regardless, it is in our vocabulary, it is part of the...
We’re All in This Together
The t-shirt hanging in the lobby of my yoga studio caught my eye at first because of its vibrant colors: an ombré blend of royal purple that blurred into aquamarine, then bled into the color of pistachio ice cream. But it was the message silk-screened on the front...
The Myth of “Otherness”
When we experience or hear about tragedy befalling our fellow beings at the hands of other humans, our knee-jerk reaction is to distance ourselves emotionally and physically from those we label “ evil.” We claim to not understand their bent for destruction, or...
The Line in the Sand
You cannot set a boundary and attend to someone else’s feelings. The two are mutually exclusive. - Melody Beattie Boundaries provide safety; they delineate where something ends and another begins. Knowing how and when to set boundaries is an act of self-love, and...
Women and Anxiety
A recent global study demonstrates that women are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than men, and that the risk for women and men increases after age 35. Researchers suggest that evolutionary biology may account for women’s increased vulnerability. Women play a...
Finding Peace
Finding Peace By: Lisa Aranas, 2016 As I drove to work one day, there was yet another act of terrorism on the news. This time, it was Paris. My mind wandered to all the stories that had been on the news lately - gun violence, mental health, Obamacare, police...
Identity Theft
Like a tropical storm touching down on land, addiction leaves destruction and pain in its path, laying waste to lives, fortunes, health. But one of the most profound losses lies in our propensity to see the addict AS his addiction, a gruesome, scary force that holds...
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
New Year’s resolutions often focus on behaviors we’d like to change, negative habits we’d like to leave behind. How many of us have pledged that THIS would be the year we stop smoking, eat less fast food, stop making excuses and work out more often? These kinds of...