Articles on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Trauma / Complex PTSD

Using music therapy to heal Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

I think I am on firm ground when I say that music permeates our daily lives. On any subway you can find more than a few people sitting with their earphones, heads bobbing to music. Equally anxious to escape into another world, earphoned joggers can often be seen on big-city sidewalks dodging headphoned and meandering pedestrians. Music comes in all forms; we have elevator music to save us from the burden of small talk during that arduously long one-minute journey; music to protect our study from interruptions in the library, and Starbucks music for leisurely reading in that coffee shop.

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Date Posted: August 21, 2012

Categories: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Trauma / Complex PTSD, Relaxation techniques

Coping with stress: What does love have to do with it?

When life tries to slap us down, we instinctively turn to others for support particularly our intimate partners. Although this tendency to seek emotional support from loved ones to heal our wounds has long been recognized, it is only in the past couple of decades that substantial scientific evidence has been obtained of its effectiveness.

Probably the most lucid summary of the importance of intimate relationships in recovering from stress, even traumatic stress, has been recently provided by Dr. Susan Johnson (2012). She did so as part of a series of online interviews with some of the world’s greatest experts on trauma and its treatment (National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM), 2012). Before discussing her presentation and the specific scientific evidence for the power of a loving relationship to reduce stress, the different types of stressors and some examples will be detailed briefly.

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Date Posted: August 13, 2012

Categories: Codependency / Dependency, Couple Counseling, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Trauma / Complex PTSD

Top Ten Specific Mental Disorders

Most of us worry about the possibility of getting physically sick at some time in our life and that is why insurance coverage of medical diseases is so common. However, how many of us even think about developing a psychological illness let alone get insurance coverage for it?

Yet a recent and very reliable survey in the United States (US) concluded that about half of the population will experience a mental disorder of some kind, at some time in their life (Kessler et al, 2005; Appendix).

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Date Posted: April 16, 2012

Categories: Adult ADHD, Agoraphobia, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Bipolar, Depression / Bipolar, Drug Addiction, Obsessions & Compulsions (OCD), Oppositional & Defiant Behavior in Children & Teens, Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Trauma / Complex PTSD