Everyone experiences emotional numbness from time to time in life. It can be a very healthy defense against being overwhelmed in the middle of a shock or trauma, such as the death of a loved one. The problem is that sometimes we stay numb. The defense comes a habit...
Recovery-oriented care and recovery support systems help people with mental and substance use disorders manage their conditions successfully. Recovery is a process of change through which people improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential. There are four major dimensions that support...
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher of the late 18th century (and early 19th century) whose masterpiece, The World as Will and Representation (Second Edition, 1844) work would influence great thinkers, such as Sigmund Freud. The second chapter of Schopenhauer’s work, entitled ‘On Madness,’ requires a nuanced study, which...
This inspiring pandemic story also reminds us that, each time one of us finds his or her voice in healing from abuse, we speak with impact on those near us in terms of truth, hope, and healing. The ripples reach from us to many degrees of separation which we...
Dave Pittman is the Director of Together We Heal and part of the Safeguarding Initiative Team at GRACE. Pittman teaches churches, schools, and families how to talk with their kids about sexual abuse, how to better identify predatory behavior, and how to properly respond to those who’ve been victimized....
The final article in The Healing Voices Series on Alice Miller: Icon & Ideas When idols fall, we expect to be shocked, but with Alice Miller there was no surprise. Her dominance in my recovery had eroded over time. Her works served as a crucial stepping-stone in my escape...
Men who have been victims of sexual abuse experience both the trauma and the aftermath in unique ways that remain little understood. But that is beginning to change. One in six men in the United States have been sexual abused (compared to one in four women). This statistic represents...
This continues The Healing Voices Series on Alice Miller: Icon & Ideas Over the course of her prolific career, Alice Miller coined terms we find in therapy and along other paths toward recovery from abuse and trauma. The term often is exactly as coined, but sometimes the concept is...
This continues The Healing Voices Series on Alice Miller: Icon & Ideas Alice Miller’s many ideas are worth exploring in more detail, but here are a few of the most influential ones in trauma recovery and in our cultural. For many people who are recovering from abuse, it may...
This continues The Healing Voices Series on Alice Miller: Icon & Ideas One of the most dynamic social trends which embraced the ideas found in The Drama of the Gifted Child and all other Alice Miller books was the surging membership in 12 Step programs. The lessons these programs...
