When Empathy Gets Us In Trouble

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In recent years, there has been an increase in discussions about empathy. Social topics including cultural divisiveness, racism, lack of inclusivity, problems in personal relationships, have blamed a lack of empathy as the source of the problem. Empathy is important to demonstrate compassion and to feel more connected. Empathy is being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes and enter into their reality, allowing one to understand what another person might be thinking, feeling, or experiencing in the moment. It makes sense folks associate a lack of empathy with political and social issues being present in today’s world.

Although empathy has positive impacts in most social situations, a “more empathy is better” mindset won’t necessarily help solve all the problems or even experience the connection we desire. Have you ever found yourself feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or lost in a relationship despite utilizing empathy as a method t ...

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Posted in:

  • Empathy

Tags:

  • relationships

Understanding Parts

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As a father, and former child myself, I’ve been exposed to many animated movies. Some stand out for their entertainment value, while others stand out for their accurate, and oftentimes humorous portrayal of reality. Of the latter, one such movie stands out above the others as a mental health counselor: Inside Out (Disney/Pixar, 2015). While many may be familiar with the film, I have attached a YouTube video of the opening scene; whether or not you’ve seen the movie, I’d encourage you to watch the clip now before reading on, as we will be doing a brief analysis of the clip. 

Meet Riley's Emotions

Okay, now that we are all on the same page, let’s get into it. What should be clear at this point is that the various characters—Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger—are anthropomorphic representations of their namesake emotions, each a part of Riley’s internal syste ...

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Posted in:

  • Parts

Tags:

  • childhood
  • emotons

Global Trauma

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It’s abundantly clear the world does not look or feel the same as it did two years ago. I’ve noticed that people tend to refer to time as “before 2020” and “after 2020”. With my clients, I have referred to the pandemic and quarantine as a global trauma. I don’t know if anyone has coined that term yet, but I have seen some reference to it as a “global mass trauma”. I would describe a global trauma as a catastrophic event that has affected the entire population of the planet in some way, shape or form. It’s something that has transformed life as we once knew it. 

I think it’s fair to say the pandemic in 2020 has done just that. It’s easy to say “well, it’s over. Just let it go”. When the reality is, it’s not over. And the repercussions aren’t over. If we take what we know about trauma and apply it on a global level, what do we know? 

We kn ...

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Posted in:

  • Trauma

Tags:

  • anxiety
  • change

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