From Thanksgiving through New Years, we can feel overwhelmed with holiday stress. In the process, our brains are preparing us for what it expects, similar to how it instinctively guides wild animals to find the food and water they need when the environment around them changes. So much is learned behavior and response that we don't need to keep holding on to.

The map and territory are metaphors used to illustrate the difference between the actual world and our understanding of the world as we perceive it to be. The ‘map’ is our understanding of the ‘territory’ of reality, and we must be careful to remember that the map is not the territory! Let's talk about how distorted maps affect relationships so we can become more aware of how we're seeing the world. The more we understand our views, the more we can update our maps, the better we can relate to others and with ourselves!

Are you in a relationship - dating, married, friendship - and feeling disconnected as if you don’t exist? Are you feeling unvalued, unheard, or misunderstood? Is this a relationship you truly want in the first place? Mine wasn’t, but I couldn’t walk away…

The dentist office is a scary place for most people I know. It’s even worse for survivors of sexual abuse. Here is some insight for both survivors, and professionals who serve them, so we can create a feeling of safety in the dentist chair.

The Power of the Woobie

We don’t really know the power of stuffed animals and blankets when we first give them to our babies, but as babies are developing they are developing attachment to the objects around them and these woobies become much more than objects to babies. They’re comfort within that last a lifetime.

From the moment we’re born, we are all given a set of rules, traditions, and beliefs to live by from the family or system we’re born into. But do they actually serve us? Use this set of questions on your journey of self-discovery.

You can run, but you can’t hide. Technology always has a way of getting through.

Perfection is the great cover up. “The more perfect a person is on the outside, the more demons they have on the inside”

My mind raced…How could I go by myself?? But I knew that if I didn’t go, I’d be missing a chance of a lifetime!

Experiences are traumatic if it hurts enough, even if it’s not considered trauma.

Caregivers and survivors often take on more than their share of emotional weight. In this post, I share a client story about how grief and guilt collided—and how we used unconscious mind work to shift from a sympathetic heart to an empathetic one. If you’ve ever felt responsible for someone else’s healing, this is for you.

Discover the backstory of the terms 'unconscious' and 'subconscious' when we talk about the part of the mind we’re unaware of. We'll break down where these terms come from, how they've changed over time, and what they mean for understanding your own thoughts and behaviors.

In the heat of the moment, when I’m reacting to situations, it’s not Master’s Degree Helen talking, it’s Little Survivor Brain Helen defending herself. This wasn’t work, this was personal. This was life.

One little phrase can impact us for decades . . . Here’s one of the most impactful I’ve experienced.

Getting Past Survivor is the break free from cocoon to butterfly.

Here’s where I begin to share … Why Getting Past Survivor? Why a Blog and Podcast?

Who holds the microphone?

Heal the silence that lasts well into adulthood…

If everyone is unique, how can any of us actually “fit in?”

We live our lives based on other people's expectations from the moment we take our first breath.