PTSD & Trauma Related Content

When Home Isn’t Safe: The Mental Health Impact of Domestic Violence

Relationships, while meant to enrich our lives and those of our partners, can have a darker side that often goes unnoticed—or unaddressed. Domestic violence is a serious public health issue that impacts survivors on a physical and mental scale. While the effects of violence can be devastating, they...

Understanding Trauma & PTSD: A Guide to Invisible Wounds

For some people, life changes in an instant. A car accident, an assault, a natural disaster, or the sudden loss of a loved one can leave invisible wounds that are harder to heal than the physical ones. These experiences can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—a condition marked by...

Josette’s Story: It’s OK To Show My Feelings to Those Around Me

On the surface, Josette seems to have life figured out. She works as a paralegal in Boston and is preparing to start law school, while also serving as part of the Miss America Opportunity, holding the title of Miss Middlesex County. She engages in community work focused on addressing the issue of...

Video: Stress and Secondary Trauma in Helping Professions

Explore how stress and secondary trauma affect those in helping roles, and how to sustain resilience over time. Why This Training Matters Secondary trauma often develops gradually, making it difficult to recognize until emotional exhaustion, detachment, or overwhelm become pronounced. Without...

Natalie’s Story: This Happened to Me, and It Shapes Me

Natalie has worked as a counselor at both a treatment program for depression and an adolescent OCD program. However, Natalie did not enter the health care field untouched by the systems she now works within. Like many working in mental health, she carries her own experiences with depression, anxiety...

Noal’s Story: Finding a Stigma-Free Setting Made a World of Difference

Noal has felt stigma around mental health and the pressure to fit in since childhood. Growing up in the Mormon church, there was an expectation to be the “perfect Mormon boy” with no room for deviation. Noal was young when he realized he was gay, and he quickly learned how to mask who he was and...

Carrie’s Story: We Have To Rely on Each Other

Carrie first experienced depression when she was 16 years old, but she didn’t acknowledge it or seek treatment at the time. As a young professional tennis player who competed at high-level tournaments like the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, she learned to push past distress and focus. I was taught not to...

The Hidden Toll: Refugees, Resilience, and Mental Health

Refugees and displaced persons embody remarkable resilience. Despite being forced from their homes—whether across borders as refugees or within their own countries as internally displaced persons (IDPs)—they continue to adapt, rebuild, and persevere. Still, the journey is not without hardship. Many...

Steve’s Story: The Fear and Hesitation That You Have Is Understandable

Growing up in a family of seven children, Steve remembers a home centered on sports, school, and faith, but lacking emotional connection. His parents were caring and provided structure, but they didn’t express vulnerability and emotional honesty. In middle school, Steve was sexually abused by an...

The Wounds We Can’t See: The Mental Health Impact of Child Abuse

Children are among the most vulnerable people in our society. This is true across continents, cultures, financial situations, and ethnicities. Our youth are a precious resource and one we should guard carefully. Unfortunately, many kids are at risk of or are currently experiencing child abuse. While...

Understanding Grief: How We Mourn, Heal, and Move Forward After Loss

Grief and loss can prove suffocating for those who are impacted by them, especially at first. Most people have at least some experience with grief, whether first- or second-hand, and understand how loss can affect the person who goes through it. Even those of us who have very little personal...

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): A Complete Guide

Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is one of the most common treatment options for certain mental health conditions. Originally used to address borderline personality disorder (BPD), now DBT is also used to treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bulimia, and substance addiction...

Johanne’s Story: I’m Learning How To Speak Up For Myself

Johanne immigrated to New York with her parents when she was 4 years old. After they got divorced, she moved to Massachusetts with her religious mother, who was granted sole custody. Some of her earliest memories involve seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. When she tried to talk to her mom...

Serving Together: How Trauma Affects Military Families

Members of the armed forces can face stressors and traumatic events. These experiences can lead to trauma-related mental health disorders. Trauma can impact military members in different ways, including feelings of anger or isolation from family and friends. Service members can develop PTSD or other...

Inside DID: A Closer Look at Dissociative Identity Disorder

Once referred to as multiple personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a serious mental health condition. DID is associated with long-term exposure to trauma, often chronic traumatic experiences during early childhood. It is often misunderstood and portrayed incorrectly in...

Exploring Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Hope, Hype, and Healing

In the quiet, dimly lit room, a patient sits comfortably, surrounded by soft music and gentle voices guiding them through a journey of self-discovery. This isn’t a scene from a science fiction novel but a groundbreaking approach to mental health treatment known as psychedelic-assisted therapy. As...

In the Wake of Tragedy: Support Strategies for Families

Immediately following a violent event, the number one priority is to save lives and treat the physical wounds of the victims. But in the days and weeks following the event, as those physical wounds begin to heal, we must be cognizant of the psychological wounds that, while invisible, can be equally...

Confronting the Mental Health Crisis in Prisons and Jails

The state of mental health in the U.S. correctional system is an ongoing concern. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, almost 23% of U.S. adults experienced mental health conditions in 2021. While that rate is significant, it’s much higher in incarcerated populations. The percentage...

Paula’s Story: Being Resilient Is in My Genes

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” “You don’t need to talk to someone.” “Don’t go tell a stranger about your problems.” These are the things Paula heard about mental health growing up. Even though Paula’s adoptive mother struggled with her own substance use disorder, she never got the professional...