Recently, in the heart of a heated conversation, my child admitted to me: “I don’t trust you.”
Ouch.
Speaking With Your Child About Their Pronouns - A Therapist's Perspective
“Being transgender [or non-binary] is not just a medical transition; it’s discovering who you are, living your life authentically, loving yourself, and spreading that love towards other people and accepting one another no matter the difference.” — Jazz Jennings
One factor that improves mental health outcomes for transgender children is when the parents and caregivers in their lives accept and use their preferred name and pronouns.
Understanding Domestic Violence
Seeking out individual therapy is not only healing, but also informative. As a client, I was describing what was going on in my personal relationship with my partner as we were cohabitating. I continuously felt like I was walking on eggshells and communication with friends and family became limited. As I was describing my day to day living, my therapist stopped me and said, “Do you understand you are in a domestic violence situation?” I was confused, I made sure she understood I wasn’t being hit. The statistics are astonishing, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men face severe domestic violence from an intimate partner.
The 5 Love Languages
The five love languages originated from Dr. Gary Chapman in 1992. These languages are modalities of how we show or receive love and appreciation whether it’s towards our romantic partners, family, or friends. We as humans communicate differently and by understanding how others express love in a meaningful way, it helps us communicate and strengthen relationships by focusing on other’s needs rather than our own. Dr. Chapman developed 5 categories of love languages; Acts of Service, Gifts, Physical Touch, Quality Time, and Words of Affirmation.
How to Support a Loved One with an Eating Disorder
Eating disorders are serious life threatening illnesses, and they do not discriminate regardless of age, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or background. Most often you cannot infer from the outside an individual is struggling with an eating disorder. The thought that weight is the only indicator someone is struggling, can perpetuate the secrecy and shame surrounding the struggle. Once you pull back the shade around this stigma, you can then keep an eye out for the warning signs.