Trauma, Darkness, and the Powerful Therapy That’s Helping Me Heal
Want more posts like this in your life? Join the Tiny Buddha list for daily or weekly insights. Trigger Warning: This piece contains references to childhood trauma, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Please take care of yourself as you read, and step away if you need to. If you are struggling, you are not alone — […]
How Understanding Complex Trauma Deepened My Ability to Love Myself
“Being present for your own life is the most radical act of Self-compassion you can offer yourself.” ~Sylvia Boorstein In 2004, I experienced a powerful breakthrough in understanding what it meant to love myself. I could finally understand that self-love is about the relationship that you have with yourself, and that relationship is expressed in […]
Beyond Coping: How to Heal Generational Trauma with Breathwork
“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.” ~Akshay Dubey The realization came to me during a chaotic day at the Philadelphia public school where I worked as a counselor. A young student sat across from me, her body language mirroring anxiety patterns I knew all too […]
Where Race and Caste Collide in Trauma Recovery
In the United States, the language of race is always close to the surface—coded in ZIP codes, school districts, traffic stops, and sentencing disparities. But caste walks in differently. It is quieter, more camouflaged, wrapped in euphemisms like “merit,” “culture,” “upbringing,” or “respectability.” It is dressed up in family WhatsApp threads and diaspora fundraisers. It […]
Therapy Isn’t Something to Be Ashamed Of
As a therapist, as well as someone who goes to therapy, I can speak firsthand about the importance of attending therapy. Think of it this way: you are driving your car and suddenly you hear a funny noise. At first, you ignore it and hope it goes away. But over time, the noise starts to […]
Psychoeducation and Somatic Interventions for Sexual Trauma
Defining the Terms of Sexual Assault The first step in helping patients who are survivors of sexual trauma is allowing them to choose the words they may want to use to describe their experience. Many survivors come to sex therapy for sexual disorders like Genito-Pelvic Penetrative-Pain Disorder, Anorgasmia, or lack of desire. They may come […]
Restoring Meaning and Resiliency to Victims of Trauma
The debate around returning to work (RTW) has been heated in the years since COVID-19 lockdowns. While many of those discussions focus on workplace flexibility and employer policies, for individuals who have experienced trauma—especially displaced migrants—the ability to return to meaningful work is more than just an economic necessity; it is a critical step toward […]
What Collective Trauma Feels Like
Recent and ongoing events in the U.S. and throughout the world—unstable political leadership, natural disasters, armed conflicts, violence, and racism—have a profound impact on our collective sense of well-being. Stress levels among Americans have skyrocketed over the past 20 years. Depending on a group’s proximity to experiencing the event, the effects can range from chronic […]
High Sensitivity Is Not a Trauma Response
Last week, someone I’ve been working with for over a year – let’s call her “Liz” – entered the therapy room looking absolutely defeated. Before I could ask a single question, Liz broke down into full-body sobs, “Maybe if I’d never met him, I wouldn’t be so damn fragile.” Together, we began to explore this […]
Eating Disorders and Trauma: The Missing Link
Eating disorders are among the deadliest and fastest-growing Mental health conditions, yet they remain largely misunderstood. Popular portrayals reduce these illnesses to superficial stereotypes, obscuring their true complexity and hindering meaningful intervention. Eating disorders are complex, brain-based illnesses that affect up to one in ten people over their lifetime. They manifest through behaviors such as […]