Health and Healing Dealing with Trauma and Addictions

 Who was Natalie Cole?  She was an American singer-songwriter, daughter of mid-century crooner Nat King Cole, and was best known for her Grammy Award-winning songs. Cole's career took flight, and throughout the 1970s, she turned out four gold and two platinum records.  Cole hit a lull in her career in the early 1980s due to her struggle with drug addiction. Yet she returned after rehab. She b...

 Psychologists are leaving standard treatment modalities and venues behind entirely and bringing interventions into communities that embrace the background, culture, and challenges of men of color. Research has shown that positive interventions in barbershops, churches, and other social meeting places demonstrate they're powerful vehicles for encouraging healthy and help-seeking behaviors.   ...

To understand the psychology behind deadbeat behavior, we need to examine many factors that can influence a father’s decision to provide or withhold financial provision. These factors can be divided into three broad categories: individual, social, and economic, all previously discussed.   Black men’s mental health matters.   While Americans Africans experience similar rates of mental illness as ot...

Police brutality toward men of color (particularly Black men), as exemplified by the murder of George Floyd (yes, we’re still talking about these brothers, and it should be a continued conversation in America) under a White officer’s knee, highlighted the particular range of mental stressors men of color experience. All men suffer mental health and police brutality. Yet in the community of men of...

“One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty."  Children growing up in low-income and now many middle-class families face challenges that children from more advantaged families do not. childhood, and the association between these patterns of poverty in early and middle adulthood, are devastating.   Far too many are still in denial...

Health risk of trauma and racism:  Black women who experience racism experience trauma-like effects and are at higher risk for future health problems. Women of color who have experienced more racism throughout their lives have stronger brain responses to threat, which may hurt their long-term health, according to a new study conducted with a clinical neuropsychologist and others.  Although researc...

There are five love languages. Each of these love languages is a way to communicate your love to your romantic partner. Putting love languages into action is believed to increase relationship happiness.  Despite how popular love languages are, there is little research to support the framework. The popularity of the theory of love languages, only a handful of studies have been conducted. Attachment...

* Warning turbulent turain ahead*  Opinions and views are those of them speaking in the incerpts.    America, The Land of the Free?    America is called the land of the free and we are supposed to have enumerable rights. Minorities in this country have to endure many hardships and only when everyone can come together as equals will America be a great country.   The notion that America was built on...

 The Ghetto Informant Program (GIP) was an intelligence-gathering operation run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1967 to 1973.  After the Watts Riots of 1965, and further unrest in Newark and Detroit in the summer of 1967, the US government mobilized to prepare for urban conflict.  You heard the term, snitches get stitiches! Well there were some snitches in the ghetto. They were F...

Romantic relationships have a special way of enriching our lives through intimate companionship and connection. For many, the desire to find a partner stems from the hope of sharing life’s journey, with all of its triumphs, struggles and quiet moments and noisy pursuits, with someone who is there for both the highs and the lows, the good and the bad.   Research shows that long-term relationships o...

Seek you first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Americans awoke to the aftershocks of an electoral earthquake.  Democrats’ electoral coalition finally fractured, costing them the popular vote for only the second time since 1988.   Democrats have lost more than 2 million registered voters since 2020 Republicans have gained about 2.4 million in the same stretch That...

Because of the resurrection, nothing we do is useless. Sometimes we become apathetic to serving or hesitate to do good because we don't see the results. Knowing Christ won the ultimate victory should affect the way we live right now.  Being honest, it's clear Tora has been apathetic. God has called her to do certain things, but her interest wasn't there. Each of us can be apprehensi...

The concept can be traced way back in the old times, when men were portrayed as warriors, rulers, and providers of their kingdoms. Does this mean that a man's personal identity is based solely in social norms and expectations, say, defined by Alpha or Beta?  Submissive men are not what you always thought them to be. They are more than betas; they have traits that are respected and admired. Su...

Emotional literacy is regarded as an ability to understand one’s own emotions, feelings, and ways to communicate one’s emotional pattern.  Before getting into the broader understanding of emotional literacy, we need to have an idea about the term "emotional literacy."  *  Knowing your feelings  * Having a sense of empathy  *  Learning to manage your emotions  *  Repairing emotional probl...

 It's been 24 years since September 11, 2001, which will forever live in the collective consciousness of those who witnessed four commercial jetliners converted into weapons of terror to target innocent Americans on a beautiful Tuesday morning.  There was one plane still unaccounted for— Flight 93 from Newark, New Jersey—slowly advancing toward the heart of Washington, D.C., carrying 40 innoc...

If you or someone you know is caring for a loved one or a person with dementia, it poses many challenges. People with dementia from conditions such as Alzheimer's and related diseases have a progressive biological brain disorder that makes it more and more difficult for them to remember things. They fear the loss of memory, which is understandable and reasonable; they fear the loss of their a...

 On Aug. 11 and 12, 2017, the so-called Unite the Right rally protesting the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park turned violent when neo-Nazis , white supremacists, and others linked to far-right groups clashed with leftist counterprotesters . One self-identified white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of people, killing one and injuring at least 19.  Th...

 The subject of mental health and gun violence is often multifaceted, encompassing not only the effects of gun violence on mental health—both for survivors and for communities at large—but also the stigmas and misconceptions existing regarding individuals with mental illness. To thoroughly explore this topic, it may be beneficial to further explore each aspect in more detail. It may be helpful to...

The mental wounds from school shootings ripple through the nation. Over and again, school shootings break Americans' hearts. It's traumatizing to know that innocent babies lose their lives based on a person who has issues, problems, and hate in their heart. Just because something didn't go their way or they feel defeated, maybe because of what they believe and no one shares in their...

Grief is difficult enough. "What is it like to grieve after you have healed?"  Several questions may arise from those who are grieving. And many attempt to answer the question compassionately. Sure, we want the bereaved to feel whole and well again. Please be aware, it is important to acknowledge and be familiar with grief and the process of grief. We all grieve differently.  Each of us...

Being clumsy equates to awkwardness. Clumsy is defined as awkward movements or actions, without skill or grace. In the system of religion, many are moving in their belief falsely and trusting in false teachers.  If you ask yourself what is wrong with God, you will discover that nothing is wrong with God. If you ask yourself what is wrong with you—if you are created in the image and likeness of God...

Can you know what God is going to do for you? He may reveal His plans for you, and He may not.  When God is doing something, it is our responsibility to listen and accept that all will work out for the good. It is not ours to say what God will do. Simply we stand up, take up, and walk.  "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wildernes...

People with ADHD have differences in how the brain develops and works. This disorder is characterized by an ongoing pattern of one or more systems.  * Inattention—having difficulty paying attention  * Hyperactivity—excessively moving around  * Impulsivity—intruding and interrupting   These habits are often common in children. But did you know adults are living with undiagnosed or underdiagnosed AD...

 As we will see, trauma changes a person's personality. It's characterized by: * A loss of capacity to use community support. * Chronic recurrent depression with feelings of despair.  * Emotional anesthesia or blocked ability to react affectively.  * Alexithymia, or inability to recognize and make use of emotional reactions.  The list of secondary reactions to psychological trauma includ...

In these times finding love is a challenge. Too many distractions, negativity, and self-interest. Maybe you're not searching for love, that's ok too. With rejection of traditional marriage, and true relationship status as the world turns many are forbidden to marry based on the ways of the society that has destroyed the institution of God!  Yes, you can do bad by yourself, but what about...