Health and Healing Dealing with Trauma and Addictions

 Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the United States, and mental illness affects tens of millions of Americans each year. It is also preventable and treatable. Stroke is the # 5 cause of death in the United States. New research finds a link between the two, as psychiatric illness is found to raise the risk of stroke. People who have survived a stroke may experience mental health condition...

Anxiety can trigger depression and other behavioral, physical, and mental health issues. It is especially hard if you are dealing with other personal, work, relationship, or family-related issues. Please be aware that it is okay to ask for help. 

Fighting for mental and emotional health is not simply about reading your Bible and praying more. There are spiritual, mental, emotional and physical components to full recovery and freedom. Many great leaders and prophets in the Bible walked through times of despair, depression, and discouragement—yet God used them regardless. God can and does use whom He wishes.  Also, people are fighting mental...

Deadbeat Fathers: A father who neglects his responsibilities as a parent, especially one who does not pay child support. Which can also be a mother. The phrase "deadbeat dad" is a familiar one, and yet it's often misused. While the word "deadbeat" actually appears in some states' child support guidelines, not all parents who've fallen behind on child support paym...

Anxiety can trigger depression and other behavioral, physical, and mental health issues. It is especially hard if you are dealing with other personal, work, relationship, or family-related issues. Please be aware that it is okay to ask for help. 

Let's get intimate:  No Confidence in the Flesh Philippians 3:8 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.  Victory is mine, victory today is mine! Anxiety can trigger...

Slavery and racism historically prevented and disrupted Black marital unions and continues to plague the Black community and Black relationships today. In the aftermath of slavery, the states denounced courtship and marital arrangements that American Africans devised during slavery and presented Christian heterosexual marriage as a gateway to responsible citizenship, targeting men of color to be s...

Bullying is a behavior that has historically been linked to kids on the playground, but it can happen among people of any age in any setting—schools, households, workplaces. The main question observers of such conduct have is...why do people bully others?  Bullying is a distinctive pattern of repeatedly and deliberately harming and humiliating others, specifically those who are smaller, weaker, an...

As the nation's primary source of national data on substance use, NSDUH findings are often featured in the news media. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issues news releases throughout the year detailing various findings from the NSDUH. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol...

As the nation's primary source of national data on substance use, NSDUH findings are often featured in the news media. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issues news releases throughout the year detailing various findings from the NSDUH. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol...

Where's my Daddy? 😢 Fatherless children become at risk in higher numbers for everything from incarceration to chemical abuse to suicide. With more than 72% of African American children being born out of wedlock, the impact of fatherless homes in the black community isn't just a trend, it's an epidemic! There needs to be more people of color in therapist roles in their communities,...

The Four Adult Attachment Styles may help: This may come as a surprise to some because much as we like to think we’re all in a ‘secure attachment style’ we’re not! It’s human nature to seek contact and relationships, to seek love, support, and comfort in and from others. This is our make-up in the likeness and image of God.  While far too many are proclaiming: what they don’t need these days, they...

As the nation's primary source of national data on substance use, NSDUH findings are often featured in the news media. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issues news releases throughout the year detailing various findings from the NSDUH. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol...

Many different forms of abuse have been known to take place within relationships. Some people think that just because the abuse is not physical, it isn’t a problem. However, other forms of abuse can end up being much more damaging to the victim’s mental health. Emotional and psychological abuse are both quite distinct from physical abuse, and although they do not leave physical marks, they can be...

What’s the difference between sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape?  The increased public conversation surrounding sexual assault, harassment, sexual violence and abuse is an important step forward. It’s helping lead a national and global movement that aims to address this prevalent problem, also letting people who have experienced sexual assault know they aren’t alone.  1 in 3...

 Highly sensitive children have special gifts, as well as unique challenges.  Children do not “become” highly sensitive, and there is not much we can do to help our children be less sensitive (other than tactics that would flatten their authenticity and create shame). They experience emotional extremes; they have bigger reactions to sensory input, they are more prone to meltdowns, they are keenly...

Our understanding of trauma and its effects on people is clearer than it was just a few years ago. One key thing we’ve learned trauma is much more common than we once thought. For example, many people with unresolved trauma will turn to drugs, or alcohol to numb themselves to it—and they get addicted in the process. Many other addictions follow, besides drugs and alcohol.  We know 75 percent of th...

Let's get intimate: Perseverance!  Romans 8:25 'But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience.  Anxiety can trigger depression and other behavioral, physical, and mental health issues. It is especially hard if you are dealing with other personal, work, relationship, or family-related issues. Please be aware that it is okay to ask for help. 

While it’s true that every heart loves in its own unique way, there are certain traits that make some people effortlessly lovable. Being an easy person to love involves a delightful blend of qualities that draw others toward you. There are so many different factors that go into the type of people you attract into your life.  People who display traits such as kindness, empathy, compassion, trust an...

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth July?” by Frederick Douglass is not only a brilliant work of oratory. It speaks to our every frustration spurred by the gap between the ideals of the United States and the reality we witness every day; between the Bill of Rights and our decaying civil liberties; between the USA’s international declarations of human rights and the ordered drone attacks backed by pre...

America’s Independence Day should be celebrated, but should people of color celebrate when it’s factual that they were not included as a free or independent people? Mr. Douglas didn’t think so. Today many refuse to celebrate, because of the negative slap in the face political and grand standing of white America even in religion. Many say ‘well that was so long ago’, how about listening to today’s...

Many African Americans in the United States have been impacted by structural racism since slavery and continue to experience trauma because of health disparities, economic disadvantages, and segregation. Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome (PTSS) explains why many African Americans continue to experience trauma. PTSS is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africa...

The effects of close relationships on mental health may seem obvious, but what about other types of relationships?  Family structures, our friends, and romantic partners and acquaintances' help to increase feelings of belonging. They can also be damaging and blur the line of who our friends really are.  However, the quality of your relationships is really important too. Experts say there’s ev...

Personality is an important determinant of many outcomes including relationship satisfaction and psychopathology. The aim of this work was to better understand the role of personality as it relates to psychopathology with satisfaction as a mediating variable in relationship satisfaction.  No study to date has examined whether relationship satisfaction mediates the connection between personality an...

PTSD  As much as people might not want to discuss it, it is said, traumatic experiences are not rare. For a long time, it was believed that only those who had served in the military could develop PTSD, but that's simply not true. PTSD can affect anyone who's experienced a traumatic event.  If you've experienced an extremely stressful event that's left you feeling helpless and e...