…. When this internal fantasy process is disrupted, the original suppressed fear reaction is activated and there is considerable hostility directed toward the source. In my book, I suggest that an acceptance of death and dying as a reality and an awareness of the typical defenses that people develop to counter the dread can be life-affirming rather than leading to cynicism or depression. Challenging psychological defenses formed in childhood and re…
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…threat can relate to physical safety or emotional safety such as hurt and fear. Not being seen or understood by those around us is a very threatening experience to a child’s developing sense of who they are and where they fit in the world. Part of an individual’s development is building the capacity to have the words to express this. Until this skill is developed, much of the distressed feeling is expressed through non-verbal channels, yelling, t…
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…ly, friends and society. I found my parents in the friends that offered me feedback or input about various parts of my life. I would react with fear and panic and dramatically push back on the information, or become upset and angry. An adult, in a room full of peers, hears information, processes it, and it’s not a threat. Because in the end, an adults can choose their path. They are not children being told what to do, or how to live, or being reje…
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…ife is for public consumption; familiarity breeds inappropriate closeness; fear of being alone in public; seeing recognition in strangers’ eyes; you cannot be anonymous; you are living in a fish bowl; and, continual fear of tabloid paparazzi. And, not surprisingly, the effects of fame are also felt physically, in the body. Participants reported that being out in public was difficult: I felt a little more nervous, a little stomach tightening; my he…
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…e almond- shaped amygdala has been found to be especially important in the fear response. (Although some writers attribute all emotions to the amygdala, more recent research suggests that our general feelings actually originate from more broadly distributed areas of the limbic zone, the brainstem, and the body proper, and are woven into our cortical functioning as well.) The amygdala can prompt an instantaneous survival response. Once, when my son…
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…average of 160,000 children in the United States stay home from school for fear of being bullied. Last year, bullying made national headlines when physical and emotional violence towards LGBT teenagers led to a series of painful suicides. The immediate response to this was impressive. Dan Savage created the “It Get Better Project” and inspired thousands of people, from Adam Lambert to President Obama, to send in videos about their own experiences…
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…erapy can include the person seeking treatment making a list of his or her fears, then rating them from least frightening to most frightening. For example, an action that would cause a small amount of anxiety might be failing to check the lights after leaving the house. A larger worry might arise over touching something one perceives as dirty. By exposing people to their fears, starting with the items on their list that are less stress-inducing an…
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…ness were a product for purchase, that once we own, will make us better. I fear that the word itself, in its overuse, leads to the rolling of eyes, “oh no, not that again!”, or an over consumption of its superficial application. It takes a lot of courage to be mindful, not easy this seemingly simple awareness of right now, as it is difficult for us to set down our reflexive judgments that push away what we don’t want, or pull toward us what is kno…
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…to opportunities. Tough as they can be, outbursts, arguments, and bouts of fear can all offer prime chances to integrate a child’s brain. Here are a few effective tips to help get your child develop a well-integrated mind. To learn more, join us for the upcoming free and CE Webinars with Dr. Bryson. Use the logic of left brain to make sense out of feelings in the right – Simply telling our children to “calm down” or “stop crying” is not an effecti…
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…to opportunities. Tough as they can be, outbursts, arguments, and bouts of fear can all offer prime chances to integrate a child’s brain. Here are a few effective tips to help get your child develop a well-integrated mind. To learn more, join us for the upcoming free and CE Webinars with Dr. Bryson. Use the logic of left brain to make sense out of feelings in the right – Simply telling our children to “calm down” or “stop crying” is not an effecti…
Learn More