Lily and Emma had been friends for years, meeting every weekend for brunch. Their connection was built on shared interests—both loved hiking, trying new foods, and binge-watching the same shows. They’d laugh for hours, feeling comfortable and at ease with each other, enjoying the simple act of spending time together. This connection felt effortless, as… continue reading.
Sophia always loved to paint, and had a small art studio filled with canvases, paints and paintbrushes. There was one unfinished painting that reminded her of her mother who passed away suddenly that Sophia could not bring herself to finish. She told herself she was too busy to paint, and she filled her days doing… continue reading.
There is nothing wrong with falling in love with someone. After all, falling in love is one of the reasons for being human. Being addicted to love, however, is not the same. Emotional cycles of alternating ecstasy, joy and despair, desperate longing, wistfulness, and even the extreme and sometimes damaging thoughts and behaviors that can… continue reading.
Trauma bonds, or traumatic bonding (TB) is a complex emotional and psychological attachment that can develop between a victim and their abuser. Essentially, a trauma bond is formed as a result of repeated cycles of violence, be the violence emotional, psychological or physical, where periods of trauma are interspersed with moments of kindness, affection, or… continue reading.
Enabling behavior is when our actions end up supporting or reinforcing someone’s unhealthy habits or destructive choices. When someone you care about is struggling, our first instinct often is to help in any way that we can. Whether a family member is battling addiction, a friend making poor decisions, or a partner going through difficult… continue reading.
Self-esteem and self-trust go hand-in-hand. Self-trust is the belief in your own judgement, abilities, and capacity to make sound decisions. Without self-trust, building self-esteem or sustaining it is virtually impossible, because self-esteem rests on the foundation of believing that you are capable, competent and deserving. What does not trusting myself look like? If you do… continue reading.
Passive-aggressive behavior is a subtle but indirect way that a person expresses their frustration, anger, or dissatisfaction. As overt violence is strongly prohibited in modern society, a person will rely on indirect or subtle attacks to express their hostility toward the other person (Lim & Suh, 2022). The aim is to hurt you indirectly or… continue reading.
Resentment is a heavy emotion that creeps in slowly, often stemming from feeling that you have been wronged or treated unfairly. Almost unnoticed, resentment sits quietly in the background, growing over time, A companion between disgust and anger, you feel frustrated, bitter, and hurt, and those feelings sometimes linger for years. What is resentment? When… continue reading.