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What Is Trauma-Informed Therapy? Trauma-informed therapy involves accounting for clients’ trauma and its impact on their behavior, mental health, and ability to engage in treatment. Trauma-informed therapists assume that a client could have a trauma history and will take steps to avoid inadvertently triggering or re-traumatizing the client in treatment. What Is Trauma? “Trauma” can mean many different things, and there is no one set type of trauma or one way that people will respond to a traumatic event....

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is a long-chain omega-3 fatty acid. It is an important nutrient for both children and adults. DHA is necessary for the health of your body systems including your brain and your nervous system. It contributes to mental health, vision, and a healthy heart. DHA is not made by your body, so you need to get this essential nutrient through the foods that you eat. DHA Naturally Found in Breast Milk DHA is naturally found in the breast milk of mothers who eat fish, eggs, and red meat....

Mental health technicians—also called psychiatric technicians or behavioral health technicians—are key players in a mental health treatment team, working directly with patients who are coping with disabilities, illnesses, or substance use. They often work in collaboration with physicians, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors as part of a treatment team. There are various levels of certification, ranging from those with a high school diploma to people who have a bachelor’s degree plus work experience....

There are many ways to parent your child, but according to researchers, there are four main parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting. Psychologist Diana Baumrind came up with the framework for these styles, and researchers from Stanford University—Eleanor Maccoby and John Martin—further refined these styles. One of the most widely known parenting styles is authoritarian parenting. An authoritarian parent might be described as strict and inflexible—an “it’s my way or the highway” type of parent....

What Is Consciousness? Consciousness is your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, and environments. Essentially, your consciousness is your awareness of yourself and the world around you. This awareness is subjective and unique to you. If you can describe something you are experiencing in words, then it is part of your consciousness. Your conscious experiences are constantly shifting and changing. For example, in one moment you may be focused on reading this article....

Masturbation itself is not a harmful activity and may be enjoyed by those in a relationship or those using it to compensate for a lack of sex with a partner. Masturbation addiction refers to excessive or compulsive masturbation. While it’s not a diagnosable mental health condition, it can have a significant impact on daily functioning for those whose sexual behavior is out of control. Masturbation, sexual addiction, and porn addiction fall under the larger umbrella category of behavioral or process addictions, compulsive behaviors that share many characteristics of addictions to substances....

According to the National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2019, 39% of respondents had “seriously considered attempting suicide” in the past 12 months. One of the biggest sources of this despair is gay bullying. The disturbing prevalence of gay bullying and youth suicides may have parents worried about depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children. Learn which signs to look out for and get help, if needed. Information presented in this article may be triggering to some people....

When you’re pregnant, it’s natural to notice—and fret about—every new ache and pain in your body. This goes double for cramp-like pains in your lower abdomen that may cause you to worry that you’re having a miscarriage. But cramping during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy is surprisingly common and does not necessarily mean you’re having a miscarriage. A 2016 study published in the journal Human Reproduction found that although 85% of women experienced abdominal cramping at some point during their first 20 weeks of pregnancy, only 28% miscarried....

No matter what type of relationship we’re talking about—be it friendship, familial, or romantic—vulnerability is key to fostering a closer, deeper, and more authentic bond with another person. It keeps us honest with each other and ourselves, breaks down walls, eliminates the potential for miscommunication and misunderstandings, and allows us to be wholly ourselves. “Vulnerability is when a person willingly takes the risk to reveal their emotions and weaknesses,” says Shari Foos, a marriage and family therapist and founder of The Narrative Method....

You are six months along in your pregnancy. At 24 weeks, your baby can hear and react to sounds. This week it might be time for your next prenatal visit and a glucose screening test. Your Baby’s Development at 24 Weeks At 24 weeks, a baby is about 8 1/4 inches (21.3 centimeters) from the top of the head to the bottom of the buttocks (known as the crown-rump length). A baby’s height is approximately 12 inches or 1 foot (30....

Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts Every Friday on The Verywell Mind Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Amy Morin, LCSW, shares the “Friday Fix”—a short episode featuring a quick, actionable tip or exercise to help you manage a specific mental health issue or concern. Friday Fix: Episode 192 You may find yourself thinking you need more mental strength so you can go to the gym. But what if the opposite were true?...

Of the many sacrifices we’re all having to make during the new normal of social distancing, one of the most difficult is missing family gatherings. Even as vaccines become more readily available and things begin to open up, families are still navigating tricky territory. With unvaccinated kids, many families are still avoiding gatherings. And this definitely adds to the emotional burden of this challenging time—even though we know it’s for the greater good....

Are you looking for a topic for a psychology paper, experiment, or science fair project? Developmental psychology is a fascinating area and one of the most popular topics in psychology. It can also be a very broad subject that can include anything from prenatal development to health during the final stages of life. The following are just a few different topics that might help inspire you. Remember, these are just ideas to help you get started....

If you are expecting to deliver your baby via C-section, or if you recently had a C-section, you are likely thinking about your recovery. C-section recovery can be challenging, and parents often wonder if there are options for making the recovery period smoother. Enter abdominal binders. Abdominal binders are elastic bands that are wrapped around a person’s abdominal area. There is limited research on their effectiveness post C-section, but there are indications that they can help reduce pain, increase mobility, and decrease distress....

Musical performance anxiety is a type of anxiety experienced by some people with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Musicians who experience this type of anxiety are critical and self-evaluative before, during, and after performances. This negative self-evaluation causes disrupted concentration and a host of physical symptoms that result in performance below the ability of the musician. Why do some musicians experience such debilitating performance anxiety? When musical performance anxiety is experienced as part of SAD, it is likely due to a combination of factors such as innate temperament and negative early performance experiences....

Parenting teenagers requires a delicate balance between giving them enough guidance to ensure they are making healthy choices and giving them enough freedom to make mistakes. Under your supervision, mistakes and failure can teach some of life’s greatest lessons. Establish house rules that respect your teenager’s desire to be independent while also ensuring that they are behaving responsibly. Clearly outline what negative consequences will be in store when a rule is broken....

Restricting the range of foods one eats is a common eating disorder symptom among those with restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, as well as those with overeating disorders, such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Among the former, avoiding calorically dense foods contributes to a ​suppressed weight and maintenance of the disorder. Among the latter, binges often result from the pressure created by setting rigid rules against certain foods, which then become irresistible to the person who violates the rule and binges....

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual herb with yellow flowers and seed-containing pods that are native to Asia and the Mediterranean. The seeds have been used throughout history for cooking, flavoring, and healing. Fenugreek has a strong flavor of maple, so much so that it’s a common flavoring in imitation maple syrup. In their raw form, however, fenugreek seeds taste bitter; heating or roasting reduces the bitterness and brings out the sweetness....

For decades, I have encouraged both clients in my professional work as a social worker and loved ones in my personal life to benefit from cannabis use—especially when it provided relief from health concerns. Despite this, it would still take years for me to reckon with that bias personally, as a woman of South Asian heritage who had taken in a great deal of the war on drugs propaganda that was a staple of my childhood....

Emotional pain is pain or hurt that originates from non-physical sources. Sometimes this emotional distress is the result of the actions of others. Other times, it might be the result of regret, grief, or loss. In other cases, it might be the result of an underlying mental health condition such as depression or anxiety. No matter what the cause, this psychological pain can be intense and significantly affect many different areas of your life....