• On May, 16, 2016
•  ngutierrez82

I recently watched a TED Talk by Dr. Brene Brown that talked about listening to Shame. I found the discussion to touch at the root of shame and vulnerability and how often we are afraid to feel vulnerable, equating vulnerability …

• On Apr, 05, 2016
•  ngutierrez82

Unexpressed Emotion Lives in the Body.

Sometimes we don’t have the words to consciously name or connect with emotions we are feeling. These feelings can continue to live within us until we begin to validate their experience and give them …

• On Mar, 04, 2016
•  ngutierrez82

Please be advised this post has a *Trigger Warning.*

“Until it happens to you, you don’t know how it feels..Till your world burns and crashes
Till you’re at the end, the end of your rope
Till you’re standing in my …

• On Feb, 18, 2016
•  ngutierrez82

Being a new mother and maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be challenging at times. Let us not forget, there is also time to allocate for studies (if you’re taking any sort of classes for training/school), and spending quality time …

• On Jan, 27, 2016
•  ngutierrez82

As I near the completion of my two year psychoanalytic trauma studies program, I reflect on the understanding I have gained of how important dissociation plays a role in trauma and the human psyche. Dissociation can be understood as the …

• On Mar, 13, 2015
•  ngutierrez82

Finding the emotional and psychic space to focus on relaxation can be difficult in a busy city like New York, and busy mind alike. When you suffer from anxiety or depression, it can be very difficult to want or have …

• On Jan, 22, 2015
•  ngutierrez82

Families build their own systems with customs, values, beliefs, implicit and explicit rules, as well as, perceived acceptable/unacceptable behaviors. We develop within this culture, adapt to, as well as, adopt these family system dynamics. When we leave our family of …

• On Jan, 22, 2015
•  ngutierrez82

We each have various parts of ourselves, similar to defense mechanisms, that at different situations take the wheel and lead during tumultuous, happy, relaxing moments. Many people develop “protector pieces” which help a person that was abused, injured, or taken …

• On Jan, 16, 2015
•  ngutierrez82

It is a beautiful thing when you are physically, emotionally, mentally, or professionally present and supportive to others. After all, we are innately built to be compassionate social beings. However, it is possible that too much generosity can lead a …

• On Jan, 16, 2015
•  ngutierrez82

Sexual abuse can be sadistic or not. It can be one event or a series of events over a prolonged period of time. Sexual trauma takes place in various forms of molestation, childhood exposure to pornography,  rape, uncomfortable touching or …