Health

Future Present: Change Happens When We Are Embodied

I knew we all wanted justice, ease and wellbeing, and that our anger was a manifestation of our love for each other. But I also watched as my own fight or flight response kicked in in group dynamics, as I felt habitually roped into defensive positions that felt out of my control. I couldn’t reconcile this big gap between intention and action, so I knew I needed to withdraw not out of avoidance but out of commitment to my own healing. In retreating to understand my own depletion, I discovered somatic practice.

Friendship Health

You Need Help: How Do I Get My Best Friend to Go to Therapy?

“Here is the good news—your best friend does have a therapist! Here is the bad news—that therapist is you!”

Health

How to Wear a Mask Without Fogging Up Your Glasses

14 tips for living your mask and glasses life fog-free.

Health

Some of Your Biggest Questions About Managing Mental Health During Covid, Answered by a Therapist

When are the Shoulds are invading your thought process, and try to be curious about that. What is it The Shoulds are trying
to protect you from? What does doing the “bad” or “wrong” thing mean?

relief workers in masks helping unload boxes

Culture Health

How to Take Care of Each Other: Community Care In Times Of Crisis

“When we’ve all broken past the fear of being burdens on others, when we as communities learn how to ask for and give help and support, we’ll be able to take care of each other.”

Health

I Want You to Touch Me: Skin Hunger and Digital Dysphoria in a Pandemic

Chances are, you know someone who is quarantining alone right now. Maybe even you, yourself, are alone, and have been for the past several weeks. If so, it’s important to learn how this extraordinary circumstance might be effecting your mental, emotional, and physical health – and what steps you can take to mitigate and reduce that harm.

First Person Health

How to Quit Smoking

Tell yourself that you’re not like one of those chain smokers, that you can stop whenever you want. Start smoking American Spirits, so it’s like, not even that bad for you because it’s natural, or organic, or something. You forget.

Health

A Therapist on What You Need to Know About Your Own Mental Health in the Time of COVID19

We all must do the internal work of unpacking how the harms of our social structure have become internalized, have lived in our bodies, have shown in our relationships. We must allow ourselves to feel the weight of it.

Health

Roundtable: From Our Shelters, Places to Yours

It’s a weird time, friends and loved ones; we’re all feeling disconnected and scared, and many of you are, too. We’re here to share a little about how we’re spending this time and what rituals, routines and practices are helping us get through this period; share yours with us too?

black history month autostraddle - young black woman wearing sunglasses holding cocktail with straw, looking at the camera in an appraising way

Health

The Invisible Addicts: Addiction and Treatment in Black LGBT Communities

In my own struggle to get sober, I would spend days telling myself that my bottoms were “not that bad.” That the next day I would drink lighter, drink less, have water between glasses. For black gay addicts, we’re pressured at both ends. One of the reasons I’m sober today is because people around me talked about it, they extended their hands and hearts to me without knowing it.

Health

What Your Therapist Wants You to Know

Your therapist will probably never tell you the intricate personal details of what their work with you sets off in them, but please don’t doubt that we learn just as much about what it means to be a human by working with you.

Health

In 2020 I Dare You to Be Honest With Yourself About What You Really Need

Commit to your life, babe. Start today.

Health

You Have a Crush on Your Therapist: An Exposé About Transference

Having an hour a week devoted to being listened to can lend itself to a misdirection of feelings. It’s easy to dismiss this as a harmless crush, but it can easily spiral out into an obsession that takes away from the real work that needs to be done.

Health

Guided Meditations Written by Someone With Debilitating Anxiety And Depression

Close your eyes. You’re walking through a shady wooded glen. Wait, weren’t all the bees dying like, a year ago? Did we all just move on from that?

Health

You Need Help: Stop Gaslighting Yourself

What would it feel like to move forward with curiosity, rather than relying on the comforting familiarity of self-doubt?

Health

What Queer and Trans Patients Wish Their Therapists Understood

We sometimes wish our therapists had insight from actual queer people and not just theory about how to treat us more effectively – and we’re sure they do too, they want to help! That said, here’s our real-life insight and tips about how to help us get better better.