InsideOut Psychological Services

06/07/2025

Another short routine to relieve anxiety. Holden QiGong

Want to naturally relieve anxiety while seated?Join Master Qi Gong Teacher Lee Holden for this 7-minute seated Qi Gong routine to clear anxiety fast. These s...

06/07/2025

Try this throughout the day.

06/06/2025

05/21/2025

05/11/2025

Verbal Abuse in Childhood Rewires the Developing Brain

New research reveals that verbal abuse in childhood can alter the developing brain, leading to long-term emotional and cognitive consequences.

Harsh, demeaning language from adults activates the brain’s threat system, making children more likely to interpret neutral cues as threatening.

At the same time, the brain’s reward system becomes blunted, reducing responsiveness to praise, affection, and positive experiences.

These neural changes can impair relationship-building, self-worth, and mental health well into adulthood.

Verbal abuse increases the risk of anxiety, depression, substance use, and difficulty with emotional regulation.

Experts urge greater awareness and prevention, emphasizing that nurturing, respectful language is essential for healthy brain development and lifelong wellbeing.

https://neurosciencenews.com/verbal-abuse-child-brain-28886/

04/05/2025

I was once asked in an interview what advice I would give to my younger self. This question immediately took me back to what I call being a ‘junior therapist’ as a child. So many of us come into this profession having already been precocious little therapists in our family of origin and so I would love to have told my younger self "Things may not be great right now, but you can use what you’re learning, in helping your family, to help other people and be appreciated for it." Because what my younger self didn’t know is that someday I would be valued deeply for trying to help people.

04/01/2025

03/28/2025

Healing from trauma starts with feeling safe, reclaiming control, and knowing your worth. Survivors should never feel small, less than, or ashamed. Every step toward healing is a step toward empowerment.

Explore my free eBook: Stages of Trauma Recovery, to learn more about how to navigate this journey. https://bit.ly/42lWNRF

03/17/2025

After more than thirty years in the trauma field, I’ve watched our understanding of trauma transform and our approaches to treatment become gentler and more effective. Along the way, I have had the good fortune to have been taught by or worked alongside the giants in the field of psychological trauma: first, Judith Herman, then Bessel van der Kolk, and Pat Ogden. And as much as these pioneers taught me, the most powerful and gifted teachers I have had are my patients. These survivors have given me a window into the inner experience of the legacy of trauma, taught me what always to say and what never to say, and helped to validate or disprove what the experts were claiming. It has been a privilege to learn with them and from them.

We now understand that trauma’s imprint is both psychological and somatic: long after the events are over, the body and mind continue to respond as if danger were everpresent. We hold what happened as a ‘living legacy’ of emotional and body memories that keep the trauma alive for decades. My professional mission has been to bring this understanding of trauma to both clients and their therapists as a psychotherapist, consultant, and trainer of clinicians looking for answers to helping their traumatized clients. I believe the key to healing is not knowing what happened but transforming how our younger selves still remember it. When we accept the child we once were and welcome them into our minds and hearts, we can finally heal.