Dominique Outlaw-Howell, Psy.d.

12/19/2025

12/18/2025

Why "just staying positive" often makes things worse. 🧠

Ever tried to force a smile when you were actually spiraling? It usually feels exhausting because your nervous system knows the truth.
As a psychologist, I teach my clients that emotions are data, not directives. They are signals from your brain about your environment or your needs.
When we ignore the signal, the brain just "turns up the volume."

Emotion regulation isn’t about “calming down.”
Most people were taught that regulating emotions means:
• suppressing them
• reasoning them away
• or forcing positivity

In trauma-informed work, emotion regulation means something very different.
It means learning how to:
✔ notice emotional signals early
✔ stay present without getting hijacked
✔ respond instead of react
✔ recover faster after emotional spikes
For many adults, this was never modeled or was actively punished growing up.
That’s why emotion regulation is a skill, not a personality trait.
In my upcoming 8-week Emotion Regulation Group starting January 26, 2026, we work on:
• understanding emotional patterns (without shame)
• building nervous-system-based regulation skills
• practicing tools you can actually use in real life
• learning alongside others who get it
Group work can be powerful because regulation is relational—we learn it in safe connection.
If emotional intensity, shutdown, or overwhelm has been running the show lately, you’re not broken.
You’re under-resourced.

02/21/2025

✨👌🏾🤎

01/22/2025

01/22/2025

Not just how they love others, but how they love themselves. We often mimic the way our caregivers loved us towards ourselves. Please remember that you can reparent yourself. If you felt neglected be mindful of how you show up for yourself. If you were verbally abused, be mindful of how you treat yourself. If you want to build a new relationship, start with the things you wanted and cherished as a child.

The roots of love run deep—how we were cherished as children shapes how we cherish others today.

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💔 NOTE: Our greatest condolences on the passing of Kerwin in October; we will continue to feature his work at ICP and hope his message lives on

01/10/2025

Let this serve as the catalyst you need to initiate your journey. Typically, this is the most challenging aspect, but also one of the most transformative elements.

01/08/2025

Please remember to be kind. Be kind to yourself, kind to others. Please be mindful. We are just coming off the holiday season and that may have not been the easiest for everyone. With things going on in the news and all the aspirations for the new year, it may make sense that people are so quick to move on to the next thing. However, we cannot sweep away our feelings or the feelings of others. People may not ask for help or they may be tired of talking about it, so I challenge you today. What is one way you can show up with kindness or compassion today to yourself and someone else?

08/22/2024

Be mindful of where, who, and what you give your attention.

01/03/2023