Navigating the aftermath of sexual assault can be a daunting journey, laden with complex emotions and challenges. Yet, within the therapeutic setting, there exists a powerful toolkit designed to guide survivors toward healing and empowerment. Through a combination of compassionate support and evidence-based techniques, therapists play a pivotal role in helping survivors cope with the aftermath of trauma. 

Sexual assault is a harrowing experience that leaves deep emotional scars on its survivors. Among the myriad of emotions they grapple with, shame stands out as one of the most pervasive and debilitating. Shame, with its roots in societal perceptions and self-blame, adds layers of complexity to the already daunting process of recovery for survivors. 

In the often tumultuous aftermath of sexual assault, survivors grapple with a myriad of emotions, legal complexities, and societal stigmatization. However, amidst this turmoil, sexual assault advocates emerge as beacons of hope and support, offering guidance, empowerment, and unwavering compassion to those in need.

If you’re a true Love is Blind fan, then you’re already caught up on everything that has happened in Season 6.  Our Greater Baltimore team of therapists loves Love is Blind which is why we’ve decided to share our own relationship and communication tips based on the events that occurred in Season 6. We’ve shared them on social media, and now we’re sharing them here!  We hope you enjoy some of our most comment-worthy moments from season 6! 

If you’re familiar with Dr. Gary Chapman’s Book on The 5 Love Languages, then you know just how impactful it can be when you show someone love according to their own love language.  You might also be aware of how impactful it can be when someone shows YOU love according to YOUR love language.  As we enter into this gift-giving holiday season, it’s worth keeping our friends and family members’ love languages in mind, so we can give a gift that TRULY hits the spot! 

When we fail to recognize another person’s love language in our gift-giving, we can miss the mark, despite making a genuine effort to show thoughtfulness and care.  When we fail to give a gift according to someone’s love language, the gift recipient can be left feeling overlooked and unappreciated.  In this blog, I’ll be sharing some gift giving mistakes from my own life (or others I know), so you can avoid making them this holiday season! 

Setting a boundary with someone means clearly communicating the limitations and rules of your relationship with them. Typically, your personal boundaries will stem from your values and experiences. While setting a boundary might start an uncomfortable conversation, the power and confidence of saying “no” is an important skill in fostering healthy relationships (with others and with yourself!). 

“I hate that I want someone. Can’t I just be ok being alone?, ” a client of mine used to complain about her “being so needy”. In therapy, it was not uncommon to hear people feeling ashamed about needing someone. – In that sense, my client was not alone. Even among mental health practitioners, early training on mental wellness heavily emphasized independence – you are responsible for what you feel, no one else.

“Can he/she just move on?” People sometimes get frustrated about their partner’s unforgiveness. They have to tiptoe around their partner, trying to avoid their raw spots. “Ever since then, she has become super sensitive about my interactions with other women on social media,” said someone who discussed his wife’s “overaction” after he entered into an affair years ago. 

The truth is, without genuine emotional connection between both parties, without corrective emotional response from the injured person, without actions that met the deep needs that have been ignored for so long,  “moving-on” would be extremely hard, if not impossible.

Why is it important to look at the relationship instead of the other person? Because we all carry assumptions, unrealistic expectations, and even baggage from previous relationships. Merely focusing on what our partner has done/said wrong, will result in missing the chance to examine what really gets in the way.

In wedding vows, we promise that we are going to “love”, “cherish”, “support, etc.” our partners through all the ups and downs. It might sound weird to promise “not to use violence” to our partners, probably because people rarely consider themselves capable of getting violent with their significant others.

Although we all dream of a peaceful home, we can shoot word bullets at our loved ones without even noticing. That's why it is crucial to begin by recognizing the bullets.

Sometimes, we have strongly held beliefs that we’ve never questioned. There are times when we might not even be aware that we’ve been clinging to beliefs that are untrue and that don’t actually serve us. In this article, we’ll be talking about 3 common myths about sex, reasons they can be problematic, and ways that you can change your thinking.

You may have seen images of  wellness wheels that highlight the different components of wellness. These wellness wheels remind us that our health and well-being is more than just our physical health. And yet, even some of the most thorough wellness wheels still forgot to include sexual health as one of the components of wellness. Before, we dive in and define sexual health for you, take a moment to consider what comes to mind when you think about what sexual health entails. 

Some couples find that they naturally develop rituals like a hug or a kiss when they part ways at the start of the day and when they reunite.  It’s easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of the day, however, so many couples can benefit from developing intentional rituals in their day. One such ritual developed by John and Julie Gottman at The Gottman Institute is known as the “Stress Reducing Conversation.”