Any serious loss, especially if it’s sudden, can be shocking. A serious diagnosis– being blindsided by someone you trusted, job loss, any kind of victimization can overwhelm us like a tsunami. Here’s how to keep your head above the water. 1) No matter how intense the emotional overwhelm is, know that you won’t die from […]
School Shooters: Insecure, Scared and Craving Power
School shooters crave an outer form of power because they have not been taught how to develop a strong sense self and personal power to fuel and guide the development of their personalities. They dwell on the negative; some glorify brutal monsters like Adolph Hitler, which feeds their sickness. These children are like the lost […]
Trauma and Resilience
After nearly 20 years in private practice specializing in trauma and resilience, I thought as I watched the news about the “worst mass shooting in modern American history,” that I could easily maintain the detached yet compassionate presence I routinely hold with my clients. Not today. After watching almost an hour of morning news about […]
When Parents Criticize: Unintended Consequences, Unintended Damage
There’s a difference between parental criticism and discipline. Discipline, done in a healthy, balanced and consistent manner, is about guidance for children to learn appropriate behavior and values as they also hopefully see their parents model appropriate behavior and values. Parental entitlement, (“Do as I say not as I do”) doesn’t cut it. Parents who bully their children may gain rapid compliance, but their children also learn to bully others to get what they want.
Gangs and Bullying: A Virulent Societal Plague
Gangs and Bullying: A Virulent Societal Plague © SueHannibal.com Bullying, whether it’s primarily emotional, physical, racial, cultural, sexually motivated or all of the above, is spreading through the world. Terrorist gangs, better armed and a more lethal version of street gangs, play by similar rules, killing anyone, including cops and rival gang members, to protect […]
How to Not Make Bad Decisions — Avoiding Scammers and Manipulators
This post explores the ins and outs of critical thinking, deductive reasoning and discernment, issues that should concern everyone in the voting booth, on a jury and to protect both heart and checkbook in personal and business relationships. In my intuitive healing practice, I help people identify and heal the vulnerabilities that make them susceptible […]
Hoarding: The Metaphors Behind the Madness
“Eric” a successful businessman in his early 50’s, came to my office burdened with a shameful secret. He reluctantly admitted that no one had been inside his home for over a decade. Unlike many hoarders, Eric was not in denial. He nervously handed me a stack of photographs of his home and garage in […]
Understanding Trauma and Resilience: Why Some Veterans and Civilians Get PTS and Others Don’t
Most people know what it’s like to be traumatized. Anyone who was in a car accident for example, knows that shocked feeling and the kaleidoscope of sensory overload that ricochets through the body and mind. For most people who had stable emotional histories before the car accident, the shock of the accident bounces off that […]
New Facebook Community: Military with PTSD Out of the Kill Zone
We are announcing the launch of a new Facebook community as an international directory of resources and free or low-cost treatment for veterans and traumatized civilians who want to heal their trauma, not talk about it endlessly in counseling or suppress it with dangerous, toxic and potentially life-threatening drugs. My book of the same title […]
Why Change is Hard: Keeping New Year’s Resolutions
Have you heard the saying “people resist change?” We do resist, because an element of change is the unknown, which implies a possible lack of control. Any perception of lack of control produces anxiety. That is a recipe for resistance, whether the anxiety is conscious ( job change) or unconscious ( “Dad left when I […]