Kate Motaung

Marriage, when it is not working, can be the loneliest place in the world. The covenant of marriage requires us to love, honor, trust and cherish. If we don't do that, then we have no foundation to stand on. Every argument we ever have is a trust issue. When we violate trust, to any degree, then we are telling our partner that our love is not important and they are not important. You can love someone and not trust

When I first started my career in counseling, I had never really heard of coaching as a career within mental health. I knew about it in terms of “executive business coaching” and even had read a book on this subject when I started working for American Century Investment Company. Well, I did not like dealing with money and I found that investing money wasn’t something I enjoyed. I made a career switch and thought I was going to combine

I have treated first responders, families, communities, groups, and people of all ages for nearly 20 years involving the outcomes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Acute Anxiety. Trauma is one of the most challenging and rewarding types of mental health treatment there is. To understand our brain and trauma, one must first look at the biological issue that stems back to our very beginning. For example, let's say you are a cave person and suddenly heard a

The topic of forgiveness has been discussed at length across the globe, throughout history, and among several different religions and philosophies. However, there is one specific belief system in which the concept of forgiveness encompasses a depth and magnitude unlike any other in all of the world and that is Biblical Christianity. The concept of forgiveness is mentioned in the bible at least 75 times throughout the Old and New Testaments. Depending on which translation you use, you may

In my studies as family counselor, one of the first courses we took was a look into the family lifecycle. We obviously know the individual lifecycle – birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and then older adulthood (and of course we could subdivide that many ways). The family lifecycle, then, has the following stages: launching (leaving your parents after adolescence), coupling, parenting young children, parenting adolescents, launching your own children, then adulthood in later life. Each of these phases of life

Much of the research and information learned about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been through working with combat veterans. In World War II, this traumatic experience was often called “shell shock.” Soldiers who experienced these symptoms during battle often believed they were reliving the trauma over and over. Many of the soldiers would have vivid, repeating nightmares about the traumatic experience. Soldiers would often be so traumatized that they did not return to battle, and after they returned

The statistics of people who have experienced trauma at some point in their life are monumental. One in four women has been sexually abused, one in five individuals (male and female) has been sexually molested, one of three couples engages in physical violence, and one in four children are beaten to the point of having marks on their bodies. What these numbers miss are the stories behind the suffering. I am speaking to those who have been in the

Some women live their adult lives carrying deep emotional wounds inflicted by their mothers during childhood. At times, this burden can result in depression if not dealt with properly. In this article, I will share some suggestions for working through your "mother wound" as an adult daughter. The Truth About You You deserved to be loved. Your mother didn’t or couldn’t give you the warmth, safety, support, or feeling of being cherished that you needed so much. Mothers influence

Anxiety seems to be becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. The reasons for this are varied, but the reality of what we are experiencing is nonetheless, well, stressful. What is an Anxiety Attack? But what is an anxiety attack, exactly? And how can someone know if they are experiencing one? An anxiety attack is an onset of symptoms in response to a trigger. It is the perception of danger rather than the presence of danger. Here are

“I got through it, I feel fine, I went to school and did my time, In a sense I'm out, in a sense I'm free to be what I want to be.” – MxPx, “Doing Time” A child of the 90’s, I grew up on a heavy dose of punk rock and emo music. My favorite band, thanks to my older brother who guided 90 percent of my music interest until I was at least 16, was MxPx. A

There seems to be a common thread among the majority of clients I see – they tend to work against their emotions, instead of knowing how to work with them. For whatever reason, it is a prevalent belief that the “negative” emotions (not bad, just the direction of the emotion taking us down rather than up) are something to either ignore, stuff, suppress, medicate or be afraid of. Where did this belief originate? I’m  not sure, but if you

I was a pastor for 23 years, and during that time I often heard parishioners talking about mental health issues like depression. The view was often narrow and uninformed. I heard such statements as, “If you have enough faith, you will not be depressed,” “You just need to trust God,” and many other choice comments. I remember while dealing with my own depression, a friend and mentor told me to “get over it and quit sinning.” He apparently believed