Kate Motaung

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

Many of us go through life more or less on automatic, making the best choices we can based on the available information. It is only natural for us to want things to run as smoothly as possible. If we aren’t naturally prone to worry, it is easy to brush away concerns about physical symptoms as long as they aren’t too disruptive. We may put off a physical examination, or ignore something that “isn’t that big a deal.” I have

How do you know you are experiencing depression? What are the common symptoms of depression? As a professional counselor, when listening to clients describe their symptoms, I am looking for patterns and changes in patterns, as well as a few key words or phrases. What is normal for one person may not be normal for another, but here are few of the most common signs and symptoms of depression. Most Common Signs and Symptoms of Depression Change in Mood

As a counselor, the vast majority of clients I see have either endured or perpetrated some type of emotional abuse throughout their lifetime. Emotional abuse is quite pervasive, and it is a fairly new topic to be discussed as generations prior would not have even considered the effects of their words or actions qualifying as abusive. I do want to differentiate right away between someone being an emotional abuser, and someone saying or doing emotionally abusive things. An abuser

When I was in my late teens, my mom told me a story once about one of my ancestors. I told her I was feeling “blue” and she proceeded to tell me of my great-great-great-great-grandfather Charles, who reportedly once described how he would get “in his moods” and not be able to shake it. For these occasions, he kept a pile of dirt in his basement. http://goo.gl/t5wvmX "Handsome Guy," courtesy of andy, CC0 Public Domain, ABSFreePic.com When

I remember my father describing being at the grocery store once. There was a woman with a child who was being unruly. She tried to get the boy to settle down and grabbed his arm, but he screamed and raged all the more. I remember the menacing look on my father's face as he commented a kid who did that in HIS care would only do it once. Few things can impact us as quickly and as deeply as

Being in my line of work, I often get friends and family approaching me about mental health questions. Sometimes specific, but sometimes very general as well and I notice some commonalities between them. Almost everyone wants to know about anxiety, and further, why it seems to be so prevalent in society today. Are people getting "softer"? Is the world turning towards more and more depravity? Or are we just talking about something that’s always been there? It used to