Karen Sussan LCSW, LMHC
A cushioned window seat with a folded throw, a closed book and a mug, looking out over the coast
Blog  -  NY: In person and via telehealth  -  FL: Telehealth only

Notes on Therapy and Healing

Writing on trauma, EMDR and DBR, attachment, grief, and the ordinary questions people bring to therapy. Some posts answer questions clients ask often. Others are things I have been thinking about.

All posts Reflections 11 The Therapy Process 11 EMDR & DBR 9 Family & Relationships 9 Trauma & Attachment 7 Mind & Body 4
· Trauma & Attachment

Trauma Therapy: Bridge for Greater Wholeness

A metaphor from trauma specialist Agnes Wohl, shared with her permission, for what is realistic to expect from attachment and trauma work in therapy.

· Family & Relationships

When the Family Joke Isn't Really a Joke

Everyone laughed except you, and your reaction became the next punchline. On humor as a delivery system for harm, and what it costs in adulthood.

· The Therapy Process

Who Decides When Therapy Is Done?

Leaving therapy because you are ready and leaving because a protocol ran out are not the same thing. On who gets to decide when treatment is done.

· Family & Relationships

When You Learned to Edit Yourself at Home

You knew before you opened your mouth whether to say it. Where the habit of editing yourself starts, what it costs, and what therapy can address.

· Trauma & Attachment

Is Shame Getting in the Way of Your Healing?

Thoughtful, self-aware people still say they feel stuck. Often shame is the reason, and it lives in the nervous system rather than in understanding.

· Reflections

Boredom Is Good for You

When my daughter told me she was bored, I said “Good!” Why empty, unstructured time is worth protecting, and what to do when it feels unbearable.

· Reflections

A Mile in Their Moccasins

My mother taught me the saying as “a mile in their moccasins.” A reflection on cultural humility, and on asking clients about where they come from.

· The Therapy Process

I'm Not Superman

People sometimes arrive at therapy desperate, asking to be fixed. On what a therapist can and cannot do, and what the relationship itself offers.

· EMDR & DBR

Overcoming Dental Anxiety with EMDR Therapy

Dental anxiety keeps many people out of the chair altogether. How EMDR addresses the fear underneath it, and practical ways to manage appointments.

· EMDR & DBR

More Blue

Often described as magic, EMDR is better explained by neuroscience. On the evidence behind it for PTSD, and what “building the blue” actually means.

· Trauma & Attachment

Did You Have a Recent Trauma?

Accidents happen, and the effects can linger well past the event. On EMDR’s recent traumatic episode protocol, R-TEP, for something that just happened.

· The Therapy Process

Will Going on Vacation Derail My Therapy?

Continuity helps therapy work, and breaks happen anyway. What a vacation actually does to your progress, and how to use the time between sessions.

· EMDR & DBR

The Healing Power of EMDR Therapy

EMDR was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s and is now widely endorsed for PTSD. How it works, and who tends to benefit from it.

· Reflections

An Attitude of Gratitude

The litany of shoulds and musts is hard to disrupt, especially when “good” and “right” were taught harshly. How trauma-informed work can shift it.

· Reflections

HAVE YOU TRIED “THE JOY OF JUST BEING”?

We go on overdrive, push through, and distract ourselves from what we feel. On the difficulty of just being, and how EMDR widens your window of tolerance.

· Family & Relationships

Not Just for the Holidays

Sharing meals nourishes body and soul, and it matters all year rather than only at holidays. On family meals, connection and everyday well-being.

· Family & Relationships

Be Prepared for the Holidays

Setting boundaries with family is work many of my clients bring to the holidays. Scripts and tips from an EMDR colleague, written for trauma survivors.

· Reflections

How Are You Feeling?

“How are you feeling?” “Oh, I’m fine.” On the glossy answer we give no matter what is actually going on, and what it costs to keep giving it.

· Reflections

Self Compassion

Self compassion can be hard to come by. Healing where it is missing helps you, and it ripples out to the people around you. You are worth it.

· The Therapy Process

The Power of Groups

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. On what group psychotherapy offers that individual work does not, including its spiritual dimension.

· Reflections

WHEN THINGS FALL APART

“When things fall apart, they turn into something else,” my supervisor Roger Wolfe said. On meaning, existential questions, and what comes after.

· Reflections

Wisdom From A Tooth

At 18 I had four impacted wisdom teeth out, and the recovery turned into an existential crisis. What it taught me about pain, meaning and healing.

· Reflections

Good Grief!

Grief is not a mental illness but a normal process that takes time and looks different for everyone. Signs it may help to work with a counselor.

· The Therapy Process

Psychotherapy: Long Or Short Term

How to tell whether you need brief or long term psychotherapy: your objectives, your confidence in therapy, homework, timeframe and budget.

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