Tag: PTSD

The Dark Side of Western Individual-Focused Psychotherapy

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How it Severs Our Connections to our Families, Ancestors, and Community—and How to Fix It

By Patrick Dougherty, M.A., L. P.
Nov. 1, 2025

Reflections on racism, war and patriarchal violence toward women

Ever since I became a therapist nearly 50 years ago, I’ve loved what I do. I love the feeling of continuously honing my craft, challenging myself, and finding new ways to help my clients. And over the years, I’ve watched, filled with awe and inspiration, as our field has made exciting breakthroughs in trauma treatment. But for a long time, when I was the one sitting on … Read More

Covid comes to Therapy

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For a few years now, I’ve worked with groups around the world to address collective trauma. Our focus is usually on something that had happened elsewhere and in the past: never had I imagined that, with the advent of Covid, I’d find myself so deeply entrenched in an immediate and ongoing collective trauma. One group of men, with whom I’d been working for many years, was particularly affected.

Given how close they’d become since we first began meeting, the move online naturally came as a disruption. While it was manageable at first, the energy in the group became increasingly muted … Read More

Please Don’t Thank Me for My Service — Until You Welcome Me Home

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It has been fifty years since I was with the Marine Corps infantry in Vietnam, and time and distance have allowed me to see and feel some things more clearly. Two things surprise me: one is that I now actually feel some pride for serving my country. And the second is my clear sense that something could change for me and many vets with your help, significantly, and the surprise is that I am willing to say to you, “Please help us come home.”

War is an ugly business, and those of us who come home can carry painful baggage. … Read More

Therapist Peer Groups – The “Emotional Lifeboat – Self-care isn’t always enough

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One morning, a few days after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, a female client left me a voicemail just minutes before her 8 a.m. appointment. Her voice shook as she struggled to speak. An hour earlier, her son had showed her pictures on Twitter of a classmate posing with an assault rifle. The day before, this classmate had been beaten up for mocking students who cried after hearing about the Parkland attack. “I might be a little late to our appointment,” she said. “I’ve already spoken about this with the police, and I’m waiting for a call back from … Read More