Category: Individual Treatment

Anxiety Couples Therapy Depression Individual Treatment Ketamine Assisted Therapy Psychedelics Sex Therapy • • • • • • By Sara Sloan 0 Comments

Resources and Literature about Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and Psychedelics

Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy: A Systematic Narrative Review of the Literature: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9207256/

The New Yorker: Ketamine therapy is going mainstream. Are we ready? https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/ketamine-therapy-is-going-mainstream-are-we-ready

The New York Times Podcast: “The Veterans Fighting to Legalize Psychedelics” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/podcasts/the-daily/veterans-psychedelics-legalization.html

The Harvard Gazette: “Ketamine found effective in treating severe depression” https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/05/ketamine-found-effective-in-treatment-resistant-depression/

Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/research/psychedelics-research

Michael Pollan “How to Change Your Mind” ( book and Netflix Series) https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/

https://www.netflix.com/title/80229847

Gabor Mate “Psychedelics in the Treatment of Trauma” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGTqVt0dlQ

“The Myth of Normal” https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Normal-Illness-Healing-Culture/dp/1785042726/ref=asc_df_1785042726/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=622500525054&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13225712727406116208&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028298&hvtargid=pla-1296869923417&psc=1&mcid=e0096839455a38888cad99362de55928&gclid=CjwKCAiAiP2tBhBXEiwACslfnrnhWT0XpXjlBVuVba-oQ5VIdklWj0qp-LaXK1jK-CCuEtpUxwuq0xoCDwEQAvD_BwE

Bessel van der Kolk “Childhood Trauma, Psychedelics & EMDR”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIH5taudtH0

Penn Medicine News “Penn Medicine Study Gives Peek of How Ketamine Acts as ‘Switch’ in the Brain” https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2022/december/a-peek-of-how-ketamine-acts-as-switch-in-the-brain

CNN “ How psilocybin, the psychedelic in mushrooms, may rewire the brain to ease depression, anxiety and more” https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/11/health/psilocybin-brain-changes-life-itself-wellness-scn/index.html

Stanford Medical School “Psychedelics” https://med.stanford.edu/spsg/about.html

Ketamine Research Institute “5 amazing things you need to know about ketamine infusion therapy” (anti-inflamatory, autoimmune treatment, reduce stress response and increase immune function, brain regeneration, Long haul COVID, addiction recovery)  https://ketamineinstitute.com/ketamine-blog-news-and-recent-developments/5-amazing-things-you-need-to-know-about-ketamine-infusion-therapy/

Ketamine as a treatment for PTSD (Research article) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6457782/

MDMA for Couples Therapy (research article) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8631777/

Time Magazine “MDMA could Revolutionize Couples Therapy” https://time.com/6262291/psychedelics-mdma-couples-therapy/

Vice: “Couples Are Doing MDMA and Ketamine Therapy To Save Their Relationships”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9yg5/ketamine-mdma-couples-therapy

Anxiety Depression Individual Treatment Self-improvement Stress Therapy Uncategorized • • • • • • By Sara Sloan 0 Comments

Working with Intergenerational Trauma and Epigenetics in Therapy

Sara Sloan, LMFT, CST, IRT contributed to Zocdoc’s article, “What is Intergenerational Trauma,” originally published on October 20th, 2024. Below is Sloan’s new content and article summary.

Intergenerational Trauma is something you’ve probably heard about recently in the news.  There have been more studies in the last year, that show directly how parents’ trauma is able to leave biological traces in their children. In particular, research has shown how the father’s trauma is passed on to the child through the sperm.  Meanwhile, scientists have found that a mother’s trauma is associated with changes in mitochondrial bioenergetics.

This is important in therapy, because there are rare occasions where you’ll find a classic trauma response in a client with no past trauma or memory attached, as well as nothing medically to explain it.  It could show up as anxiety or unexplained fear, or it might look like depression, or re-occuring nightmares. This can happen in lineages of those who have had parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents that survived a war or genocide.

If we think back to the original rat study, female rats were given the smell of roses, before receiving an electric shock.  This happened a number of times, until the smell of roses elicited a fear response in the rats, even without the electric shock.  These same rat’s children and grand children continued to show physiological signs of fear and anxiety with the smell of roses, even though none of the following generations had experienced the smell of roses paired with an electric shock.

We see heightened anxiety and a direct link to changes in cortisol for children with one or both parents who had experienced the Holocaust.  You can see the same thing happening in those with Native Lineages that experienced the Indian Boarding Schools.  These changes in epigenetics affect following generations mental and physical health due to events that happened before they were born.

New research shows that psychedelics may be one way to help reverse epigenetic trauma.  One study completed on ayahuasca, found it works directly on the Sigma-1 receptor (SIGMAR1), which helps regulate traumatic memories and cellular stress associated with PTSD.  Ayahuasca showed notable results by providing a decrease in the methylation of SIGMAR1, which translates to higher gene expression.  These changes improve PTSD and anxiety by strengthening cellular stress resilience, reducing neuroinflammation, and stabilizing fear circuitry, while enhancing the neuroplasticity needed for trauma reconstruction.

Other ways we’ve leaned to work with lineage trauma that doesn’t have a core memory attached is through hypnotherapy, ketamine assisted therapy, EMDR, and somatic experiencing.  In therapy, you can focus on the feelings to help process them, even if you’re unsure where they’d originated.

epigenetic trama

Couples Therapy divorce Individual Treatment Infidelity Narcissism • • • • • • By Sara Sloan 0 Comments

Advice on Divorcing a Narcissist

Divorcing a narcissist is brutal, there’s really no way around it.  Divorce often destabilizes the narcissist’s fragile sense of self, which can sometimes result in a narcissistic collapse, which is dangerous for their partner.  If it’s possible, it can be good to see if you can get the narcissist’s buy in, so that eventually they may believe the divorce was their idea. Narcissists can’t handle the rejection, which will make you enemy number one.  They often split on people, similar to borderline personality disorder, where the narcissist turns their partner from all good to all bad.  In other words, you’re either for them or against them, they can’t tolerate anything in the middle.

So, before letting the narcissist know your plans, it’s best to get ahead of things.  It’s important to make sure you have the money ready for first and last months rent way before you need it, as well as money to retain a good divorce attorney that is well versed in narcissism, as well as any incidentals, until you can get temporary orders in place.

If you own property/a home together, do not be the first one to move out, otherwise many states may consider that abandonment, which could cost you in the long run. If you need to move out due to domestic violence (DV), make sure you log any past DV with a family doctor or law enforcement.  This evidence will be important to you, especially if you go to court.

Take care of any family heirlooms or other sentimental pieces.  Move them out of the home and into a safe place, so the narcissist can’t retaliate by destroying them.  It’s not uncommon in divorcing a narcissist, for them to try to take or destroy anything you care about, simply so you don’t get to have it.

If you have children, make sure you find  a good family therapist that is familiar with narcissism and isn’t afraid to take sides in court.  Many therapists refuse to take sides, which allows the court to assume both sides are equal, which down plays the reality of the situation.  Unfortunately, many therapists fear a narcissist’s retaliation, which is not unfounded.

A good rule of thumb is to delete anything on your phone or any other electronic device that you don’t want being read aloud in court, because once you’ve filed for divorce, deleting information after filing can get you in trouble with the judge.

It’s important that you get copies of your past tax returns and any other financial information before you file, so that money doesn’t disappear without a history to track it.

If you suspect your narcissistic partner is cheating, or if they’ve accused you of cheating, it’s worth checking your bank statements for evidence. It’s incredibly common for narcissistic men to go to strip clubs, massage parlors with happy endings, sugar babies and sex workers in general.  To catch this, look for sums of $200, $1000, and $2000, usually pulled from an ATM usually after midnight or 2:00am.  Then, call the number attached to find the location of the ATM, which will often be at the establishment in question (strip club, massage parlor, hotel). If you can prove that the funds were used for one of these purposes, the money spent will go into your financial column at the end of the divorce.

Make sure that if you have to cohabitate for any period of time after deciding to divorce, sleep with a good lock on your door.  Domestic violence is most likely to happen during this period, before you’ve fully separated.  It’s not worth the risk. If the narcissist tries to break down the door, immediately call 911, so there will be a record of this behavior.  A witness is necessary.  Otherwise, if there isn’t concrete evidence (like a recording, an email, or a third party reference), it didn’t happen according to family court.

Individual Treatment Narcissism Stress • • • By Sara Sloan 0 Comments

Part 1: Advice and Techniques for Dealing and Coping with the Narcissist in Your Life

Sara Sloan, LMFT, CST, IRT contributed to Mind Body Green’s article, “How to Deal with the Narcissist in your Life, According to Experts,” originally published on October 20th, 2024. Below is Sloan’s content and article summary.

We hear the term “narcissist” constantly now in the media, and the truth is we all display some narcissistic traits.  However, what separates you from a narcissist is that your traits my show up under duress, or only in certain specific situations, whereas a narcissist’s traits are pathological and operating all the time.

If we examine the traits that define Narcissistic Personality Disorder, they break down into two major types of Narcissism: grandiose/malignant and covert/vulnerable.  Sometimes individuals with these traits may overlap.  In a grandiose/malignant narcissist, they’ll often seek out admiration, always needing to be first and the best in any situation; by comparison, a malignant narcissist seeks your pity, often playing the victim, especially the hero-victim whenever possible.

All narcissists expect special treatment and all have the ability drain the energy from those around them.  Narcissists are emotional vampires, and expert manipulators.  They live in their own reality and expect those around them to conform to it accordingly.  You can tell when a narcissist is trying to pull you into their false version of reality, because it creates an emotional vertigo, which makes it hard to know what to believe.  Narcissists create this confusion in order to gain control of you and any situation.

Other traits you’ll often find in a narcissist include, but certainly aren’t limited to:

  1. Narcissists have an exaggerated sense of self, similar to a chihuahua that sees themselves as a doberman
  2. Narcissists always speak with conviction, convinced that they’re right, and that they know what they’re talking about
  3. Narcissists constantly seek out adoration, attention, sexual attention, and any kind of external validation
  4. Narcissists carry a sense of entitlement, which they think should give them special access, special privileges, and the ability to be the exception to any rule.
  5. Narcissists are willing to manipulate, exploit, and control others for their own personal gain.
  6. Narcissists have grandiose fantasies that place them far above their own abilities in life.  They expect to be the CEO, have the biggest home, or the most attractive wife, etc.  Everything about the narcissist and what they touch or are involved in has to be the best.
  7. Narcissists are jealous of those that have more than they do, or those that have something they want for themselves (money, beauty, friends, spouse).  Everything is a competition to the narcissist that they must win.
  8. Narcissists use others to advance their own interests.
  9. Narcissists use DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender) in any argument.
  10. Narcissists lack self awareness, because they can’t see outside of themselves, their wants, or their desires, and how they effect others around them.
  11. Narcissists often blow up and get mean when criticized.

Not all narcissists will have all of these traits, but they should have enough that it negatively impairs their life and their relationships.

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