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In the Writing
Here at Untangled Mind℠, you'll discover my deep passion and ongoing pursuit of rigorous, evidence-based mental health care. Through this blog, I share thoughtful insights, practical strategies, and reflections drawn from the Untangled Mind Pathway℠, my structured, measurement-based framework designed to move beyond subjectivity toward real, trackable progress. I love exploring ideas that elevate standards in therapy and empower both clients and clinicians. Most posts have a companion episode on the podcast, so be sure to check out both.
Welcome, let's untangle the mind together!
When Hostility Arrives
Maybe it happened in session. Maybe it happens with your partner, your kids, a friend who's trying to help. You feel a wave of irritation (or worse) toward someone who hasn't actually done anything wrong. And right behind the anger comes the shame: “what is wrong with me?” Nothing is wrong with you. Anger is rarely traveling alone. Anger is usually a bodyguard Underneath most anger is something more vulnerable: fear, grief, humiliation, a sense of being powerless. Anger shows
Piper Harris, LPC
5 days ago2 min read
Why "Trust Me, You're Getting Better" Isn't Enough Anymore
A look at Measurement-Based Care — what it is, why so many clinicians resist it, and why it might be the most client-centered thing you can do. Here's something most people don't realize about therapy: for all its rigor, our field has historically had a hard time answering a simple question: is this actually working? Most of us were trained to sense a client's progress. To feel it, to read the room, to trust the relationship. And the relationship truly does matter more than a
Piper Harris, LPC
Jul 153 min read
EMDR and Social Media Hype: What a Trauma Clinician Actually Thinks
EMDR is everywhere right now. TikTok videos promise relief in three sessions. Instagram reels of bilateral stimulation techniques you can do at home. Influencers without clinical credentials are calling it a miracle cure for everything from breakup grief to Monday morning anxiety. As a licensed professional counselor specializing in trauma and integrative CBT, this concerns me deeply. Not because EMDR isn't effective, it is. The research is clear and compelling. But because a
Piper Harris, LPC
Jun 35 min read
Stage 2 Trauma Healing: When You're Ready to Process What Happened
Healing from trauma is not a straight line, and it cannot be rushed. After establishing a foundation of safety (Stage 1), many people reach a point where they feel ready to face what happened. This is the beginning of Stage 2: Remembrance and Mourning, one of the most tender and courageous parts of the healing journey. This stage is not about reliving every painful detail or forcing yourself to “get over it.” It is about slowly, safely reconstructing your story so that the tr
Piper Harris, LPC
May 183 min read
Why Therapy TikTok Is Dangerous: What Therapy Influencers Get Wrong
As a licensed therapist with years in the trenches of clinical practice, I’ve watched the explosion of “therapy influencers” with growing alarm. You know the ones I mean: the psychologists, counselors, and self-proclaimed mental-health experts who dominate Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Substack. They distill complex psychological concepts into bite-sized, highly shareable nuggets, often saccharine affirmations, dramatic boundary-setting scripts, or sweeping cla
Piper Harris, LPC
May 1110 min read
The Real Cost of Trauma Recovery: 17 Things You Have to Be Willing to Give Up
Judith Herman, in her groundbreaking book Trauma and Recovery, writes: “Without freedom, there can be no safety and no recovery, but freedom is often achieved at a great cost. In order to gain their freedom, survivors may have to give up almost everything else… Rarely are the dimensions of this sacrifice fully recognized.” We talk a lot about the freedom that comes when we finally choose to stop living out of trauma, fear, hypervigilance, people-pleasing, or survival mode. Th
Piper Harris, LPC
May 44 min read
Cognitive Dissonance and Anxiety: Why Your Actions Don't Match Your Values
One of the most powerful and uncomfortable truths in therapy is this: real growth almost always lives in the tension between what we value and what we actually do. We see it every day in sessions. A client values connection but pulls away when vulnerability feels risky. Another values courage but stays in a job that slowly drains their spirit. They feel the gap. They feel like a fraud sometimes. And that very discomfort? It’s often the doorway to meaningful change. Psychology
Piper Harris, LPC
Apr 273 min read
How to Apologize Effectively: Why Trauma and Anxiety Make It So Hard
We have all been on both sides of a bad apology. You are the one who messed up. Maybe you snapped at a partner, ghosted a friend, or dropped the ball at work. The words tumble out wrong. Or worse, someone hurts you deeply and offers a half-hearted “sorry you feel that way” before changing the subject. A genuine apology is not just polite etiquette. It is one of the most powerful tools we have for repairing trust, reducing resentment, and strengthening relationships. But it is
Piper Harris, LPC
Apr 195 min read
What Is Trauma? What Counts as Trauma (and What Doesn't)
If you’ve ever felt like your body is still on high alert even when life feels calm, or wondered why certain triggers hit harder than they “should,” you’re not alone, and you’re not broken. Trauma touches far more lives than most people realize. According to the latest CDC data, about two-thirds of U.S. adults have experienced at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), with roughly one in six reporting four or more. Among high school students, the numbers are even highe
Piper Harris, LPC
Apr 133 min read
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