Emotional Triggers Are About You, Not Them: Taking Your Power Back
Emotional triggers are never about “what they did”—they’re about how you trigger yourself through the stories you tell in your mind, what you do with your body, and the patterns you repeat on autopilot. When you see that nothing is actually being done to you, blame drops away and a different kind of power comes online: you can notice, “How I trigger myself is…I say this to myself, I tense here in my body, I react like this,” and choose a new response instead of reliving the same fight again.
From that place, stress becomes something you use—fuel to grow, set cleaner boundaries, and live more consciously—instead of something that uses you and keeps you enslaved to old, unconscious loops.
The Transformative Habit of Journaling for Mental Health
Journaling acts as a thinking partner—a quiet space where tangled thoughts breathe, evolve, and find clarity amid life's demands for instant reactions. Backed by James Pennebaker's expressive writing research, it reduces psychological distress, boosts immunity, and rewires stress memories through reconsolidation for lasting emotional regulation.
Explore beginner prompts like "What am I grateful for today?" or "What drained my energy?" to unpack anxiety, spot patterns, and foster self-compassion in just 5 minutes daily—transforming reactive thinking into reflective resilience.
8 Questions That Tell You If Therapy Is Worth Your Time
Silicon Valley professionals and couples: You're used to solving complex problems fast, but therapy works differently. These 8 questions help you find someone who understands high-functioning stress, relational distance, nervous system patterns, and the body-mind disconnect—without wasting time on generic advice. What to ask them, yourself, and how to know it's a real fit.
Understanding Women’s Desire: Intimacy and a Nonliner Sexual Response Model in High-Achieving Lives
Women’s desire does not always arrive spontaneously. For high-achieving women and couples in Palo Alto, Atherton, Los Altos Hills, and surrounding Silicon Valley communities, Basson’s sexual response model offers a way to understand low libido, sexual pain, and intimacy challenges—emphasizing context, safety, and relational connection over expectation.
When Her Voice Goes Quiet: Authenticity, Connection, and High Achievement in Silicon Valley
High-achieving women in Silicon Valley often appear successful yet feel disconnected from their own voice, relationships, and aliveness. This article explores how achievement can erode authenticity, and how the BeTogether Approach helps restore Self, Connection, and a more fully inhabited life.
Together, Not Enmeshed: A Therapist's Guide to Healthy Relationships in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley couples often mistake enmeshment for connection. Palo Alto therapist Nicole Ohebshalom explores how high achievers can build differentiated relationships—maintaining individual identity while staying emotionally close. Learn to recognize when partnership optimization becomes fusion, and discover practical steps toward healthy boundaries and genuine intimacy in your relationship.
Healing Vaginismus: EMDR and the BeTogether Approach
Vaginismus treatment in Palo Alto combining EMDR and the BeTogether Approach addresses both the involuntary muscle response and underlying trauma. Learn how therapy helps reconnect with the body and resolve pain.
When Love Is Present But Desire Isn't: Navigating Sexual Shutdown in Relationships
Desire discrepancy—when one partner is sexually shut off while still deeply in love—is one of the most common and confusing issues couples face. This isn't about attraction fading or relationship problems. It's often about disconnection from one's own body, the weight of obligation, and a nervous system that has learned sex means pressure rather than pleasure. Through clinical examples and therapeutic insight, this article explores how reconnecting with oneself, establishing genuine boundaries, and creating safety for both yes and no allows authentic desire to emerge naturally. For individuals and couples in Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Atherton, and throughout the Bay Area navigating mismatched libidos, therapy can help rebuild the foundation from which connection and desire arise.