Why Toxic Relationships Create Identity Conflicts?
Ever feel like you lost track of yourself after a bad relationship, or that you didn’t even recognize who you were by the end? That’s not just in your head. Toxic relationships don’t just leave bruises on the heart; they chip away at your sense of identity, often in slow and subtle ways. Many people […]
The Myth of Letting Go of the Past: How We Moralize Time and Identity
There seems to be a judgment surrounding the “past” in contemporary culture. In another article, I deconstructed the myth of the “present”: namely, how the seemingly absolute experience of linear, causal, and discrete temporal bubbles of “past”, “present”, and “future” is but one way of experiencing time. From an existential perspective, though, in any given […]
The Myth of Staying Present: How We Live Time
It seems that, alongside and perhaps partly in response to the traditional psychoanalytic emphasis on the past, contemporary mainstream therapeutic culture increasingly foregrounds the present. When modern psychotherapy was in its initial theoretical development, more emphasis was placed on digging into the past: the answer to our present distress can be traced, with assumed direct […]
The Nature of Emotions and How to Regulate Them
Nowadays, with increasing awareness of mental health and the normalization of therapy, you hear people talk about the importance of “feeling/regulating your emotions”. Therapy language seeps into everyday life, and informs how we understand and communicate mental wellbeing (e.g. “I’m dysregulated”, “This is my boundary”, etc.). Furthermore, you might hear more people saying, “everyone should […]
The Therapist isn’t God: Why Timing Matters More Than Insight
A while back, during a check-in on therapy progress, a client expressed how while they’ve gotten useful insights from our sessions, their life didn’t seem to change in any significant manner. As a therapist, if you’re inexperienced, as I was back then, you tend to absorb such comments immediately and solely as a sign of […]
Sentimentality as a Superpower: Seeing Beauty in a Cold World
I met a friend for dinner a while back. For a long time, she’s been a very sentimental person, someone who feels deeply for people. Being so has brought upon several heartbreaks, hurt, and sadness in her friendships, romantic relationships, and professional ones. As she’s gotten older, working in the corporate sector, she tried to […]
I Decided to Shave My Head Bald
I’m 28, and I’ve been noticing hair loss since I was 25. On Wednesday, I decided to shave my head bald. If I’m going to be bald one day, I thought it’s best that I get used to it. While I felt very liberated afterwards, I was extremely conflicted beforehand. A part of me accepted […]
A Team Confession
Team Confession: this piece exists because we had absolutely no idea what to write. This is Faith, hi! I’m a writer and I help Mag and Gary behind the scenes of Encompassing. I’m here to start off this piece which was initially sent out as a newsletter…Of all our newsletters, this one is our favorite […]
‘I Work Relationally in the Here-and-Now’ —What Does My Therapist Mean?
What is Relational Therapy? You might’ve heard many therapists say they work “relationally” and in the “here-and-now”. I must admit: it sounded odd to me at first, but I’ve come to see its powers. During my sessions, naturally, my clients talk about other people. But they are recounting what had already happened. They are describing […]
Existential Therapy Techniques: Tools for Meaning, Anxiety, and Personal Growth
What gives life meaning? How do we cope with uncertainty, anxiety, and the weight of our own choices? These are not just philosophical questions. They are deeply human concerns that often surface in therapy, especially during times of change, loss, or transition. Existential therapy focuses on helping people confront these big questions with honesty and […]