NICOLE MARTIN SALTER

Are you feeling guilty about something? Are you judging yourself and sentencing yourself, once again, to feeling that you're wrong, bad, and faulty? Guilt can be a useful emotion when it signals that we have made a misstep. We have not shown up in the world the way we would have liked to, and we know we can do better, so now we ought to do something to set it right. Some form of apology, reparations, and/or change is now due. Fair enough. But for those of us who feel guilty a

The other day I was listening to a podcast by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist who has dedicated her career to helping people live better by understanding the science behind why they think, feel, and act as they do. On her podcast, Dr. Leaf was interviewing Dr. Susan David on how to go from being emotionally fragile to emotionally agile; it's a must-listen for anyone who wants to build resilience in our crazy world, or at least stop bursting into tears while scr

Is it me, or are there more and more trending shows about psychopaths lately? Even my counselor, who originally started watching this Netflix show with great interest, had to stop at a certain point. I'm in Season 2 and have also given up trying to slog through it...but no spoilers, please. It would be easy to label the anti-hero of the series, Joe Goldberg, as a psychopath - or maybe a sociopath, although this term is no longer recognized by clinicians. Here's a spoiler of m

Recently I had a bit of an awkward exchange on Facebook Messenger that reminded me why I seldom hang out on social media platforms with my personal account. I didn't initiate the conversation, but as usual, I sure finished it. An old friend had opened a chat to comment on an ex-boyfriend of mine who had set up a Go Fund Me account. This ex was apparently dying of cancer, and word had spread throughout my entire network that he needed money for his expenses. The friend who rea

I just heard one of my YouTube heroes, Richard Grannon, say something very interesting. Richard, also known as the Spartan Life Coach, has studied Cluster B personality disorders (narcissism, borderline, psychopathy) on an individual level and also on a macro level - how these traits affect society as a whole. He also knows a lot about CPTSD, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and how its symptoms can mirror those of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In short, he's

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." Have you heard this quote, or some version of it? Do you believe it is true? Usually we hear this quote in the context of politics or history. In our race to move forward, we often forget to study what the past can teach us. The same is true with our own personal family history. It can be painful to revisit the past, especially when we have suffered from childhood trauma. Even if the trauma wasn't extreme, like chi