Trauma, Addiction, and the Feminization of Psychology (feat. Shirin Fouladi Ruf M.A., LMFT) | The Logosphere

Hosts Chris Stites and JD Ruf interview Shirin Fouled Ruf, who is a professional psychotherapist. Together they discuss how trauma can fundamentally change the nervous system and one's perception of reality; the distinction between physical and psychological trauma, and how psychological trauma can be just as damaging or even more so than physical trauma; the connection between trauma and addiction/self-destructive behaviors, and how trauma often leads to a distorted sense of self and difficulty regulating emotions; the limitations of traditional talk therapy and diagnostic models in effectively treating trauma, and the importance of approaches like EMDR that work to reprocess traumatic memories, the role of the therapist and how the professionalization and monetization of mental health treatment can create incentives that work against truly helping clients heal; the challenges of maintaining an identity beyond one's trauma or diagnosis, and the tendency for people to become overly identified with their mental health issues; the therapist's own frustrations with the current state of the mental health field and her desire to shift her practice to focus more on short-term, results-oriented work instead of long-term, open-ended therapy; and the effects of feminization in the field of psychology and in society as a whole.