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Browse psychotherapy articles and insights from licensed psychologists at Coastal Therapy Group serving North San Diego County.
The archive
The harder you fight anxiety, the stronger it tends to get. A Carlsbad psychologist on how acceptance and commitment therapy changes your relationship to anxiety instead of trying to eliminate it.
Projection takes a feeling you cannot accept in yourself and hands it to someone else. Sean Noe, PhD explains why the mind does it, what it costs, and what helps when you are the one being handed a feeling that is not yours.
Accepting a painful reality does not mean condoning it. A Carlsbad psychologist on what acceptance actually asks of you, why fighting a feeling backfires, and how acceptance is what makes action possible.
Letting go and giving up look almost identical from the outside and feel completely different inside. A Carlsbad psychologist on acceptance, resignation, and the line between them.
Many people feel like someone else in the days before their period. Naomi Wu, PsyD on what that experience means, and how to meet that version of you instead of fearing it.
Splitting is the mind's habit of seeing people, including yourself, as all good or all bad, with no middle. Sean Noe, PhD explains where the defense comes from, what it protects, and how therapy helps it soften.
Psychoanalytic diagnosis asks who you are, not just what symptoms you have. Jean Jho, PsyD explains levels of personality organization, character styles, and how the PDM differs from the DSM.
Cognitive defusion is the ACT skill of seeing a thought as just a thought. A Carlsbad psychologist explains what fusion costs you, what defusion feels like, and a few ways to practice it.
Acceptance and commitment therapy, explained from inside the room. A Carlsbad psychologist on what ACT actually is, how the six processes work in real sessions, and who it tends to help.
PMS, PMDD, and premenstrual exacerbation are not the same. Naomi Wu, PsyD explains the differences, the warning signs, and when to seek help.
Your menstrual cycle can shape your emotional life in real and noticeable ways. Naomi Wu, PsyD on how the cycle affects your emotions, what the medical model leaves out, and when premenstrual distress is worth listening to.
Defense mechanisms are the mind's automatic ways of protecting itself from feelings that seem too dangerous to feel. Sean Noe, PhD explains splitting, projection, repression, and more in plain language.
Psychologist Reid Kessler, Psy.D. explains why AI chatbots can't replicate the therapeutic relationship, drawing on Bion, Winnicott, Benjamin, and Harlow's research. Coastal Therapy Group, North County San Diego.
A psychotherapist reflects on how a Broadway show revealed the power of nonverbal emotional experience and what it teaches us about the connection between our bodies, feelings, and the moments when words fall short.
Discover how relational therapy deepens self-understanding and supports healthier relationships. Learn what to expect and how this approach differs from CBT.
Dr. Gabriel Lowe explores what healing from religious trauma looks like — from acknowledging pain and reclaiming agency to rebuilding a meaningful life.
What is transference in therapy? Dr. Jean Jho explains how feelings toward your therapist can reveal patterns from your past and deepen your self-awareness.
