North Star Behavioral Health's Brandon Gimbel and Tovah Means, LMFT of Watch Hill Therapy discuss dissociation as an unconscious protective response to overwhelming experience.

North Star Behavioral Health's Brandon Gimbel and Tovah Means, LMFT of Watch Hill Therapy explore why children are especially vulnerable to dissociation and how early threat shapes adult coping.

North Star Behavioral Health's Brandon Gimbel and Tovah Means, LMFT of Watch Hill Therapy examine how shame interferes with healing and how trauma-informed understanding can reduce it.

North Star Behavioral Health's Brandon Gimbel and Tovah Means, LMFT of Watch Hill Therapy clarify the clinical difference between dissociation and avoidance—and why confusing them can misguide treatment.

North Star Behavioral Health's Brandon Gimbel and Tovah Means, LMFT of Watch Hill Therapy explain why trauma work requires enough safety to remain engaged without overwhelm.

North Star Behavioral Health's Brandon Gimbel and Tovah Means, LMFT of Watch Hill Therapy discuss how dissociation preserves survival while limiting emotional and developmental capacity over time.

In this clip, Dr. Melanie Santos explores how subtle safety behaviors—like reassurance seeking or avoidance—can interfere with progress in OCD treatment. She explains how identifying and reducing these behaviors is a key part of ERP.

Maggie challenges the idea that EF coaching is just about attention. She often starts with time, organization, or inhibition—skills that support focus by addressing what’s underneath it.

Maggie explains how coaching helps high-performing teens manage time across work, rest, and play. The goal is sustainable self-regulation—not just short-term rewards.

Dr. Lisa Novak explains that resilience, in the CATCH framework, means equipping families to withstand life’s challenges—not just pushing kids to perform. The organization focuses on parents and caregivers through peer support groups, educational programming, and tools like Coping Kits—delivered at key school transition years—to shift focus from achievement to emotional readiness.

What if we could step back from our thoughts and observe them? Carl describes how mindfulness cultivates metacognition—the ability to notice thoughts as mental events—and how this practice creates space between stimulus and response.