Therapist Chris Warren-Dickins
@chriswarrendickins.bsky.social
Psychotherapist, author, & parent in Ridgewood, New Jersey. | BEYOND YOUR CONFINES & THE BEAST OF GLOOM are available now. | Posts ≠ therapy/advice. exploretransform.com
Do you find it hard to trust?
This article might explain why.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
This article might explain why.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
December 6, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Do you find it hard to trust?
This article might explain why.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
This article might explain why.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Remember you are not “too much.”
You have just been stuck in survival mode.
Break the cycle of their invalidation and validate your own experiences.
You have just been stuck in survival mode.
Break the cycle of their invalidation and validate your own experiences.
December 6, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Remember you are not “too much.”
You have just been stuck in survival mode.
Break the cycle of their invalidation and validate your own experiences.
You have just been stuck in survival mode.
Break the cycle of their invalidation and validate your own experiences.
If you need help getting through the next few days (of Thanksgiving and beyond), here are some simple Polyvagal techniques.
I hope you find these useful.
#Thanksgiving #MentalHealth #stress #regulation
I hope you find these useful.
#Thanksgiving #MentalHealth #stress #regulation
November 27, 2025 at 1:51 PM
If you need help getting through the next few days (of Thanksgiving and beyond), here are some simple Polyvagal techniques.
I hope you find these useful.
#Thanksgiving #MentalHealth #stress #regulation
I hope you find these useful.
#Thanksgiving #MentalHealth #stress #regulation
Here is another extract from my thoughts on CPTSD, trust, and finding a therapist in New Jersey. This is a short snippet. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
November 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Here is another extract from my thoughts on CPTSD, trust, and finding a therapist in New Jersey. This is a short snippet. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Yet more of my thoughts on CPTSD, trust, and finding a therapist in New Jersey. This is a short snippet. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
November 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Yet more of my thoughts on CPTSD, trust, and finding a therapist in New Jersey. This is a short snippet. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Here are my thoughts on CPTSD, trust, and finding a therapist in New Jersey. This is a short snippet. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
November 24, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Here are my thoughts on CPTSD, trust, and finding a therapist in New Jersey. This is a short snippet. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
My thoughts on the fawn response. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Chris Warren-Dickins
Trauma therapist in New Jersey
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Chris Warren-Dickins
Trauma therapist in New Jersey
November 19, 2025 at 12:34 PM
My thoughts on the fawn response. The full-length video can be found via the link set out below.
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Chris Warren-Dickins
Trauma therapist in New Jersey
www.exploretransform.com/therapy-blog...
Chris Warren-Dickins
Trauma therapist in New Jersey
Healing can only happen when we address both the trauma and the addiction. In therapy, we do this in a non-shaming way. We understand the why of the behavior, and we appreciate that we survive in whatever way we can.
October 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Healing can only happen when we address both the trauma and the addiction. In therapy, we do this in a non-shaming way. We understand the why of the behavior, and we appreciate that we survive in whatever way we can.
I often tell my clients here in New Jersey: Addiction isn’t about the substance. It’s about what the substance is soothing.
Many people are trying to quieten the trauma responses that were never understood, never validated, and never healed.
Many people are trying to quieten the trauma responses that were never understood, never validated, and never healed.
October 1, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I often tell my clients here in New Jersey: Addiction isn’t about the substance. It’s about what the substance is soothing.
Many people are trying to quieten the trauma responses that were never understood, never validated, and never healed.
Many people are trying to quieten the trauma responses that were never understood, never validated, and never healed.
When someone turns to substances, they’re not just “making bad choices.”
They are trying to cope with pain that their nervous system hasn’t been able to process.
In this video, therapist Jamie Willis and I discuss the unique challenges of trauma and addiction:
youtu.be/ZOkQQX7jnI8?...
They are trying to cope with pain that their nervous system hasn’t been able to process.
In this video, therapist Jamie Willis and I discuss the unique challenges of trauma and addiction:
youtu.be/ZOkQQX7jnI8?...
October 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM
When someone turns to substances, they’re not just “making bad choices.”
They are trying to cope with pain that their nervous system hasn’t been able to process.
In this video, therapist Jamie Willis and I discuss the unique challenges of trauma and addiction:
youtu.be/ZOkQQX7jnI8?...
They are trying to cope with pain that their nervous system hasn’t been able to process.
In this video, therapist Jamie Willis and I discuss the unique challenges of trauma and addiction:
youtu.be/ZOkQQX7jnI8?...
A collaboration between a psychotherapist and a speech and language pathologist can make a profound difference. In this video, I discussed this need for collaboration with speech-language pathologist Laura Grube:
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
October 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
A collaboration between a psychotherapist and a speech and language pathologist can make a profound difference. In this video, I discussed this need for collaboration with speech-language pathologist Laura Grube:
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
Therapists like me help with fear, shame, or trauma behind the silence.
Speech therapists can help with expressive and receptive language.
This kind of dual support can be life changing.
Speech therapists can help with expressive and receptive language.
This kind of dual support can be life changing.
October 1, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Therapists like me help with fear, shame, or trauma behind the silence.
Speech therapists can help with expressive and receptive language.
This kind of dual support can be life changing.
Speech therapists can help with expressive and receptive language.
This kind of dual support can be life changing.
Did you know that psychotherapy and speech therapy often work best together?
In this video, I discussed this need for collaboration with speech-language pathologist Laura Grube:
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
In this video, I discussed this need for collaboration with speech-language pathologist Laura Grube:
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
October 1, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Did you know that psychotherapy and speech therapy often work best together?
In this video, I discussed this need for collaboration with speech-language pathologist Laura Grube:
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
In this video, I discussed this need for collaboration with speech-language pathologist Laura Grube:
youtu.be/WeDbYaEcwvM?...
Have you ever wondered why you shut down during a stressful experience? Do you apologize even when you’ve done nothing wrong? Do you stay in unhealthy situations out of guilt or fear?
These might be trauma responses.
These might be trauma responses.
October 1, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Have you ever wondered why you shut down during a stressful experience? Do you apologize even when you’ve done nothing wrong? Do you stay in unhealthy situations out of guilt or fear?
These might be trauma responses.
These might be trauma responses.
Have you ever wondered why you shut down during a stressful experience? Do you apologize even when you’ve done nothing wrong? Do you stay in unhealthy situations out of guilt or fear?
These might be trauma responses.
These might be trauma responses.
October 1, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Have you ever wondered why you shut down during a stressful experience? Do you apologize even when you’ve done nothing wrong? Do you stay in unhealthy situations out of guilt or fear?
These might be trauma responses.
These might be trauma responses.
Trauma responses aren’t overreactions. They’re survival strategies.
When something painful or overwhelming happens, especially repeatedly, your brain learns how to protect you.
When something painful or overwhelming happens, especially repeatedly, your brain learns how to protect you.
October 1, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Trauma responses aren’t overreactions. They’re survival strategies.
When something painful or overwhelming happens, especially repeatedly, your brain learns how to protect you.
When something painful or overwhelming happens, especially repeatedly, your brain learns how to protect you.
Depression might feel like you’re stuck in a fog. You’re unable to shake this heaviness, this disconnection from things you used to enjoy.
Depression doesn’t have one face, and it doesn’t always come with obvious signs.
Depression doesn’t have one face, and it doesn’t always come with obvious signs.
October 1, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Depression might feel like you’re stuck in a fog. You’re unable to shake this heaviness, this disconnection from things you used to enjoy.
Depression doesn’t have one face, and it doesn’t always come with obvious signs.
Depression doesn’t have one face, and it doesn’t always come with obvious signs.
Depression often feels like an invisible weight, but the truth is, you don’t have to carry it by yourself.
Whether it’s a lingering sadness, a sense of numbness, or struggling to get through the day, it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not weak, you’re human.
Whether it’s a lingering sadness, a sense of numbness, or struggling to get through the day, it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not weak, you’re human.
October 1, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Depression often feels like an invisible weight, but the truth is, you don’t have to carry it by yourself.
Whether it’s a lingering sadness, a sense of numbness, or struggling to get through the day, it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not weak, you’re human.
Whether it’s a lingering sadness, a sense of numbness, or struggling to get through the day, it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not weak, you’re human.
Depression isn’t just “feeling sad.” It can look like anger, irritation, disconnection, fatigue, excessive guilt, struggling to get out of bed, or an inability to focus.
October 1, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Depression isn’t just “feeling sad.” It can look like anger, irritation, disconnection, fatigue, excessive guilt, struggling to get out of bed, or an inability to focus.
At what point do you speak up about your feelings and needs? When you are already experiencing burnout? If so, that might be too late. Studies show that burnout thins the gray matter of your prefrontal cortex, and it can enlarge the amygdala.
October 1, 2025 at 12:04 PM
At what point do you speak up about your feelings and needs? When you are already experiencing burnout? If so, that might be too late. Studies show that burnout thins the gray matter of your prefrontal cortex, and it can enlarge the amygdala.
Do you ever say “no” and then feel guilty? Do you wish you could say “no” but don’t know how? You’re not alone. Many of us, especially in high-pressure careers, have learned from an early age to prioritize the convenience or comfort of others over our own needs.
October 1, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Do you ever say “no” and then feel guilty? Do you wish you could say “no” but don’t know how? You’re not alone. Many of us, especially in high-pressure careers, have learned from an early age to prioritize the convenience or comfort of others over our own needs.