Larissa Ernst Clinical Psychologist & Psychotherapist

26/02/2022

This 👇🏻

In looking at what enables toxic positivity and makes it thrive in our culture, it is at its core a discomfort with emotions.

More specifically, it is a discomfort with what are often erroneously called "negative" emotions: sadness, anxiety, anger.

If these normal human emotions are seen as "bad and negative," then when they are inevitably experienced, we will be more likely to push them aside in the service of false positivity.

02/02/2022

My clients would recognize this. I often recommend writing. And as Susan says, you don’t have to read it again. It is the process that makes the diffrence

By Susan David, PhD

26/01/2022

“You are afraid to surrender because you don’t want to lose control. But you never had control; all you had was anxiety.”

— Elizabeth Gilbert

28/11/2021

My collague, Sian Green, describes what we’re all feeling, almost two years into the pandemic, so well …

26/11/2021

This breaks my heart over and over again. Have we not all endured enough!

We asked readers whether they have been affected by the travel ban instituted against South African travelers, first by the UK and since by several countries in Europe.

05/11/2021

Authoritative is not authoritarian

04/07/2021

We think that denying our emotions makes us stronger and more resilient, but the research shows that it actually makes us LESS resilient.

I had such a GREAT conversation with Brené Brown on the Dare to Lead podcast that we made two episodes, and this is just part one.

01/07/2021

Episode two of our six-part Summer Sister Series on "The Gifts of Imperfection," with my sisters, Ashley and Barrett, dropped today.

In this episode, we start with Guidepost #1: Cultivating Authenticity and Letting Go of What People Think and move into Guidepost #2: Cultivating Self-Compassion and Letting Go of Perfectionism. Practicing authenticity — and yes, it is a daily practice — is really connected to boundary work, so we admit the individual fears we each experience when setting boundaries.

We also talk about perfectionism as a process addiction, and how our imperfections are not inadequacies, but instead they’re reminders that we’re all in this together. spoti.fi/UnlockingUs

05/12/2020

Autism spectrum disorder is inseparable from who I am. I wish only that it hadn’t taken so long to find out.

16/11/2020

Natural vagus nerve stimulation helps you respond effectively to the emotional and physiological symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Practices to...