As we continue our journey through Autism Acceptance Month, let’s shift our focus to how autistic individuals interact with the world around them. This part of the series will delve into two frequently misunderstood autistic behaviors: stimming and masking. Often misinterpreted or judged, these behaviors hold significant meaning within the autistic experience. Stimming, characterized by repetitive movements or vocalizations, is far more than just a quirk.  For many autistic individuals, it serves a crucial purpose in self-regulation, sensory processing, and emotional expression.  Mas ..read more

April is Autism Acceptance Month, a crucial time to celebrate autistic identities and expand our understanding of the autistic experience. While significant strides have been made in recognizing autism, public portrayals often focus on a limited set of behaviors, creating a skewed and incomplete picture of the vast spectrum. This can lead to misunderstandings and missed opportunities to support autistic individuals effectively. This month we will offer a 2-part blog series that aims to bridge that gap by venturing beyond the stereotypes and exploring two often-overlooked aspects of autism. In ..read more

Every April, we recognize two very important ideas: World Health Day, observed on April 7th, and Celebrate Diversity Month. While World Health Day emphasizes our collective well-being, a crucial aspect often remains under-discussed and under-resourced: mental health. While progress is being made to address some inconsistencies and inequities, there is still much work to do. Increased awareness and open dialogues surrounding mental health are slowly chipping away at the stigma that has long been associated with mental illness and the seeking of care. However, a deeper look reveals a fascinating ..read more

As we wind down Women’s History Month, we would like to look more closely at the challenges that women have faced when it comes to mental healthcare throughout history. This history is riddled with misconceptions, misdiagnoses, and downright dangerous treatments, and while significant progress has been made, the scars of that troubled past still linger. Gender bias in diagnosis and treatment persists, and the specific challenges women face often go unaddressed. Understanding this problematic history is not just an academic exercise – it’s vital for dismantling these lingering issues and creati ..read more

In past Women’s History Months, we’ve looked closely at some of the women who shaped mental health and eating disorder treatment and research. This year, we wanted to examine the lives of women who have experienced mental health challenges throughout history. For centuries, mental health challenges have been shrouded in secrecy and shame.  Women, especially those in the public eye, have often faced immense pressure to maintain a facade of perfection.  However, a chorus of powerful voices has risen up, shattering the silence and challenging these expectations. Let’s explore the storie ..read more

February 26th through March 3rd is Eating Disorders Awareness Week this year. It’s also the tail end of Black History Month, and the transition into Women’s History Month. A while back we had the incredible privilege of sitting down with Dr. Whitney Trotter DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, RDN and Angela Goens MS, RDN, LD, co-founders of the BIPoC Eating Disorders Conference. With the conference now entering its 3rd year, we wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on our conversation with Whitney and Angela, and to discuss their incredible project (which Galen Hope has been proud to sponsor since year ..read more

Based on the talk, “The Evolution of Shame” given by Dr. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, Board Certified Psychiatrist, Founder and CEO of Galen Hope, at the Emergence Conference 2023. “Weight Stigma is all about the internalization of shame based on social expectations that generally deny biological pre-ordained biology.” ~ Dr, Wendy Oliver-Pyatt Weight Stigma stems from the negative weight bias our society adopts and the fear of being in a higher weight body. Cultural and societal beliefs, exacerbated by media, create strong negative associations with certain body sizes, body types, and other physical att ..read more

The winter months can be long, cold, and dark. Sometimes, so much so that the weather can cause individuals to develop a form of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). While many individuals may feel the “blah” of the winter blues or challenges related to the holidays, when symptoms are significant enough to impair functioning and persist throughout the season, it may be an indication of something more. It is generally believed that SAD is driven by our bodies’ physio-psychological reactions to less sunlight and longer nights, however we don’t know the exact cause as it has been ..read more

Our brains are astonishingly complex organs, orchestrating everything from the fleeting pulse of thought to our deepest of our emotions. Yet, when discussing mental well-being, mental health, or eating disorders, we often resort to language that feels distant and isolating. We speak of “mental illness” in hushed tones, as if these struggles exist in some separate realm, detached from the very organ that governs our very being. But what if we reframed the narrative? What if, instead of viewing mental health as a mysterious, stigmatized entity, we embraced it as an integral part of brain health ..read more

Imagine this: your to-do list stretches like a never-ending scroll, deadlines loom like thunderclouds, and the constant emotional demands of life feel like a weight pinning you down. You’re tired, yes, but it’s a different kind of tired. This isn’t simply the fatigue of a long day; it’s a deep, pervasive exhaustion that seeps into your bones, gnawing at your motivation and draining your spirit. Stress, that ever-present shadow, fuels the initial embers of burnout. The relentless pressure, the endless demands, they chip away at your resilience, leaving you emotionally depleted and professionall ..read more