specialties
- Abuse Issues
- Attachment Issues
- Dissociative Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- General Issues
- Personality Disorders
- Relationship Issues
- Spiritual & Existential Issues
Therapy for DID, as with therapy for most disorders, is a highly individual thing. The important thing is to find a therapist who will work with you to find the treatment approach that works best for you. Therapy for clients with dissociative disorders is typically long and involved and trust is extremely important, so spending a little extra time to find just the right therapist for you will be well worth the extra effort.
It can be, yes. However, there are many, many causes of headaches — most of them physical — so I’d suggest discussing the headaches with your doctor first. If you don’t have any of the other symptoms of DID, chances are the headaches are a symptom of something different.
Not always. What’s crucial is for the inner parts to find ways to get along and work together. Once this has been accomplished, some people choose to integrate and others don’t. There’s not a right or wrong.
Getting rid of a part usually isn’t the best approach. All parts of us, whether we have DID or not, have our best interests at heart. This can be hard to see with a part that’s evil and/or destructive. However, what often happens is that we develop parts inside to mimic those people who abused us when we were young. The rationale for creating this kind of part is usually unconscious. One possibility, though, is that if you’re like the abuser, the abuser might be more likely to leave you alone. A better approach in therapy is usually to try to get all parts to understand, accept and respect one another. Each has important strengths, even when that’s not apparent at first.
Multiple Personality Disorder is the older term for Dissociative Identity Disorder.
It can be. Clinician’s often differentiate between hearing voices inside your head vs. hearing voices outside your head. People with dissociative disorders are more likely to report hearing voices inside their heads.
I believe that everyone has parts — it’s just that most of us aren’t aware of them. Some professionals would diagnose individuals who are aware of their parts (i.e., “co-conscious”) as having DID and others would give them a different diagnosis. However, treatment for both types of individuals is very similar.
To some extent, yes. For example, most people have experienced moments of “highway hypnosis” where they lose track of time while they drive. As with most things, dissociation is only a problem when it interferes with a person’s ability to function and/or sense of well-being.
There are two main things that will help with the pattern you describe. First you need to shift your focus away from the eating/feeling fat part of the battle and instead, work on eliminating the purging. Knowing that we can purge is an indirect way of saying, “Yes” to the bingeing. It’s important to say that “yes” consciously, without requiring the purging component to take away our guilt. Guilt and shame are what keep an eating disorder in place, and we can’t work through those issues as long as we’re allowing ourselves an escape route. While you’re working on eliminating the purging, it’s important to allow yourself to eat whatever you want and in whatever amounts you want. Trying to control your eating while you’re also tackling the purging will keep you stuck in the food battle and further prolong dealing with the actual issues.
The second thing is that you need to find ways to take your emotional energy out of the eating disorder and put it on other things. You may want to explore new job, hobby or relationship — you may just want to veg out and relax for awhile. It doesn’t much matter what else you focus on — the important thing is to put your energies into something other than food, eating and weight.
The distorted body image aspect of an eating disorder is typically the last thing to change. I often think that eating disorders can be symbolized by two warring parts inside of us. One part tells us we’re fat and disgusting and the other — our staunch supporter — will go to whatever lengths it takes to convince us we’re not. When we finally begin to feel better about ourself and eat more normally, it’s as if our inner supporter needs to put us to the test for awhile. I can picture her crossing her arms, tapping her foot and saying, “Here. Look in the mirror and see only fat and we’ll see if you’re going to cave in and feel bad about yourself again or if you’re REALLY cured.” The reality is that no one has a perfect body. Learning to appreciate and respect who we are — including our physical appearances — is an extremely important part of the healing process.
The feeling of deprivation sabotages many attempts to lose weight. Most people get disgusted with themselves for feeling deprived, thinking deprivation is a sign of weakness or gluttony or some other negative trait. One thing you can do is to change your attitude about feeling deprived. See it as a friendly warning sign that it’s time to do something different. It’s like a flashing yellow light we give ourselves before our diet totally crashes and burns. Ironically, the best thing you can do as soon as you start feeling deprived is to eat some of whatever it is you’re craving. If you’re feeling deprived because you’ve told yourself you can’t have ice cream, go have some ice cream. If you’re feeling deprived because of the whole idea of dieting, give yourself a day off. One day of eating whatever you want won’t destroy a diet. Staying on the diet yo-yo will.
First, congratulations on the 30 pounds. That’s a lot of weight to lose. Running out of steam just means that you need a breather from dieting. Our bodies as well as our psyches generally need this kind of breather during long weight loss programs so what you’re experiencing is normal and healthy. Continuing to push yourself to lose weight during this time will probably make things worse instead of better. Instead, use this time to hone your weight maintenance skills and work to keep most of your weight off. In addition, focus on other areas in your life that may need attention so you’ll have an even better foundation for the next round of dieting.
It depends on the severity and frequency of the binge/exercise cycles. An occasional binge is normal — we all do it. And exercise, unless it’s obsessive, is good for us. However, if your binges are frequent and severe and if you feel considerable guilt about them so that the exercise is done out of anxiety or self-hatred, or if the exercise is compulsive or overdone, you may have an eating disorder.
Yes. Stop dieting. People who have a history of yo-yo dieting are in a vicious cycle that needs to be broken. Each subsequent gain following a weight loss takes a toll on us, both emotionally and physically. A better approach is to take one particular habit you’d like to change and focus on that. For example, if a problem area for you is late night eating, work on changing that. If you eat too much junk food, try finding healthier foods that you enjoy. Refocusing your goals to specific habits can help break the unhealthy cycle. If you tackle one habit at a time and change it to a positive one, you may eventually lose at least some weight naturally without having to diet.
First, make sure that he has adequate medical care. There are several fairly new drugs on the market that can help delay symptom progression, so the sooner he can be evaluated for those, the better. Make an appointment with an attorney who is knowledgeable in elder care issues to help you with legal matters such as power of attorney, wills, etc.
Encourage your husband to be as physically and intellectually active as he’s able, since there’s research to suggest that both types of activies can help retard the progression of the disease. Also, Alzheimer’s typically progresses somewhat slowly, which means that you and your husband may be dealing with it for a number of years. I can’t stress enough the importance of making sure you’re getting adequate support for yourself during this time. Check out support groups in your area and/or find a therapist who can help you throughout the emotionally difficult times and decisions that lie ahead. Your care during this stressful time is equally as important as his.
The term parentified child applies to situations where a parent is unable to care for themselves emotionally and/or physically and instead of getting help from a spouse or other peers, they do a kind of role reversal with one or more of their children. Sometimes the role reversal is obvious such as situations where a parent drinks, does drugs or is absent and the child has to prepare meals and perform other routine types of household tasks.
Often, however, parentification is much more subtle. Many mothers who suffer from a poor sense of self-worth unwittingly use their children to help give them a sense of purpose in life. The child becomes, in a sense, an extension of the mother, having to make sure that the mother feels good about herself at all costs. This can involve subtle but powerful pressure to do well in school, to go out for certain sports or other activities the mother values, etc. In such cases, the child has to deny their own needs and feelings because all energy must be focused on what the parent needs. One of the first goals of working with adults who were parentified as children is to help them get in touch with who they are, what they need and feel and to learn that their needs and feelings are OK.
First of all, there are several different types of anxiety disorders. However, they all tend to have symptoms such as worry, restlessness, irritability, difficulty sleeping and anxiety. Some of the specific anxiety disorders are Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Each of these has some or all of the symptoms above and some differentiating symptoms.
You’re absolutely right about depression and anxiety being components of many different disorders including some primarily physical conditions. Most therapists will be able to help you arrive at an actual diagnosis, if that’s important to you. Actually, though, the diagnosis often doesn’t matter much in terms of treatment and in my own work with people, I seldom even think about what their diagnosis might be. The important thing is to find a therapist who will work with you in treating your symptoms and helping you find some relief.
Yes. OCD is one of those disorders that can feel hopeless when you’re caught in it, but that really isn’t. Therapy or a combination of therapy and medication can usually help, although neither is a “quick fix”. I see therapy with OCD clients as having two prongs — one, which is more behaviorally oriented, is aimed at actually stopping the obsessions or compulsions. The other, which goes hand in hand with the first, focuses more on helping the person gain insight into the underlying feelings the OCD symptoms were attempting to cover. A good therapist should be able to help with both things for a more lasting treatment result.
There’s no one-size-fits all when it comes to treating psychiatric disorders. There’s research to show that the most likely treatment successes come with a combination of therapy and medication. However, some people do fine with therapy alone and others do fine with medication alone. I think the best way to make the decision is to pay attention to what you’re leaning toward. If you feel that medication can help you, chances are good that it will. Likewise, if you feel that therapy can help you, it probably can. Our belief systems aren’t the whole story in what helps us heal, but they do play an important part. My sense is that your best bet is to capitalize on your beliefs and go with them instead of trying to work against them.
Therapy can be extremely helpful to individuals with avoidant personality disorder because the relationship with the therapist can help the person build the self-confidence they need in other types of relationships. Often people who have avoidant personality disorder find it easier to relate to a therapist than to an ordinary person because they can distance themselves from the therapist by seeing them as a “doctor”. Also, the therapeutic relationship is prescribed, e.g., 50 minutes once a week or whatever and the therapist generally gets paid for their services. Boundaries such as these are much easier for an individual with avoidant personality disorder than a more open-ended kind of relationship. As with all the personality disorders, therapy for people with avoidant personality disorder is lengthy. The main things that can derail the therapy that therapists should stay on the lookout for are 1) if the client never adequately attaches to the therapist or 2) if the client does attach to the therapist but is not able to transfer those feelings of safety to other relationships.
That’s an excellent question because most people with personality disorders do indeed have depression or anxiety or other kinds of psychiatric symptoms. One thing to watch for is that the characteristics of someone with a personality disorder will be present in more than one area of their life. For example, they may exhibit similar beliefs or characteristics at work or school and also in relationships. They also tend to have trouble relating to others. This could range from not having relationships at all to having really intense, chaotic relationships that don’t last long, to only having superficial relationships. Similarly, people with personality disorders typically have a disturbance in the way they feel about themselves. Often, there’s a great deal of self-hatred, although the self-hatred is sometimes masked by feelings of superiority or detachment.
First of all, it’s entirely possible to have both diagnoses. However, psychiatric diagnoses are not an exact science so it’s also entirely possible that you have both types of disorders, one but not the other, or neither of them. I’ve known some people who’ve seen 5 or 6 different therapists and ended up with 5 or 6 different diagnoses. The good news is that it may not really matter. The important thing is to find a therapist you like and whom you feel understands you and go from there. It’s not essential to have an accurate diagnosis to get excellent treatment.
The hallmark feature of Borderline Personality Disorder is the lack of a solid sense of self. This leads to the extreme mood shifts, impulsive behaviors and difficulties with relationships that Borderlines are known for. Because of the lack of self, persons with BPD have difficulty in relationships and tend to feel either abandoned or engulfed by the other person. I often feel that Borderlines get a bad rap, because people focus on the behaviors and fail to see the underlying pain, disorganization and terror.
I am a firm believer that many people with personality disorders can be helped to lead normal or near normal lives. While it’s true that our overall personality structure stays fairly constant throughout our lives, there’s a huge difference, for example, between a person who has tendencies toward Avoidant Personality Disorder but who’s able to set them aside and function well, as opposed to someone who is emotionally crippled by the disorder.
Treatment for personality disorders is long and involved and the individual has to be highly motivated to stick with it. Often, as the initial pain that brings the person to therapy begins to subside, they see themselves as “cured” and leave therapy. This tendency may be what causes some to say people with personality disorders don’t change.
The best thing you can do is encourage her to get help. Hurting yourself not only has the potential to be dangerous or even fatal, but it can also reinforce negative opinions of oneself. Also, self-harm can become addictive, causing the individual to feel they have to do more and more each time in order to get the same effect. Your friend needs understanding and support – not criticism — but more than anything, she needs professional help.
The issue of whether to have children is a difficult one because there’s not a good way to compromise. It also concerns me that your boyfriend isn’t willing to go to counseling with you. That makes it sound like he’s pretty set on having things his way. You may end up having to choose between your boyfriend and having children.
The first question would be to try to determine why he hates your family. Do they mistreat him? Remind him of his own family? Act possessively toward you? Feel critical of him or of your relationship? If his feelings toward your family are based on individual issues of his, the most effective course of treatment might be individual therapy for him as well as couple’s therapy for the two of you so you can develop some workable solutions to the problem in the meantime. If members of your family are actually doing things to provoke him, possible solutions would be to have some extended family sessions with all of you and/or for the two of you to have some couple’s therapy so you can come up with ways to handle the situation together, so that you’re aligned as a couple and he doesn’t feel alone in dealing with it.
Passion is a wonderful thing in a relationship. However, couples who have wonderfully passionate relationships often also have equally passionate negative feelings toward one another. These negative feelings are not bad in and of themselves, and in fact, they provide extremely fertile ground for growth both for the individuals in the relationship as well as for the couple.
However, many couples have trouble navigating through the negative times, feeling scared of the critical or hostile impulses they harbor and/or hopeless about resolving the issues. Although some couples resolve the dilemma by continual fighting and/or breaking up, other couples will dissociate the negative feelings to avoid conflict. The latter solution typically results in the scenario you’re describing. There could be other explanations as well but this one is the most common.
I would suggest some couple’s therapy first to make sure it’s a pure case of homophobia. Oftentimes homophobia, even though very real, also serves as a mask to keep a couple from dealing with deeper issues. Once the two of you have a clearer sense of the issues, you’ll be in a better position to decide whether additional couple’s therapy, individual therapy, or some combination of both will be best.
Learning that we have a terminal illness does put things in a different perspective, doesn’t it? Of course, the reality is that we all have a ‘terminal illness’ of some sort just by being alive. We will all die. The advantage or disadvantage of being in your shoes, depending on how you look at it, is that you have the knowledge of what will probably be the cause of your death and you also know that your time is more limited than you had hoped. However, I fully believe that we can have beautiful and fulfilling moments right up until the time of death. Our lives do not end with a diagnosis and nor does our worth as a human being or our ability to impact others. Right now, you’re probably still in shock from the diagnosis. Give yourself a bit of time and if your mood and outlook don’t improve, you might consider seeing a therapist, talking to a priest, minister, rabbi, etc., and/or getting on an antidepressant. The last days of our lives are simply that. We’re still alive. We’re still living. Our lives have just taken a different turn.
Many of us experience a spiritual crisis when we suddenly realize that we no longer accept the beliefs we had as children and young adults. My own sense is that true religion and spirituality come from within. It’s that spark in us that struggles to connect with the spark in the Divine. I would suggest turning both inward and also outward. Inward to discover who you really are and what you believe. Outward to expose yourself to the many different religious and spiritual paths there are in the world. Read books about other religious beliefs – perhaps even entirely different cultures from your own. Attend worship services of other religions to experience their traditions and rituals first hand. Allow yourself to search and explore. Talk to or read accounts of others who’ve had spiritual crises to help you normalize your situation. My own belief is that the Divine Power — whatever your name for him/her is — doesn’t mind if we search and question in an effort to really “get it” from the inside out.
Many of us feel this way in our 20s, 30s or even 40s. So much of our early lives are spent reacting to what happens around us that we often develop an outer focus for who we are instead of an inner one. Your current situation is a wonderful opportunity to begin to look within yourself to discover who you really are. It may seem baffling at first but start with little things such as what foods do you like? Colors? Movies? Books? Pay close attention to your dreams, since our dreams are excellent doors into the unconscious. With some applied effort, you should be able to extract “you” from your sense of what others expect you to be. Watching people begin to find themselves is always exciting. Once the door is opened, it’s as if the true self which has been repressed for years, comes bounding out with amazing zest and enthusiasm. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s definitely worth the wait.
First of all, everything seems worse during the middle of the night. For people who are having intense terror or other emotions in the middle of the night, I usually suggest actually getting up for awhile, turning on a light and doing something distracting to help normalize things a bit.
As far as the fear of dying itself, there are several things that can help. One is to break the fear down into its component parts, similar to the suggestion about aging issues above and begin working through the issue from the deepest layer out. Another thing is to examine your beliefs about both life and death. Many of us find that our beliefs evolve over the years, but we don’t always take the time to keep up with ourselves. Take a spiritual inventory to find out where you are and look for beliefs that are sustaining.
I’ve seen past life therapy produce some amazing results, especially with people who’ve already had a lot of therapy and yet haven’t achieved much relief. It’s not necessary to believe in past lives for the therapy to be helpful since this kind of work can be viewed as a metaphor. All that’s required for past life therapy is an open mind and a willingness to explore.
I think we all struggle with the aging process sooner or later, usually around one of the “decade” birthdays. For some, the concerns begin at 30, others seem to sail through to 40, 50 or even 60 before the fact of their aging begins to bother them.
As far as how to deal with it, it often helps to extract out the particular features of aging that are the most difficult for you. Is it changes in appearance? The Empty Nest Syndrome? An increased awareness of death? Decreased physical stamina and strength? A sense that “it’s all downhill from here”? Most of us would probably answer, “Yes” to all of those and offer up additional ones. However, usually one or more will stand out and it helps to break it down into smaller bites and focus on the pivotal issue(s) first.
Aging offers us a gift — a challenge to look beyond the external things we’ve used to define ourselves and instead, to look within and discover the worth of who we really are. Grieve the necessary losses and then move on to discover the joys of knowing your inner richness.
It could be several things, but the core of your fights almost certainly involve issues of self-worth. Oftentimes couples use each other in a fashion not unlike “mirror, mirror on the wall”. In the honeymoon stages of a relationship, this can be wonderful, because we look in the eyes of the other and see a glorified image of ourselves reflected back. However, as we become more aware of one another’s imperfections, couples who have been relying extensively on mirroring now look hopefully into the eyes of their partner and see a less than perfect image of themselves reflected back.
To some people, “less than perfect” doesn’t exist. They only see the world as black or white, so “less than perfect” becomes intolerably black and they frantically begin doing whatever is within their power to redeem themselves. Since they’re used to looking to their spouse for validation and the spouse is no longer forthcoming, a common solution is to try to bring the spouse down. The unconscious logic is that if the spouse can be shown to be less than perfect, then it follows that they obviously aren’t seeing us accurately and our opinions of ourselves can rise. However, there’s a double-bind, because if the spouse is perceived as the bad guy, then the person will start to feel bad about themselves for staying with such a slouch. The therapeutic goal in this type of a relationship is to teach each person to find their self-worth and goodness within themselves instead of relying on others to provide it.
Personality Disorders are chronic patterns of experiences and behaviors that deviate from the norm and that cause the individual marked impairment and/or distress. There are currently 10 main types of Personality Disorders and one additional category for idiosyncratic personality disorders. The 10 main Personality Disorders and their primary features are:
- Paranoid: distrust and suspiciousness of others.
- Schizoid: detachment from others and restricted range of emotions.
- Schizotypal: extreme discomfort with others, eccentric behavior and cognitive or perceptual distortions.
- Antisocial: disregard for and violation of the rights of others.
- Borderline: instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image and emotions, coupled with impulsive behaviors.
- Histrionic: excessive emotionality to gain attention.
- Narcissistic: feelings of grandiosity, need for admiration and difficulty empathizing with others.
- Avoidant: social inhibitions, feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to criticism.
- Dependent: submissive, clinging behavior and an excessive need to be taken care of.
- Obsessive-Compulsive: preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism and control.
There are many different approaches to therapy and unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules to help an individual know which approach will work best for them. When it comes to choosing a therapist, your best indicator for what’s right for you is you. I usually suggest interviewing several therapists — by phone and/or in person — paying attention to how you feel about the person when you’re talking to them. Ask questions about how the therpist views therapy in general and your issues particular. If you already have an idea about what you’re looking for in a therapist, tell them what you want and ask if that’s something they feel suited for.
Unless it’s a concern for insurance reasons, don’t worry too much about whether the therapist has a master’s degree, Ph.D., or M.D. I’ve known excellent and not-so-excellent therapists at all levels of training. Although having training in therapy is definitely important, most training programs at all three levels should be adequate and beyond that, it’s the person that matters — not the degree.
Eating disorders are characterized by relatively severe disturbances in eating behaviors. They can include anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa as well as other individuals who are distressed over their weight and/or eating habits. It’s important to note that it’s the subjective feeling of dissatisfaction over our size that’s important. Obesity by itself is not an eating disorder. Obese individuals can be, and often are, as emotionally stable and healthy as their thinner counterparts.
The essential feature of the dissociative disorders is that they involve a disturbance in the integrative functions of identity, memory and/or consciousness. People can dissociate (block from memory) events, emotions and/or bodily sensations. Dissociation can be thought of along a spectrum ranging from normal dissociation, Dissociatve Amnesia (Fugue states), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (technically classified as an anxiety disorder), atypical dissociative disorders (called Dissociative Disorders Not Otherwsie Specified or DDNOS) and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
Each person has their own internal template of how much they need to remember and in what way. In situations where the childhood abuse was chronic and ongoing, people often find that they need to remember the pivotal events in some detail and spend less time on other events. In terms of actually reliving the trauma (or abreacting it, to use the technical term), it used to be thought this was a necessary step. However, more current beliefs are that if the reliving is done too quickly or without adequate preparation, it’s not helpful and in fact, can be retraumatizing. Also, some individuals seem to be able to heal without large scale abreacting whereas others need some forms of abreaction as long as its done in manageable doses. As with most things in therapy, the main thing is to find what works for you and stick with it. Your own insides can provide the best map to what you need.
Hypnosis can be helpful in several ways. Most people think of hypnosis only in terms of uncovering memories. However, it can also be used to create an inner “safe place” that can help a person through difficult times, to help mitigate phobias and other anxieties, to help promote inner communication among unconscious parts and to help a person get grounded and connect with their center. When used in this manner, hypnosis can be a valuable tool at various points throughout therapy.
Neglect can have extremely adverse effects on a child’s physical, intellectual, social and psychological development. Neglected infants fail to develop secure attachments since the caregiving they receive is sporadic and/or hostile. As a result, the child’s energy remains focused on the caregiver and getting basic needs met, instead of allowing them to be free to explore their world, develop social and intellectual skills, etc.
Rage in and of itself is not a bad thing and in fact, in certain situations, very positive things can come from it. The danger with rage is not with the feeling itself, it’s with how we behave when we’re feeling it. It’s almost impossible to have a constructive fight or argument when one or the other partners is that angry. We’re way too likely to say or do something hurtful or abusive. The best thing to do is to call a time out and give yourselves a chance to cool off. Come back together and try the discussion again when you’re both calmer and more rational.
Yes. When something happens to us that is beyond what we can emotionally handle, our mind attempts to protect us by blocking the event from our awareness. This type of blocking, called dissociation, can effect our memory of the event itself and also the memory of the emotional and/or physical sensations we had at the time of the trauma. In other words, we can feel frightened or depressed and not remember why. Alternatively, we can remember the details of a trauma but have no feelings about it. Or, we can have “body memories” of the event, but not remember the event itself.
Not only is it normal, it’s healthy. The people we’re closest to have the ability to find all of our soft spots. Quite often, our soft spots are places in us that need to heal. If couples can strive to have their fights and disagreements in an overall atmostphere of good will, fights can actually be constructive instead of destructive — both to each individual and also to the relationship. There’s a difference between disagreeing and even fighting and emotional abuse. And, of course, there’s never an excuse in a relationship for physical abuse.
Absolutely. Putting someone down is a kind of emotional abuse. The abuser will often find ways to rationalize his or her behavior, but deliberately trying to make someone feel bad is not OK. We all get angry and upset with one another. We all have bad days at the office. But those are not excuses for deliberately hurting another human being — even verbally.
The broad categories of abuse are sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse and neglect. All four forms of abuse can and do happen to children, teens, adults and elders.
Sexual abuse includes any kind of sexual act or innuendo that is unwanted by the recipient and makes them uncomfortable. Childhood sexual abuse, rape (including date and spousal rape), and sexual harassment fall into this category.
Emotional abuse includes any kind of behavior that has the attempts to devalue, tear down and/or control another human being. Examples of emotional abuse are ridicule, intimidation, sarcasm, threats, explosive anger, withholding of affection and/or material items, neglect, possessiveness, isolating the person from others, etc. One of the difficult things about emotional abuse is that it’s often difficult to recognize. The abuser generally staunchly denies that his or her behavior is abusive, and the person being abused often buys the abuser’s line.
Physical abuse includes any form of physical harm or violence that one person inflicts on another. This includes pushing, shoving and any other kind of physical contact that’s unwelcome and potentially threating.
Neglect most often involves dependent persons such as children or elders and refers to caretakers who meet the dependent person’s physical and/or emotional needs sporadically or not at all.