Irina Zhuravleva

For a person burdened by psychological trauma, seeking support from the wrong people while trying to heal from childhood wounds can feel deeply unsettling and...

All right — if you arranged a spa day for your partner or encouraged her to spend Mother’s Day out with her friends, nice work....

Think of these two leaves as a picture of your relationship. I plucked them from the same flourishing plant—one received sunlight, water and good soil;...

Have you ever wondered why the person who walked away from you can’t actually let you go? Even when they’re with someone new, even while...

I’ll always remember the moment I learned there was an actual label for the confusing feelings, odd actions, and repeated mistakes that had shadowed me...

Okay, we’re live — hello everyone, and thanks for being here. It’s me, the Crappy Childhood Fairy, and Rob has been collecting your questions for...

There comes a point when words begin to lose their power. You have spoken everything that could be said, named every feeling, justified every silence,...

You cannot keep playing the avoidance game forever. Time evens everything out. The wall you assembled around your heart, brick by brick, telling yourself it...

Men — please don’t let your relationship fall apart the way mine did. I’m sharing this as a warning: by the time you finally say...

Okay — a straightforward question: how do I talk to my partner without them feeling attacked or shutting down? How can I bring up something...

Alright — as you probably know, Father’s Day is this Sunday, and I wanted to offer some thoughts on ways you might show your partner...

The single thing that terrifies a toxic person more than almost anything else is when you draw firm boundaries — because boundaries remove their power....

Think about it — the same things we did to win her over are exactly the things we need to keep doing to maintain her...

Listen — I don’t know which one of you needs to hear this, but it drains you when only one person seems to care about...

It’s common to believe that once a severe traumatic chapter ends, everything should return to normal. The reality is different: after trauma you’re often fragile—not...

The first time I ran across the phrase “emotional sobriety,” it shook me — not because I didn’t understand the words, but because it sounded...

There’s a clear and crucial distinction between beneficial stress and harmful stress — and the main difference lies in duration, intensity and timing. Beneficial stress...

The saddest part about childhood trauma, to me, is seeing so many people move through life with a battered spirit — their self-assurance, hope, and...

Alright — let’s get into this now. Do you want to know what the most devastating form of rejection is for that avoidant-dismissive person in...

Imagine being told that sometimes the most loving choice for a partnership is to stop having sex for a while — it sounds counterintuitive, but...

Work is one of the worst places to fall for someone you can’t—or shouldn’t—pursue. It can destroy your happiness, harm theirs, devastate your spouse, and...

The uncomfortable reality is that “nice guys” often don’t spark attraction in women. I know how that sounds, so hear me out for a minute...

Some of the most dangerous people you’ll ever encounter are the ones who never raise their voice. They won’t slam doors or hurl curses. Instead,...

Ending up in harmful partnerships is a common and painful outcome for people who experienced abuse and neglect growing up. When mistreatment was normal in...