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Charles Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, and R.E. Lushene developed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). They wanted a series of questions that would help to distinguish the difference between temporary anxiety, often referred to as "state anxiety," and the enduring kind of anxiety referred to as "trait anxiety."(Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983)

The inventory is 40 multiple-choice questions. Each question can be answered with: almost never, sometimes, often, or almost always. T…

The Peterson Resilience Consulting logo is a nod to my entrepreneurial and Swedish heritage and to my specialty in helping folks who've experienced high-control organizations and religious trauma. Not many people know this, but in the 1600's, Swedish Christians referred to the dala horse as a "devil's toy" because it had ties to underground pagan practices. Fittingly, among other things, today the dalahäst is also a symbol of resilience. But here's the real reason for the dalahäst: meet my great…

I share the following personal ancestral truths to acknowledge the resulting historical trauma and its long-term effects. I never wanted to be that white girl who ignorantly benefitted from her ancestors' crimes against others, but Ancestry.com recently proved what I've always dreaded about my genealogy... Unfortunately, I am the descendant of those who colonized Massachusetts, on the rightful Lands of the Nipmuck and Agwam peoples. Historians agree that those compelled to fight in the American …

The Holmes & Rahe assessment is a collection of questions about stressful life events. It was created in 1967 to measure the connection between stress and illness. There is a total of 1467 points for all 43 questions.

Please note that while there is good evidence that chronic stress can lead to ill health, there is not much evidence to support the *ranking* of stressful life events in this manner. Even though this assessment isn't perfect (doesn't leave a lot of room for "grey areas"), this stres…

This one time I was on a really intense sales call... Somehow I was suddenly talking on the phone (gasp!) with a guy named Chad. He was pitching me the latest "life-changing" 12-week coaching "experience" that I was about to miss out on it! Oh no! ;-)

Throughout the sales call, Chad managed to do the following: blatantly ignore my lack of consent, gaslight me and my experiences, negged me strategically right before he... expected me to give him $10,000+ I couldn't help but nervous-laugh him off t…

The ProQOL is a self-administered assessment with 30 questions total, for understanding your balance of positive and negative personal and work experiences. The tool was originally created by Beth Hudnall Stamm, Ph.D. 

"It is intended for any helper - health care professionals, social service workers, teachers, attorneys, emergency response, etc. Understanding the positive and negative aspects of helping those who experience trauma and suffering can improve your ability to help them and your abil…

Implicit bias is unintentional and automatic. It affects us more than we realize. It's not abnormal to be shocked or embarrassed by the results of these 15 Implicit Association Tests. Please remember that the results do not define you, but they can empower you with better decision-making skills. This is why I highly recommend that everyone take these tests, especially my clients and other trauma survivors.

The IAT tests are offered by Harvard University and the results benefit research conducted…

Interoception is the ability to identify, access, understand, and respond to the patterns and signals inside your body. This can happen consciously or unconsciously AND for many, it's a skill that can be learned and/or improved.

The MAIA assessment is one of many ways to track the progress of trauma resilience-building skills.

This questionnaire was funded by the National Institute of Health (NCCAM/NCCIH) and is available in the public domain. (Hooray for freely sharing healthcare & science!) A go…

Depression is extremely common. Even more so for entrepreneurs. A study from UC Berkley reported that entrepreneurs were 30% more likely to have a long-term or life-long struggle with depression. This is why it can be helpful for some of my more entrepreneurial clients to take a self-report that can measure the general characteristics, symptoms, and attitudes of depression. This article, by Benjamin Lee, outlines some of the reasons why owning a business can play such a large role in depression.…