How to Circle the Drain of Caregiving and Come Out Sparkly Clean When you look at your loved one and wish that you could share – and sometimes take away – the intense pain that they’re feeling, you have officially arrived at the title of caregiver. The good news is that in order to receive…
There are no stages of grief for those dealing with the death of a loved one! When I was back in grad school in the late 80’s, we received minimal training on grief. There was one elective class called ‘Death and Dying’. Other than that, we were taught about Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ 5 Stages of Grief.…
The essence of healing is connection – first, to yourself. Then, to others. Your human nature directs you to seek bonding. You are, biologically and neurologically, wired for this. Unfortunately, when carrying unhealed trauma, you could seek harmful connections because you’re disconnected from yourself. Trauma is that very separation from the body and emotions.- Gabor…
How to Check your Self Worth in Two Minutes: Complex Trauma, Safety, and Radical Empathy Complex trauma has earned its name for being just that: layered, invasive helplessness. It can feel like too much weight to bear or to survive. See if this helps: picture an ant carrying an elephant uphill. This type of struggle…
Self care is the ultimate buzz word in therapy. We are bombarded with reminders to practice self care as a coping skill, to decrease stress, to recharge our batteries. But what actually constitutes self care? Visions of spa days and yoga classes come to mind, but seem out of reach for a typical day as…
Grief is a natural response to loss–both universal and personal. Individual grief can vary depending on the nature of the loss and can be caused by the death of a loved one, ending of a relationship, loss of a job or independence, diagnosis of an illness, etc. Grief is a strong, sometimes overwhelming emotion that…
Do you ever wonder what a real vacation looks like? Have you ever taken the kind of vacation that you really need? Well, I sometime wonder why our time away has to look like what we see on television or what we hear our co- workers say as they make their Disney reservations for the…
Do you ever wonder what a real vacation looks like? Have you ever taken the kind of vacation that you really need? Well, I sometime wonder why our time away has to look like what we see on television or what we hear our co- workers say as they make their Disney reservations for the…
A short blog post to start out the new year … If you’re heading into 2022 with a heavy heart, you are not alone. We are still in a global pandemic, and many of us are grappling with immense loss and grief on personal, collective and ancestral levels. Society puts a lot of pressure to…
This year many schools are having graduation ceremonies. Due to the success of the vaccines, the CDC has acknowledged that it would be safe to hold graduation ceremonies. This is very different from last year when graduation ceremonies were canceled due to the Coronavirus. While schools are having graduation ceremonies, they will most likely be…