Today I read a post on Facebook from someone who finds joy and motivation in the writings of Joel Osteen: “GOD is called the Great I Am, not the great I will be. He wants to show you HIS favor today.” I am not espousing a religion or a faith but I am inviting the … Read More
When you Unravel the Trauma Story You Understand the Addiction/Behavioral Story and you can Create the Recovery Story Trauma is visceral, Sensory, cellular. It’s a Soul Wound that impacts the very core of who we are, what we believe about the world and our place in it. We experience trauma with all of our senses; … Read More
Working with the human condition is like trying to solve all of those puzzles… There is a reason for human behaviors that are difficult to make sense of, but our behaviors always make perfect sense when we Unravel our story. Each piece of the puzzle that we discover adds to the story and ultimately allows … Read More
Sometimes I look over and see just a hint of a wistful breath, coming from her mouth, a longing in her eyes to be connected, to be loved, to be part of, to be like the others. Sometimes I can feel the yearning for her tribe, to be protected and taught how to BE. An … Read More
Could the Beatles be right? “All We Need is LOVE” From the first breath we need, crave, ache, cry for love, connection, nurturing, life fulfilling attachment, for our needs to be met. More than that, we will wither away and die without attachment to another; our Mother, Caregiver, the source of our life and if … Read More
I am in awe of Marianne Williamson’s grasp of the Soul and Spirit and I offer you this gift……. OUR DEEPEST FEAR by Marianne Williamson from A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are … Read More
It was one of those awkward first sessions of a grief group at the Refuge. Ten residents ranging from 18 to 40 something sat in a circle looking like they would just as soon be having a root canal. I had learned early on to acknowledge and address the discomfort in the room right off the … Read More
The assignment of doing a Family Tree has long been used in Addictions to determine various addictions, codependency and family traits of the addict. You know, Hero child, mascot, scapegoat, codependent, comedian, plumber, parentified child. I made up the plumber role, but in my house that was an important skill to have. My father was … Read More
A speaker told this story during the third module of my training to become a Certified Trauma Therapist. The story, which I hope to be fictitious, is one I led groups on once I did in fact become a trauma therapist. The way in which I would tell it went like this: A client once … Read More
Of Mice and Men and Women and Children There is a dramatic difference in the way researchers and most therapists see the world and the people of the world. For very good ethical reasons researchers generally do their magic with mice and correlate that to the lives of people. Well, I am very excited about … Read More
