healing
Finding Connection
Public service announcement: It is normal to long for connection. Take another look at that last sentence: It is normal to long for connection. Healthy, even. Foundational to what it means to be human. And also, a profoundly painful longing when it goes unfulfilled. I am often inspired to write about themes…
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Show Yourself: A Journey to Self-Love
Last week, I told you about my big adventure of 2019: writing a book. Completing The Gaslighting Recovery Workbook has been an amazing, intense, and sometimes overwhelming process. A few days ago, I went on an adventure of another sort: taking two 4-year-olds to see Frozen 2. (If you don’t think that was an adventure,…
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Embracing change, embracing yourself
The Guest House This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each…
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Written in Love
Do you ever look back at your past and think, “There are many pieces of my earlier years that I would erase if I could – but this? This I would keep.” What are your keepers? What makes them special? One of my “keepers” from my earlier life is a favorite old…
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Tis but a scratch: The problem with ignoring your wounds
That’s right, we’re starting this blog article off with a Monty Python reference! I know, I know – I couldn’t possibly get any cooler, right? Whether or not Monty Python sketches are your brand of humor, they have permeated our entertainment culture. Most people at least recognize the classics, such as “tis but a…
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The Highly Sensitive Person in a Narcissistic Home
Have you ever cried while listening to a moving piece of music? Ever looked at an interesting piece of art and found yourself getting goosebumps? Or do you sometimes just know that someone is upset just by standing near them, without them needing to say a word? If this sounds familiar, you might be a…
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You Are Not Broken
One of my favorite story arcs in the quintessential fantasy series The Lord of the Rings is that of Strider, a Ranger who appears to guide Frodo through the wilderness on his quest to destroy the evil Ring of Power. When Frodo first meets Strider, he sees only a muddy, mysterious, frightening man who…
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When Therapy Sucks, part 2: Emotional Hangover
Awhile back, I wrote an article about why it’s important to stick it out even when therapy sucks. Today, I want to talk a little more about what can make therapy so hard sometimes. Have you ever had a session that felt really special – like, a deep, breakthrough, oh-my-God-it-all-makes-sense-now, felt like something really shifted…
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When You’re Stuck: Writing a new story for a better life
Your story is an introduction It happens all the time. A new client sits down for the first session and pours out all the stories no one ever believed, hoping desperately that this time, they’ll be heard. This time, they hope, someone will believe me. This time, I will be validated. And when they…
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