Blog
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Clear the Mental Clutter
When you walk through a cluttered home, filled every which way with items that are not used or needed, it’s easy to trip or fall. And the same is true of mental and spiritual clutter – when the mind is filled with old, outdated and unnecessary thoughts and beliefs, it is easy to stumble or
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What is Animal Assisted Therapy?
There is an increasing understanding of the role animal companions can play in our mental and physical well-being. On a basic level, regular interaction with an animal companion is known to improve our emotional state, cognitive function and social ease. Living with animals can improve mood, bring calm, and lower blood pressure. Caring for an
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Divorce and the Support System of Therapy
With even the best of intentions, sometimes a marriage does not last, and even when the decision is mutual and amicable the breakup of a marriage is extremely stressful for all involved. Reasons for separation and divorce are many. Although specific behaviors, events or personality traits can contribute to the marriage ending, usually the foundation
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How to Live What You Value
Values…morals…ethics… the same concept, right? Although these ideas are related, the concept of values carries a different meaning. Our morals, our ethics are in a sense our governing mores. They are the guidelines by which we live and how we know what is “right” from what is “wrong” for us. Values, on the other hand,
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Are You Planting Seeds or Pulling Weeds?
Every moment of every day we have the choice as to where to place our awareness and focus. Your life will reflect the result of that choice. Let’s say you feel unhappy with your spouse, as an example. Your focus is upon a disappointment – for instance, he spends too much time away from home
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Healing Grief
We’ve been exploring the power of Somatic Therapies in a variety of situations. Today we’d like to explore how we heal grief and loss. First, let’s set the stage by examining loss. We can feel a sense of sorrow or loss for many reasons: death of a loved one, job loss, separation or divorce, natural
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How to Recognize and Treat a Panic Attack
Out of the blue, you feel anxious. Your breathing quickens, your heart races, you begin to sweat, you feel faint. You feel like you are dying and don’t know why. This is a description of a panic attack, and not only can the symptoms be debilitating, they can be self-perpetuating. Your intense reaction to the
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The Benefits of Relaxation Yoga
In my blog posts, I have focused on integrative, mind-body solutions to a variety of issues. The enormous mainstream popularity of yoga, in its many forms, is in part because of the increased awareness in our society of the mind/body/soul connection. Although there are many forms and “schools” of yoga, we want to focus specifically
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Recovery from PTSD
The Mayo Clinic defines Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. This sort of trauma may not necessarily produce PTSD. In some situations, the person heals appropriately with self-care and time. It’s when the symptoms do not abate, or
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The Power of Somatic Psychotherapy
Somatic Psychology has been defined as the study of the mind/body interface, the relationship between our physical matter and our energy, the interaction of our body structures with our thoughts and actions. * The word Soma comes from Greek meaning “living body.” There are many forms of somatic psychotherapies. These forms of therapy address how
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Black and White? or Shades of Gray?
It is common in our Western culture to get caught up in dualistic thinking: black or white, right or wrong, you or me. We take a position that is in opposition with another position–and then feel “right and justified” in our position and go into judgment about those on the “other side” of our polarity.
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It Takes As Long As It Takes
Our culture seems to be speeding up, creating an “instant world.” We’re given the message that technology, information, food, transportation, communication all must be FAST. Although the world around us may be moving more quickly, our human bodies and souls are not instant. The role of communication in our society has changed from actively listening