Blog
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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
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Habits and Mindfulness
We all have behaviors we seek to change that affect our daily lives – mind, body and soul. Often the best way to combat the uncomfortable situation to which we feel captive is to face it head on with our true feelings. Mindfulness practice asks us to acknowledge and accept an undesirable behavior, a habit
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Learn to Eat Intuitively
The relationship between mood and food is complex and interactive, and has been extensively studied and examined for decades. Your mood can influence what and when you eat, however the converse is also true – what and when you eat influences how you feel. One key is to be attentive to the body’s cues without