Sharing my personal journey of growth & the tools I've used along the way.
There are two types of stigma associated with mental illness - the kind where we don't talk about it because we want to avoid people (ourselves included) from thinking we're sick or crazy; and the kind where we initially associate our mental health with the evils of Big Pharma, the danger and unknown of medications, …
It's been a while since I've posted. This post will make clear one of the reasons why. CW (domestic violence & abuse) Sometimes memes say the right thing at the right time in the right way. That didn’t happen with this one. Sure, there are probably plenty of situations where this idea is true. But, …
Russell Brand interviews Gabor Maté, the physician/family doctor in Canada with a special interest in childhood trauma and addiction. In this interview, Brand and Maté discuss the many forms addiction can take, how we can cope as damaged people in the world and are we being ruled by traumatized politicians? As Brand said on his …
Why the huge gap between posts? Work. work. work. work. work. It's gotten hectic, a little overwhelming, and a lot time consuming. I'll do a post soon on finding balance with a heavy work load or managing work stress. Seeking Spirituality When I first built my Wheel of Life, I included a section on spirituality. …
When I started therapy last year, I went in with 4 specific things I knew I wanted to eventually work on: anger, relationship, self esteem, and trauma. It was important for me to have a clear idea on what I wanted to address so that I was better able to find the right person to …
I want to practice the 5 Senses Mindfulness soothing technique, and so my “homework” from therapy is to do it every day for two weeks. I figured I would log each day’s experience here because it will also be a helpful writing practice. May 21, 2019 - Day 1 A distant dog barks. Followed by …
It's important to have a toolkit for self-soothing. Keep a list of many different ways to pull your thoughts outside of yourself and ground yourself in the moment. If I find myself becoming overwhelmed with frustration or anxiousness or my mind is occupied with nagging negative thoughts, my go-to calming and grounding tool is deep, …
Mother's Day is always a bitch of a day. For nearly 20 years I have allowed this to be a day where my grief can express itself however it needed to be expressed. In recent years, it became more and more a celebration of my mother's life, tinged with deep sadness but mostly filled with …
“Man is what he believes.” Anton Chekhov What is a "belief"? The Oxford dictionary defines belief as "a strong feeling that something or someone exists or is true; confidence that something or someone is good or right; an opinion about something; something that you think is true." This Psychology Today article says our beliefs are …
Throughout my life I have seen people struggle with addiction. I've seen their substance abuse change how they behave, influence the choices they make, and impact their physical and mental health. I've also seen people regularly use substances in a non-addictive manner. What's the difference? And why is are tens of millions of Americans struggling …
Grief is one of the most complex of emotions. You've probably heard it said that grief can include a variety of different, powerful emotions and feelings: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, guilt, confusion. The onslaught of these different emotions and feelings can change at any moment or each can last for long periods or we …
Ik pim anukfila / Let us be mindful 