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Numerous clients I work with think of themselves with much disdain when recounting a week where they feel like they didn’t do “enough.”
What is “enough,” I ask?
A group member recently talked about weathering "storms of the heart", and I loved that image. In line with its metaphor, our DBT group tracks the emotional weather of the week and helps members batten down the hatches for impending rain.
I think back on how fundamentally my personhood feels changed since I was first forced to grieve, now over a decade ago. A couple weeks into navigating grief, I remember coming across a quote by Jamie Anderson: “Grief, I’ve learned, it really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. The more you loved someone, the more you grieve. Grief is just love with no place to go.” When I first read it, it hit me like a rock, even though it is so seemingly simple at its core. I think of the many lessons this misplaced love has taught me— and continues to teach me— as time inevitably passes.
Have you ever experienced a piece of art that seemed to perfectly capture your feelings? This magical connection happens when creativity, emotions, and art intertwine, transforming personal experiences into universal expressions. Let’s explore this fascinating relationship and its impact on art.
Celebrating successes in therapy is a powerful tool that supports and enhances the therapeutic process. By acknowledging and appreciating your wins, you build a positive reinforcement loop, shift focus from negativity, enhance self-esteem, reinforce progress, foster gratitude, strengthen the therapeutic alliance, and encourage a growth mindset. These benefits collectively contribute to a more effective and rewarding therapeutic journey, ultimately leading to greater mental and emotional well-being.
Within the therapeutic realm, the concept of folie à deux emerges as a delicate thread, binding patient and therapist in a shared journey through the labyrinth of the mind. Here, amidst the delicate interplay of shared delusions, intimate truths are revealed, and the boundaries between reality and illusion blur. In Murakami’s narrative tapestries, characters navigate complex relationships and surreal scenarios, mirroring the intricate dance of the therapeutic process.
Trauma can be a life-altering experience, leaving behind emotional shrapnel and a narrative that feels hijacked. You might find yourself replaying the past, struggling with overwhelming emotions, or feeling disconnected from yourself and the world. But here's the...
In the intricate process of therapy, the therapeutic relationship mirrors the movement of a complex dance. Like an electric samba, therapy unfolds with a rhythm that ebbs and flows, highlighting the subtle similarities between the art of dancing and the practice of...
In the quiet hum of the morning, as sunlight filters through curtains and gently touches every nook, I ponder the curious kinship between our homes and bodies. Both, it seems, are sanctuaries where the essence of our being unfolds.
In Rogers’ (1980) own words, “[the potatoes] would never become plants, never mature, never fulfill their real potential. But under the most adverse circumstances, they were striving to become. Life would not give up, even if it could not flourish.” Rogers extended this potato analogy to people's growth and self-actualization.
Despite the great limitations of her circumstances, my grandmother found a way to create beauty in her world. She transformed rags into something regal: quilts. When clothing had been passed down too many times it would be dissected into smaller pieces and sewn together into intricate geometric patterns, creating dynamic tapestries. The faded white walls and rickety wood furniture of the farmhouse were lifted up by her creative designs, antagonizing the functional utility of all other household items.
My grandmother’s quilts are history books – layers of material, chapters of her life, of her family’s life, of my family’s life, of generations.
When couples seek me out for couples therapy, their stated goals usually revolves around acquiring new communication skills or improving conflict resolution strategies. While these aspirations are undeniably important, there’s a crucial process that often goes unmentioned: unlearning a lifetime’s worth ofmisconceptions about how relationships actually work.