Is There an Art to Traveling?
I thought I was properly prepared for my European getaway and once thrust into the situation I felt clueless! Thus began my vacation adventure. Everything that I held as normal vanished! In my world, almost everyone spoke English. Yes, I listened to my French language audio study course and thought I did quite well with it, and then was plopped into a cab with a man who only spoke French....Learn More
It Is Time
What I have been planning for the last three months is almost upon me. My trip to Europe. I may have butterflies in my stomach now, but I will reframe that as being excited. What faces me is my Ideal Vacation Scene of traveling across the pond with my inner child in hand. Hey, taking care of my younger wounded self has spurred on incredible adventures and this is the next. Adventure? Sure. I...Learn More
Family Sculpting
I’ve learned a few rather obscure tools in the 29 years I have been practicing psychotherapy. I guess the most obscure tool is from Family Systems Therapy designed by Virgina Satir. There are more common approaches that lean on the obscure side and my favorite would be from Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). NLP addresses our inner aspects or sub-personalities. I’m sure you are aware of that...Learn More
Dad’s Memorial
A rainbow followed me as I drove to work this morning. The morning before my father’s memorial celebration. He lived a good 90 years and seemed to have a good life. I came to love my father after the rocky start of his abuse in my younger years. Because of this I went through extensive therapy and was then able to confront him as an adult. From that moment we began to build a wonderful...Learn More
The Three Foot Plan
Excited, I grabbed the basketball and toed the marker some 12 feet away from the basket. Same game, different environment. I was standing in front of my classmates at the University of Santa Monica, the graduate school where I studied Spiritual Psychology. It wasn’t new for me to shoot in front of a lot of people. I had once shot at halftime at a Lakers game at the Forum in from of 17,505...Learn More
A Client Returns
A client I had seen five years ago came in for a court assessment. The case was pending since that time and this report was to bring it to a close. One thing for certain was the person had completely changed. As a therapist, you treat people, let them go, and in my case rarely see them again. If they return or call and say hi, it is a bonus. The key is to not get attached to the outcomes of...Learn More
Are You a Doer or a Viewer?
An interesting topic popped up in a process group this week about being a doer or a viewer. How would you answer this? I often wonder if our tendency to explore our world or simply watch it stems from the family we grew up in. Did your family of origin tend to sit and watch the television or were they active? When I grew up, I played all the sports and went to baseball and basketball games...Learn More
Relationship Rescue
Unfortunately, we were never taught in school how to keep a relationship healthy. As with most mental health-related issues, we learned usually how to fix things by mimicking how our parents did things. If you came from a healthy home, no doubt the odds are you will be healthy in a relationship, but that doesn’t have a bearing on your partner. Paying close attention to what kind of environment...Learn More
Rough Week
Last September my Step Father passed away. Since I was 4 years old his guidance was amazing. I just heard the news that my birth father was placed in a nursing home and his mind and body are slipping. Both in their 90s, back deep in my mind, I always figured that my fathers would always be around. One down, prepare for number two. Let’s add on catching the flu. To be honest I don’t know what...Learn More