Special Memory #6
My sister Samantha bought me the greatest birthday gift ever, a Karaoke machine. Little did I know at the time how much that machine would enhance my livelihood. This was when I was working with the learning disabled at an independent living facility that taught young adults how to perform the normal duties of life, including cooking, cleaning, shopping, and paying bills. We’d gather at...Learn More
Top Ten Reasons to Not Attend Treatment
I thought I would Dr. Phil in my article today, just to have a little fun, since he is known for his top 10 lists. For years therapy has been frowned upon and many clients who have attended it have been chastised. As of recent, more and more are entering treatment due to the state of affairs in the world, and when somebody new enters my facility, I ask them what has prevented them from...Learn More
The Psychology of Music
When I was in graduate school, we were asked to write a Master’s Thesis on any subject we desired and I chose Rock Band. Actually, my paper was written on the psychological aspects of creating and performing in a rock and roll band. To be honest, I had the time of my life! I never knew that school could be so much fun! I was born with the gift of music and love playing the guitar and...Learn More
How to Heal with Spiritual Psychology
With Spiritual Psychology, we see healing as the application of love to hurt. There is an art form to this and it can take on many strategies. Claims of healing have been frowned upon in this industry since many of the top approaches showed improvements in people, but not the true ultimate healing. For example, with Gestalt Therapy, Fritz Perls believed that when people saw many angles of a...Learn More
I Did What I Did
Well, that was interesting. I tried to open up an article I wrote recently about my Bottom Line theory of healing and it gave me an error message. I’ll take that as a message from God. Now I’m laughing. Perhaps God is telling me I still need to refine my approach. Such is life. You think you have things all figured out and then something unexpected slaps you in the face. How you deal with it...Learn More
What to Expect from Therapy
If you have never gone through counseling and wondered what happens in sessions, then this article was written for you. I remember the first time I went to a counselor and could feel my heart pounding in my neck and was looking for an excuse to sprint out of there. Though to be honest, I just found myself talking about myself, which was strange since at that time, all I wanted to do was...Learn More
The Epic Battle of Right vs Wrong
Way back in 1890 Sigmund Freud was developing the science of Psychology and popularized “Ego Defenses” or the mechanisms we used to keep the mind free from shattering. “Denial” makes us believe something didn’t happen, and “Repression” makes us believe the bad events that happen to us will go away if we don’t think about them. Sigmund Freud started a revolution that is common in our everyday...Learn More
Are You Surviving or Thriving?
After 28 years in the industry, I often reassess myself. This is a periodic check-in to see how I am doing. Currently very happy but why? And honestly, the answer is staying active. When I have a purpose, I do well. But this is just me. Recovery of any type is not a one size fits all. Each person is so unique that what works for one person will not for another. Thus, the personal check-in. How...Learn More
What Is Your Normal?
When somebody comes in for therapy, my first question is, “What brings you here?” I am grateful for the mere fact that they are willing enough to let me in. With myself, when I first went into therapy, I was guarded, minimized my symptoms, because I was trained by my family to pretend and tell everybody that I was great, which I was far from. I learned in therapy to let down my guard, let...Learn More