Category: Presence

Nature and Therapy

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Recent decades have seen an increasing interest in the healing and therapeutic potential of nature and the perspective of various nature-based interventions for the benefit of mental health. The field of nature-based therapies is expanding in line with this interest. During the formative years of modern psychotherapy, several psychotherapists had a close, loving relationship with nature and who had contributed in some ways to the formation of nature therapy. One of them was Carl Jung, a renowned Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was one of the first people in the field of mental health to voice concerns about the separation of men and nature. C. Jung believed that a modern man was in danger of losing all contact with the world of instinct, increased by his living an urban existence and separation from nature. Jung wrote in his diaries that the loss of instinct is largely responsible for the pathological condition of contem ...

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Posted in:

  • Breathe
  • Coping
  • Counseling Process
  • Effort
  • Mindfullness
  • Mindset
  • Positivity
  • Practice
  • Presence
  • Rest

Tags:

  • Connection
  • Spiritual
  • balance
  • breathing
  • challenge
  • coping
  • growth
  • intentional
  • mindfullness
  • movement
  • practice
  • rest
  • serenity

Everything's Fine...

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“It’s fine.”  “Everything is fine.”  “I’m fine.”  Have you ever strung together these three sentences and thought to yourself, “shoot, I think I might not be fine”. 


About a year ago I was in a car accident that resulted in emergency surgery, a stay in the trauma center at the hospital, and a long recovery (in addition to other challenges). It was the most challenging and scary time in my life. I didn’t think that I was going to make it, and yet I would find myself telling my loved ones who came to visit me, “It’s fine.”  “Everything is fine.”  “I’m fine.” 


Why is it so hard to admit that sometimes we are not fine? It has taken me a while to figure out why I was so desperately pushing myself to be fine. Though I wanted those words to be true, what I wanted more than anything was for my loved ones to think and feel that those words were true.


Whet ...

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Posted in:

  • Breathe
  • Comfort
  • Communication
  • Coping
  • Emotions
  • Exhaustion
  • False self
  • Grief
  • Pain
  • Presence
  • Processing
  • Relationships

Tags:

  • Emotions
  • coping
  • emotons
  • feelings
  • friendships
  • grief
  • growth
  • intentional
  • relationships
  • trauma

Rebuilding Your Island

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Recently, I returned from an amazing honeymoon voyage to the Virgin Islands. As our ship docked, we were in breathtaking awe of the pristine clear blue waters and lush tropical hillsides. We were greeted by locals dressed in colorful costumes representing their indigenous culture and dancing to Caribbean music. Quaint shops lined the historic avenues and street vendors displayed their wares with cheerful enthusiasm. One could not help but be taken away on a warm breeze of excitement. Taxi drivers lined the avenues willing to take you on tours of their treasured island for this is the home of THE “Treasure Island” boasting the resting place of much famous pirate booty, ship wrecks, water wonders with many colorful species of coral (who knew “fire coral” is a thing); animals, military forts, historic landmarks, and much tropical horticulture.


Joining other eager tourists, we commandeered a taxi bound for the other side of the is ...

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Posted in:

  • Afterwardsness
  • Comfort
  • Decisions
  • Effort
  • Family
  • Presence
  • Processing
  • Relationships
  • Story
  • Tragedy
  • Trauma
  • Vulnerability
  • compassion

Tags:

  • Community
  • Confidence
  • Connection
  • change
  • coping
  • courage
  • friendships
  • growth
  • intentional
  • relationships
  • story
  • success
  • trauma
  • trust
  • vulnerable

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