What are personal boundaries? Personal boundaries are what separate us from other people and things and help us form a distinct identity. Boundaries help us protect ourselves. Boundaries help define what belongs to you and what belongs to someone else. Boundaries can define what is “ok” and what is “not ok.” Boundaries help others know […] Read more “Interpersonal Boundaries: How Trauma Keeps Us Silent”
Interpersonal Boundaries: How Trauma Keeps Us Silent
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Estimated: 1 minute to read
Connecting with Personal Power After Abuse, Trauma, or Marginalization
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Estimated: 7 minutes to read
Why do some people abuse power while others don’t? That question is at the core of POWER: A USER’S GUIDE, the latest book by coach, facilitator, educator, and author Julie Diamond, Ph.D. As its title suggests, Power: A User’s Guide is a how-to manual for anybody—parent, boss, teacher, politician, social activist—for whom wielding authority justly […] Read more “Connecting with Personal Power After Abuse, Trauma, or Marginalization”
Refueling: A Guide for Self-Care
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
As a therapist, I focus on self-care a lot because I think it’s a vital life skill that no one really teaches us to do for ourselves. Self-care allows us to have emotional energy to respond thoughtfully to life’s bumps and obstacles instead of reacting without awareness. That reservoir of emotional energy gives us […] Read more “Refueling: A Guide for Self-Care”
Caring in Uncertain Times
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Estimated: 1 minute to read
We are pleased to share this post by Jacqueline Boyd from The Care Plan. Jacqueline is a tireless advocate for healthcare needs of the elderly and LGBTQ+ community providing guidance and planning for her clients. by Jacqueline Boyd “How will changes to the Affordable Care Act affect my insurance coverage?” “Will my 85-year-old parent be […] Read more “Caring in Uncertain Times”
How Therapists Can Keep from Misusing their Power
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Estimated: 1 minute to read
Why do we sometimes misuse power even when we know better? That question is at the core of POWER: A USER’S GUIDE, the latest book by coach, facilitator, educator, and author Julie Diamond, Ph.D. In this video, Julie speaks with LifeWorks’ Cindy Trawinski about power dynamics in therapeutic relationships, as well as how therapists can […] Read more “How Therapists Can Keep from Misusing their Power”
The Distinction between Personal and Positional Power
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Estimated: 2 minutes to read
Why is learning about “personal” versus “positional” power so important? That question is at the core of POWER: A USER’S GUIDE, the latest book by coach, facilitator, educator, and author Julie Diamond, Ph.D. As its title suggests, Power: A User’s Guide is a how-to manual for anybody—parent, boss, teacher, politician, social activist—for whom wielding authority […] Read more “The Distinction between Personal and Positional Power”
The Saint Aside
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
And if I say it’s alright to love another one I will smile with calm dignity shift wince to wisdom grin feign peace in your pleasure reach back to pat for a mind as open as the wound in my chest and I’m grasping your fingers for blades your swell and gaze but I was […] Read more “The Saint Aside”
Why Do Sex Workers Need Our Support?
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. and Cassandra Damm, LCSW In a previous article, we introduced the topic of sex work, considered its history and politics, and explored some identifying attributes of the diverse population of individuals sometimes referred to as sex workers. In this article, we would like to offer a few guidelines about the many […] Read more “Why Do Sex Workers Need Our Support?”
Becoming a Trans Ally
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
My world and life, like many people’s, is a mix of privilege and struggle. As a cisgender woman, I have some privileges that trans women and men do not. For example, I can assume that others will use my preferred pronouns (she, her, and hers) when referencing me. As a person in a non-monogamous relationship, […] Read more “Becoming a Trans Ally”
Your Best Friend Tells You They Are Kinky
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
So, your best friend tells you they are kinky and/or they practice BDSM (Bondage and Discipline [BD], Dominance and Submission [Ds], Sadism and Masochism [SM]). Whether it is your best friend, a sibling, parent, or child, you may want to be an ally, but simply don’t know what to do or say. Before you go […] Read more “Your Best Friend Tells You They Are Kinky”
Eating Meditations: A Practice of Equanimity, Gratitude and Blessing
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Estimated: 7 minutes to read
Can mindfulness be useful for difficulties with food and eating habits? Many think so. Here is an exercise I came across years ago that may help you slow down, name your experience, start to tune into your body and be thoughtful about how you nourish yourself. For this approach, at first, try using a small […] Read more “Eating Meditations: A Practice of Equanimity, Gratitude and Blessing”
Dreaming Our Way Into the Future
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
At this time in our world, we may need the power to dream and the ability to understand one another’s dreams more than ever. Our colleague, David Bedrick, J.D., Dipl. PW has been writing about dreams and other psychological and social issues for many years now. In the blog below, originally published by Psychology Today, David […] Read more “Dreaming Our Way Into the Future”
Managing Fear After the Election
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Estimated: 1 minute to read
Managing fear has been difficult for many people in the days following the 2016 US Presidential Election. No matter which candidate you supported, you may find yourself overwhelmed by distressing news reports, tense conversations with loved ones, and your own complicated feelings. LifeWorks is an explicitly inclusive therapy practice that welcomes all people. We know how […] Read more “Managing Fear After the Election”
Take Heart, Heroes
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
We vote with every moment, With every choice. With our attitudes we elect our reality and the world we yearn to share. We long for heroes to hold our hope and express our power, Our rage, our pain, our kindness, To make our struggle righteous, To champion our smallness. Yet, We are never larger than […] Read more “Take Heart, Heroes”
A Gratitude Experiment
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
“Thank you.” Two words most of us say countless times each day. Saying ‘thank you’ recently came up in a client session and we started processing what that phrase means. Are we saying the words when we are expressing gratitude or just out of habit? I remember my mother (as many parents do) training me […] Read more “A Gratitude Experiment”
Sex Work & Sex Workers 101
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Estimated: 7 minutes to read
by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. & Cassandra Damm, LCSW It has been a pleasure and very enriching to be working with the folks at SWOP Chicago, the local Sex Worker Outreach Project, to develop a support group for sex workers. Cassandra Damm is a social worker who volunteers with SWOP Chicago and co-authored this blog post which […] Read more “Sex Work & Sex Workers 101”
Understanding Your Dreams: Doorways to the Self
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Estimated: 2 minutes to read
This post was originally published in Psychology Today. I have been simply, truly, and totally amazed by dreams for the past 40 years. In 1992, it led me to study with Jungian analyst, Dr. Arnold Mindell, which meant leaving my career as a management consultant, moving across the country, and studying full time for over five […] Read more “Understanding Your Dreams: Doorways to the Self”
Pull the Next One Up
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Estimated: 2 minutes to read
by Marc Kelly Smith When you get to the top of the mountain Pull the next one up. Then there’ll be two of you Roped together at the waist Tired and proud, knowing the mountain, Knowing the human force it took To bring both of you there. And when the second one has finished Taking […] Read more “Pull the Next One Up”
Healing from Affairs — Cheating is not Polyamory
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Estimated: 2 minutes to read
Affairs can surface in a long-term relationship. Can healing occur when the affairs have been covert, repeated and ongoing? Several years ago a couple, Peter and Sherri (not their real names), a married, het/cisgender couple, came to see me. They had been married for approximately 25 years. As are my usual questions when I first […] Read more “Healing from Affairs — Cheating is not Polyamory”
Finding Possibility
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Umair Haque is a thought leader, consultant and author whose personal journey from the achievement and trappings of success to a devastating fatal diagnosis and beyond helped him find peace, happiness and a passion to give to others. Here is an excerpt from one of his reflections called The Sky in Us: Holding Possibility, an argument […] Read more “Finding Possibility”