This month we are focusing on our favorite self-care books! As staff members at a therapy practice, we’re not exempt from struggle and darkness. These are the books that our staff members have personally found moving and meaningful footholds on their journeys. Please include your own favorites in the comments section! Greenlee Brown: The Collected […] Read more “Self-Care Books”
Self-Care Books
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
Welcome Bridgid O’Connell, LSW
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
How did you learn about the Green House? I discovered the Green House program while researching internship opportunities for my last year of graduate school. I am a recent graduate of the Jane Addams College of Social Work program at the University of Illinois, at Chicago. I received my Masters of Social Work degree, with […] Read more “Welcome Bridgid O’Connell, LSW”
Welcome Dinah Hudson, MA, NCC
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
How did you learn about the Green House? A therapist from LifeWorks made quite an impression on me when she recommended the Green House program during a seminar given in my Couples and Families Counseling course. My graduate program did not offer a diverse selection of courses related to cultural competency, clinical skills, and psychotherapeutic […] Read more “Welcome Dinah Hudson, MA, NCC”
Places to Move Your Body
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
The darkness and cold of winter make exercise and being outside extra challenging, which can adversely impact our mental health. So, this month LifeWorks staff is talking about places we like to move our bodies around Chicago during these chilly months! Although we recognize that not all of are favorites are accessible to every body, […] Read more “Places to Move Your Body”
Mental Health Apps
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Estimated: 1 minute to read
Staff Favorites is a monthly installation for 2019 featuring the mental health and self care picks of our very own LifeWorkers. Favorites in 2019 will highlight apps, books, self-soothing items, blogs/instagrams, places to move your body around Chicago, and more personally endorsed by LifeWorks staff. Our thanks to Elizabeth Duke for organizing this new installation! […] Read more “Mental Health Apps”
Becoming the Gateway
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
LifeWorks therapist, Brandon Haydon, submitted this quote from #virginiarosenberg for our reflection and yours. “Presence is a practice. At times, the work of presence is so deeply uncomfortable. And then there are these moments, these cellular sighs of relief, when we quit resistance. We exit fight/flight/freeze, and simply belong to the time we’re inhabiting. In […] Read more “Becoming the Gateway”
Loving and Gentle Communication in Relationships
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
Even when I thought I was loving in communicating in my closest relationships, I had often been challenged and told by my partners that I was not! I had learned all the “tricks and words” through my study of psychology and communication, but I was somehow still getting into hurtful arguments and repeated conflicts. It […] Read more “Loving and Gentle Communication in Relationships”
Relationship Reset
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
This article is a guest post from Candice Wu, LCPC. She is an intuitive coach and holistic healing facilitator who helps people through the power of love, self-forgiveness, empowerment and body wisdom. Have you ever felt like you wanted to just reset or reboot the relationship? The Outdated Default Relationship Dynamic Recently, I noticed […] Read more “Relationship Reset”
Constructing a Queer Life: On the Choice to Parent, or Be Child-Free
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Estimated: 2 minutes to read
Many people grow up following a cultural life script: you go to school, get a job, marry your one true love and start a family. Happily Ever After! At least, that’s a common scenario many cultures, based on heteronormativity, have historically supported. But as many of us grow up, we realize that that version of […] Read more “Constructing a Queer Life: On the Choice to Parent, or Be Child-Free”
My One Problem
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
It is always foolish to oversimplify complex problems. Nonetheless from the viewpoint of the Dreaming, regardless of the complexity of your life, you can have only one problem – ignoring the Dreaming background to reality. Ignoring the Dreaming means marginalizing the deepest unformulated experiences that create your actions in everyday life. Every time you ignore […] Read more “My One Problem”
Sailing Into Therapeutic Parenting
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Estimated: 10 minutes to read
This article is a guest post from parenting expert Billy Kaplan, LCSW. He is the President and Clinical Director at House Calls Counseling, which develops and promotes healthy family relationships by encouraging the emotional, behavioral and mental health of children, teenagers, adults, couples and families. This post on therapeutic parenting first appeared here. I learned to […] Read more “Sailing Into Therapeutic Parenting”
When Relationships Fall Apart
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
This article was written by Lisa Blair, M.A. and David Bedrick, J.D., who are both Certified Process Work Diplomats. It first appeared here and is reposted with permission. Every relationship has two handshakes: one above the table and one below. The first handshake is a conscious agreement between the two people, saying “We’re going to support each […] Read more “When Relationships Fall Apart”
Welcoming The 2018 Green House Therapists
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Estimated: 1 minute to read
LifeWorks is proud to announce the newest Green House cohort. Please join us in welcoming four new therapists to our team, and read on to learn more about Thomas Bateman, MSMFT; Marissa Faustini, MA; Benjamin Marton, LSW; and Courtney Wilson, MSW. The Green House is a postgraduate psychotherapy training and mentorship program developed and sponsored by LifeWorks. […] Read more “Welcoming The 2018 Green House Therapists ”
Polar Bear Nature
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
This morning, just like every other morning, I was out walking. But this morning it was a frigid 5 degrees, a temperature I long for all year. I know, for some, this is absolutely crazy! But for me, nothing makes me feel more, alive, more vital, one with nature. I absolutely love the feeling of […] Read more “Polar Bear Nature”
Winter Solstice: Knowing Yourself Through The Night
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
Happy Winter Solstice everyone! This centuries old celebration is one of the most meaningful days of the year to me. Ever since I was a small child, the inky nights of winter held a certain kind of spooky magic that enthralled me. Starting with the Fall Equinox, our literal time in light begins to decrease, […] Read more “Winter Solstice: Knowing Yourself Through The Night”
Navigating the Relationship Journey
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Estimated: 11 minutes to read
Santiago Delboy is a colleague and friend to LifeWorks who brings insight and thoughtfulness to his work and collaboration. We are pleased to share some of his writing. This post appears in Santiago Delboy’s blog, which can be found here. Just to state the obvious, relationships are not easy. While we are “wired” to be in relationships and they […] Read more “Navigating the Relationship Journey”
Children in Polyamorous Families Part 5
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Estimated: 8 minutes to read
This fifth and final blog in the series on children in polyamorous families focuses on custody. The first looked at age-dependent experiences and why the kids are in such great shape, and the second detailed some of the advantages and disadvantages in poly family life. Third in the series came poly families’ strategies for dealing […] Read more “Children in Polyamorous Families Part 5”
Domestic Violence: Power and Rank Dynamics
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
I practiced family law for 10 years, some 20 years ago now, taking on several domestic violence cases. The police would be called to a house because a man had physically beaten a woman. By the time the police got there, he had released his anger freely, privately; publicly, he presented as calm and rational. The woman, being less powerful, was less free to fight back and express her anger privately; feeling safer once the police had arrived, she was now free to express her terror, anger, and viewpoint.
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Misgendering: When You Make a Mistake
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
Understanding Misgendering Misgendering is the act of attributing the wrong gender to someone. Using the wrong pronoun when talking about someone in the third person is a form of misgendering. The verb misgender can also describe any reference to a person in which they are gendered incorrectly. For example, saying “yes sir” to someone who […] Read more “Misgendering: When You Make a Mistake”
Children in Polyamorous Families, Part 4
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In this fourth part of the series on children in polyamorous families I offer a sneak peek into my preliminary findings from my ongoing research on poly families with kids. Read more “Children in Polyamorous Families, Part 4”