If you are thinking about taking your life and need to speak to someone now, please call 988 or visit the 988 Lifeline Website. Suicidal ideation is a complex and sensitive topic that demands our attention, empathy, and understanding. Often shrouded in stigma and fear, it is crucial to engage in open conversations to raise awareness […] Read more “Understanding Suicidal Ideation: Shedding Light on a Silent Struggle”
Understanding Suicidal Ideation: Shedding Light on a Silent Struggle
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
Healthy Masculinity
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
What is healthy masculinity? As with all aspects of gender, masculinity is a socially constructed series of roles, norms, expectations, and characteristics that can help shape someone’s identity. Masculinity has a context that changes across time and place; this means the ‘definition’ of masculinity isn’t static. There tend to be some consistent themes of masculinity […] Read more “Healthy Masculinity”
Toward a More Conscious Engagement with Death
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FeaturedEstimated: 5 minutes to read
On Sunday 10/29/23, Christy Darcangelo was a part of a 5-person panel on end-of-life care within kinky and polyamorous communities hosted by the Chicago Rose. The panel included Brooke Benjamin, a funeral care director with Inclusive Funeral Care, Valerie Nerini, a death doula and celebrant with Our Inevitable Death, Bella Bathory, a death doula with […] Read more “Toward a More Conscious Engagement with Death”
LGBTQIA+ Self-Care and Empowerment: How Can Therapy Help?
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
You know that psychotherapy can play a vital role in supporting the self-care, self-expression, and personal empowerment you want as an LGBTQIA+ individual. Yet, navigating the complexities of identity, societal challenges, and emotional well-being can be overwhelming. How does psychotherapy help and what steps can you take to build momentum in a positive direction for yourself? Read more “LGBTQIA+ Self-Care and Empowerment: How Can Therapy Help?”
Queer Inner Strength: Overcoming Internalized Stigma and Shame
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Estimated: 8 minutes to read
Internalized stigma and shame can have a profound impact on the well-being and self-worth of LGBTQIA+ individuals. Society’s prejudice and misunderstanding often lead to the internalization of negative beliefs and feelings of shame. Exploring the impact of internalized stigma and shame on LGBTQIA+ individuals, I offer some strategies for healing and building inner strength. By […] Read more “Queer Inner Strength: Overcoming Internalized Stigma and Shame”
The Right Therapist for You
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
Choosing the right therapist can be daunting. Therapy is an endeavor where the relationship itself is perhaps the most important element. So, choosing the right therapist is not an easy task and there are things you can do increase the chances you find someone with whom you can work well, grow and meet your goals. Read more “The Right Therapist for You”
Alarm Systems: What We Can Learn from Dogs
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Estimated: 9 minutes to read
The following is a list of things my new dog has alerted me to since she came to live with me on Friday: The reflection of the TV in the windows A pot that she nudged off the window A child who changed his clothes Me wearing glasses A fox prowling around my quail coop […] Read more “Alarm Systems: What We Can Learn from Dogs”
Resting into this time of self-care
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
It has been about 6 months since the shelter in place order in Illinois was announced. Most therapists I know went remote in March. Therapy offices around the city sit unused and many therapists are working from home. The spring challenged all of us to adjust to new precautions and COVID-driven changes to our lives. […] Read more “Resting into this time of self-care”
Music that Carries Us
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FeaturedEstimated: 3 minutes to read
Staff Favorites has been a monthly installation of 2019 featuring the mental health and self-care picks of LifeWorks’ staff. Thank you for being on this human journey with us, and for sharing the various experiences, objects, books, music, art and more…. Your contributions have helped cultivate change and offer paths to relief and soothing during […] Read more “Music that Carries Us”
The Art of Noticing: Exploring Shifts in Attention
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Estimated: 7 minutes to read
Theoretically I am a strong believer in carving out creative time. I believe as a practice, it aids in self-reflection, cultivates connection and in turn, empathy. It has the power to remind us why we live. In the last several years though, I have struggled to make time for creative expression and prioritize it as […] Read more “The Art of Noticing: Exploring Shifts in Attention”
Transformative Poems
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Estimated: 3 minutes to read
Staff Favorites is a monthly installation for 2019 featuring the mental health and self care picks from our very own LifeWorks staff. 2019 will highlight books, self-soothing items, blogs/instagrams, places to move your body around Chicago, and more!. We look forward to sharing our favorites with you and welcome you to send us your thoughts […] Read more “Transformative Poems”
Self Soothing Items
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Estimated: 4 minutes to read
Staff Favorites is a monthly installation for 2019 featuring the mental health and self care picks of our very own LifeWorkers. 2019 will highlight books, self-soothing items, blogs/instagrams, places to move your body around Chicago, and more personally endorsed by LifeWorks staff. We look forward to sharing our favorites with you! This month we are […] Read more “Self Soothing Items”
Anchoring Rituals
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Estimated: 2 minutes to read
Staff Favorites is a monthly installation for 2019 featuring the mental health and self care picks of our very own LifeWorks Staff. We have been highlighting books, self-soothing items, blogs/instagrams, places to move your body around Chicago, and more — all personally endorsed by LifeWorks staff. This month we are talking about anchoring rituals. Anchoring […] Read more “Anchoring Rituals”
Fueling Up!
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Estimated: 7 minutes to read
Staff Favorites is a monthly installation for 2019 featuring the mental health and self-care picks of our very own LifeWorkers. 2019 will highlight books, self-soothing items, blogs/instagrams, places to move your body around Chicago, and more personally endorsed by LifeWorks staff. We look forward to sharing our favorites with you! This month, LifeWorkers are sharing […] Read more “Fueling Up!”
Self-Care Books
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Estimated: 5 minutes to read
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”
8 Ways to Love Yourself thru the Holidays
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Estimated: 9 minutes to read
This is your life and your holiday experience. You get to design it, enjoy savor it, and exercise the power of loving yourself, and the holidays are no different. Try out 8 embodied ways you can love and take good care yourself through the holidays: 1. Align Yourself to Your Desired State of Being What would you […] Read more “8 Ways to Love Yourself thru the Holidays”
Elemental Human Experiences — Getting in Touch
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Estimated: 6 minutes to read
Feeling divorced from the world or alienated from neighbors who are all around us are common complaints. It’s nothing new. People have lamented the rush of modern life at least since the Industrial Revolution pulled them to factory work. When reliable electric lighting became pervasive we began losing our connection to the natural rhythms of […] Read more “Elemental Human Experiences — Getting in Touch”
Queer, Polyam, Kinky, Single? Alternative Valentine’s Day Ideas
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Estimated: 8 minutes to read
Navigating Valentine’s Day can be tricky, especially if you’re single, or if your relationship falls outside the margins of heteronormative monogamy. As the 14th approaches, you might feel like you can’t escape ads selling jewelry by reinforcing the gender binary or promotions trying to push pricey dinner dates for two. But, even as you feel […] Read more “Queer, Polyam, Kinky, Single? Alternative Valentine’s Day Ideas”
Domestic Violence: Power and Rank Dynamics
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Estimated: 9 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.
Read more “Domestic Violence: Power and Rank Dynamics”
How to Create Fulfilling Relationships After Experiences of Abuse
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We are pleased to share this article by our friend and colleague, Niyati Evers, MAPW, and diplomate in Process Work. Niyati is a sex-positive therapist with Alchemy of Eros, a Portland, Oregon-based professional counseling services organization that seeks to create a welcoming, non-judgmental space where people can explore issues around relationships, intimacy, power, passion, desire, […] Read more “How to Create Fulfilling Relationships After Experiences of Abuse”