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This month’s Staff Favorites will feature a collection of blogs and podcasts that we follow that have inspired or transformed us in some way. Some of these podcasts are specific to therapy and mental health, while others are simply about being human and living in the world. As always, we look forward to hearing what […] Read more “Podcasts & Blogs”
Tag: Personal Power
My One Problem
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”
Domestic Violence: Power and Rank Dynamics
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”
Loving Bravely – Book Review
Clients are often interested in ways that they can do their own self-awareness and relationship work outside of their weekly hour of therapy. A great way to do this is by reading books that help you explore your inner experience and the relationships in your life.
With that in mind, I am really excited to share with you all a book that I had the pleasure to help create with it’s author Dr. Alexandra Solomon. The book is Loving Bravely: 20 Lessons of Self-Discovery to Help You Get the Love You Want. Read more “Loving Bravely – Book Review”
How to Establish Sexual Values
This post was published by Sexology International, and can be found here. When it comes to sex and sexuality, everyone has an opinion. Some affix their ideas to a personal or political agenda; others use convenient generalizations to further less noble pursuits—to encourage people to buy pretty French lingerie or pricey sports cars, for example. […] Read more “How to Establish Sexual Values”
Assertive Communication 101: Finding Your Assertive Voice
I am passionate about interpersonal boundaries, and in order to have good boundaries, you need to tell others about them! Assertive communication is crucial to being able to set, clarify, and defend your boundaries and their consequences in relationships. I’m also motivated to write due to how many times I talk about this topic in therapy […] Read more “Assertive Communication 101: Finding Your Assertive Voice”
What Basson’s Sexual Response Cycle Teaches Us About Sexuality
The following article has been adapted from “Taking a Closer Look at Basson’s Model of the Sexual Response Cycle,” Jo Flannery’s article for Sexology International. It has been edited from its original format. To read the original article, click here. There is no one reason people choose to have sex. Rather, human beings become aroused […] Read more “What Basson’s Sexual Response Cycle Teaches Us About Sexuality”
How to Create Fulfilling Relationships After Experiences of Abuse
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”
Anam Cara: Soul Lessons From Anxiety & Panic
There is a phrase in Gaelic, anam cara, which means “soul friend.” According to the Anam Cara Therapy Center in California, anam cara is: A teacher, companion or spiritual guide … where consciousness is dulled, distant or blind, its presence grows faint and vanishes. Therefore awareness which brings integration and healing, is one of the […] Read more “Anam Cara: Soul Lessons From Anxiety & Panic”
Interpersonal Boundaries: How Trauma Keeps Us Silent
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”
The Distinction between Personal and Positional Power
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”
Eating Meditations: A Practice of Equanimity, Gratitude and Blessing
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
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
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
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”
Winning the Battle with Inner Criticism
An inner critic can be thought of as an aspect of ourselves that holds the criticisms, disapproval, injunctions and complaints that we have internalized over time. When our inner critic is active, we get low and feel “less than”. Sometimes the voice of the inner critic is so convincing that we jump to the conclusion […] Read more “Winning the Battle with Inner Criticism”
Power: A User’s Guide
We are excited and pleased to announce that our friend and colleague, Julie Diamond, Ph.D., has a new book out — Power: A User’s Guide. Power corrupts. The question is: how? What are the traps of power and how we can avoid falling into them? From bosses to parents, politicians to protesters, power rests in […] Read more “Power: A User’s Guide”
Knowing Yourself is Power
“Knowing yourself really well and deeply is the best power you can have.” Julie Diamond, Ph.D. is an executive coach and leadership consultant who helps individuals and organizations create cultures of learning and growth. Julie’s upcoming book, Power: A User’s Guide, is due for publication early next year. Read more “Knowing Yourself is Power”
Power: Is There More in Me?
In her blog on leadership, my friend and colleague, Julie Diamond, poses this challenging set of questions for leaders: “Are you using your power fully, in the way you want to, to create the worlds you want to create? Are you using this opportunity to do amazing things, to be creative, to make your team […] Read more “Power: Is There More in Me?”