Yesterday I had my annual mammogram. I was 9 months overdue. To my chagrin I realized it’s because I’ve started to have a trauma response when I go. It’s not from past abuse…at least not from who you may think. It’s from the procedure itself. I’m no baby. I was disabled with a herniated disc for a year in 2015-2016, and I overheard my doctor telling my partner that I
A Sexual Attitude Reassessment is a workshop that introduces you to a variety of sexual behaviors, orientations and identities. It's purpose is to investigate our own attitudes, positive and negative biases, and reactions for self-knowledge as well as professional conduct. SAR is always taught live, either streaming or in person. By examining our attitudes, values, and emotions, we can be better equipped as educators, counselors, clinicians and therapists to serve
In the years from 2018 through 2022, I dealt with a tremendous amount of grief. Among other losses, a some-time partner and long-time friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer in late 2020. I spent a year flying back and forth from Arizona to Florida during the worst of the pandemic to be of what help I could and to spend time with him. Strangely, I know I will remember it
As the situation that is 2023 rages on, I think to myself, “This is what a digital civil war looks like.” Of course the war is not all digital. It has made its way into churches, mosques, schools, malls, nightclubs…even the nation’s Capitol. The reality of war has been present with us for several years, but it has perhaps not registered that way. We think of war as armies and
I watched the movie Jesus Revolution recently, and was struck by it. I was already thinking a lot recently about how many parallels the 2020's have with the 1960’s and 70’s, when so many movements began and several converged. The psychedelic movement seems to have re-emerged after an almost 40-year nap. Free love has reappeared in the mainstream in the shape of consensual non-monogamy. Disillusionment and distrust of authority is
Over and over again in the past couple of years I have been struck by the thought that if our culture were a marriage, we would be in the midst of divorce proceedings right now. This isn’t a new idea, there are plenty of others who have commented on it, but as a person trained in marriage and family therapy, my perspective is a little different. As an MFT