Posts Tagged ‘connection’
Staying Present in Sexual Experiences: A Nervous System–Informed Perspective || By TJ Dubovich, MA, MFTC
Many people come to therapy wondering why it feels so difficult to stay present during sexual experiences—whether alone or with partner(s). They may describe distraction, self-criticism, numbness, anxiety, or a sense of going through the motions rather than truly inhabiting their bodies. These experiences are far more common than most people realize. They are not…
Read MoreRelearning How to Love (or, Stop Consuming Your Partner) || By Taylor Arroganté-Reyes, LPCC
Much of the work of therapy is learning to tolerate what we cannot control. Difficult, of course. But theoretically, simple enough.Enter scene: partner. Not so simple. A Pew Research poll from 2021 found that nearly 70% of adults rated their dating lives as “not going well,” and a little over half said dating has gotten…
Read MoreTwo Sides of the Same Coin — ReDo* || By Beth Hinnen, Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher
*I first published a version of this blog during COVID. During any trying time in my life, it drops in for me that adequacy and interdependency are two sides of the same coin. And during those days of COVID, I saw this coin being flipped in every moment, with one word or the other, each…
Read MoreHealing Through Ecstatic Dance: Can Movement, Community, and Sound Heal You Back to Life? || By Laura Hogzett MA, LPC, EMDR
Not long ago, I found myself deep in what many would call another dark night of the soul. They say when we’re ready, the challenge arrives, because we’re strong enough to face it. But this time, I wasn’t so sure. I felt exhausted from the last storm, already worn thin. I had begun to isolate,…
Read MoreThe Art of Compassionate Communication – Part 3: Identifying Needs || By Kevin Culver LPCC
This series of blogs is focused on how we can improve communication in our relationships, both professionally and personally, specifically by using Rosenberg’s framework of nonviolent communication (NVC). In the last blog, we identified the importance of objectively observing our experience and circumstances and then connecting it very specifically to how we feel (previous blog…
Read MoreThe Art of Compassionate Communication – Part 1: Identifying Roadblocks || By Kevin Culver LPCC
As humans, we all have needs, emotions, and feelings, but we often struggle to express them, especially in the context of relationships. Many never learned how to identify our needs or feelings, much less communicate them to others. And when we try, it often ends up in misunderstanding, disappointment, and hurt, amplifying our feelings of…
Read MoreFind Your Zen Around Your Family || By Annabelle Denmark LPCC
A guide to finding your ground during challenging encounters, using Internal Family Systems Family gatherings, particularly with relatives we’re hoping to maintain a relationship with but feel conflicted about, can be fraught with tension. You may want to approach these interactions with neutrality, but it can be hard when past emotions, unresolved issues, or triggering…
Read MoreSeeds of Growth || By Rick Garcia, Certified Sex/Cannabis Coach, LMT
Recently, my partner and I were considering moving to a new neighborhood. There were, of course, things we’d miss about the house we’d called home for the past five years, but the most bittersweet part was leaving behind our peach tree. We planted it three years ago, and this year, for the first time, she…
Read MoreYour Loneliness Makes Sense || By Catherine Dockery, MA, Conscious Aging Facilitator
When we meet someone for the first time, chances are the first question asked is, “Where are you from?” Our deepest human need is to belong. And that includes not just our ‘kin’ but the land we are from. Our city, our region, our landscape, our country. We may not always consciously notice the natural…
Read MoreFortunate Times || By Beth Hinnen, Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher
“May you live in fortunate times.” As I went through Yoga teacher training, I heard lots of different aphorisms and sayings, attributed to this and that culture, or this or that spiritual teaching. With the world on fire this year, what with multiple wars, economic chaos, political strife, assassination attempts, this saying keeps coming back…
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