Posts Categorized: The Counselor Is In

When you lose someone or something of importance to you, life has thrown you a curve ball. A part of you dies with your spouse, your child, your dream, your career, your marriage, your childhood, etc. We not only suffer a loss of someone or something, we often feel we have lost our own identity….

As we approach the 4th of July I am reminded of an e-mail sent many years ago that spoke to what it cost for our freedom.  I quote some of it here: “Close your eyes for a minute and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody…

Who in your life has helped to shape and mold who you have become? Who do you listen to? Who do you aspire to be like? We are influenced by many people and experiences we have had and seldom think about how this has reflected on who we are today. I recently wrote and submitted…

“What alone remains is ‘the last of human freedoms’ – the ability to ‘choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.” Victor Frankl Victor Frankl was a psychiatrist and Jew who lived during the Nazi regime in Germany. He along with his entire family, was sent to Nazi concentration camps. He was taken to…

Years ago when I worked with a team of health officials to design and write a Chronic Illness program for a major HMO, we wanted to share stories of people who took what life had handed them and reframed it from one of tragedy to one of hope, anticipation and motivation. These were real people who had…

“Whatever you focus on, you will become” Before I returned to school to get my masters degree in psychology and counseling, I had the privilege to work for a short time with a company that gave two week workshops to injured workers in chronic pain. The participants were mandated to come before their workman’s comp…

Whatever the situation, our focus will determine what we do, how long we do it and where it will take us. Our focus is the attention we give to anything. It can have either a positive or negative result. If we focus on what we can’t do, we will worry, suffer anxiety, give up, and become hostage to anything that seems…

Two weeks ago, I celebrated the life of a friend who had died – whose life time achievements, while impressive, were not as important to those of us gathered at the church, as who he was and how he had lived. Last Sunday, I celebrated another friend’s life – at her 80th birthday with family…

Sailing in the San Juan and Gulf Islands required not only knowledge of our boat, navigation skills and charts to map out safe routes, but also knowing where the safe anchoring spots were – both for a long leisurely stay or a place to tuck in from a storm. A rocky bottom would not hold the…

I knew him as a friend. My kids knew him as Uncle Jack. Others knew him for his smile and hugs – others for the amazing cakes he baked and decorated or the chocolates that melted in your mouth. Others remembered stories when music and drumming competed for his time in the culinary arts. However…