Category: compassion

Recently, I returned from an amazing honeymoon voyage to the Virgin Islands. As our ship docked, we were in breathtaking awe of the pristine clear blue waters and lush tropical hillsides. We were greeted by locals dressed in colorful costumes representing their indigenous culture and dancing to Caribbean music. Quaint shops lined the historic avenues and street vendors displayed their wares with cheerful enthusiasm. One could not help but be taken away on a warm breeze of excitement. Taxi drivers lined the avenues willing to take you on tours of their treasured island for this is the home of THE “Treasure Island” boasting the resting place of much famous pirate booty, ship wrecks, water wonders with many colorful species of coral (who knew “fire coral” is a thing); animals, military forts, historic landmarks, and much tropical horticulture.

Joining other eager tourists, we commandeered a taxi bound for the other side of the is ...

Read more

I was talking with my daughter recently and she shared with me that she is teaching my granddaughter about setting and respecting physical space limits.  My daughter didn’t use those specific words, but it is essentially what she was referring to.  It reminded me of the importance of setting clear boundaries with others and the important responsibility of keeping and respecting boundaries of others and of ourselves.  It is good to recognize that we all have limitations and recognizing that and putting healthy boundaries up helps us to thrive.

My granddaughter is learning about a physical boundary, but there are other areas we may want to consider when thinking of boundaries.  Areas that I have learned to value and protect with boundaries include financial, time, energy, and emotional boundaries.  These can change as our circumstances change, but it is good to know what boundary I need or want to be in place for the c ...

Read more

For someone who’s never been in therapy, trying to find out what makes a good therapist can feel harder than finding a good doctor. After all, who wants to go into a room and strip one’s emotional clothing, not to mention spend money, on someone who isn’t going to be able to help you feel/get better?

            While there are many things to know about counseling, here are a couple tips in deciding on a therapist:

1. What kind of work do you want to do?

Therapists tend to hold to different points of view on therapy and sometimes specialize. For example, many therapists hold to Cognitive Behavioral Theory—which basically operates off of the idea that change comes through working out core lies, and behaviors follow your thoughts. Other therapists hold to Psychodynamic Theory—which works out of the presupposition that “what’s wrong” is buried ...

Read more

We are all familiar with the term compassion. We are easily able to look at other and feel care and concern for their suffering. Self-compassion on the other hand, sounds foreign and may even seem wrong. To understand self-compassion, it may be helpful to first define compassion. 

Compassion

sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

"the victims should be treated with compassion"

synonyms:

pity , sympathy , feeling , fellow feeling , empathy , understanding , care , concern , solicitude ,

solicitousness, sensitivity , tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness,

...

Read more