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Showing posts from June, 2015

Your Brain (my brain) on Stress and Anxiety. We are often advised to reduce stress in our lives. Sometimes life events can relentlessly throw stress our way. It is what we do during this time that cam make all the difference in surviving and/or thriving.

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In Ten days from today I will be giving my impact statement in court about how childhood sexual abuse, committed by Br Bernard Joseph Hartman from the Marianist order, USA, has affected my physical and mental health, Human relationships and general life experience. Documenting this information has been a long and painful experience. While undergoing the process it has been very important to recognize when stress is creeping up to overwhelm my senses. I am well practiced at mindful techniques and relaxation therapies to re-establish emotional equilibrium when anxiety takes over. You can find many such techniques on my blog. Sometimes life is difficult to navigate and I believe that kindness to yourself at these times is most valuable in self soothing and calming unwanted and often unpleasant  biological and psychological sensations.

Music - Indian Calming Instrumental

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"When we are willing to step into that space of creativity, what we find is that we are, in fact, the artists creating our lives. And though we cannot control life, we can rejoice in a feeling of aliveness. We can create a state of being that is conducive for health to flourish. We can create healing." Dr Joanna Garritano

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http://nurturehealing.org/tools-to-create-healing/

The Reporting of sexual assault in the Hobson's Bay municipality has almost doubled in the past 12 months. This does not indicate a higher rate of abuse but a vote of confidence that our society will no longer tolerate these violent attacks. By reports being made there is greater likelihood that the actual instances of sexual assaults will drop and that survivors are better able to get the support that they need. I am proud to be part of the revolution

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http://www.starweekly.com.au/sexual-assault-reports-up/

Mental Illness is a Real Illness: An Interview with Robot Hugs :Despite the fact that, at some point in their life, everyone will have, or know someone who has, a serious mental illness, most people continue to believe that mental illness only affects other people. People who aren’t them. People they don’t know. People who are (to use the horrible, and horribly offensive, word) “weak.”

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http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/mental-illness-real-illness-interview-robot-hugs/

Pain is a Multidimensional experience that affects an individuals Psychological, Physiological and social functioning. When pain continues beyond the body's ability to heal and becomes chronic, the overwhelming stress that can developed in each of these areas of functioning may exacerbate the perception of pain, contributing to prolongation and increased acuity. As a result, the pain management community has come to recognize the need for more comprehensive and integrative non- pharmacological adjunctive approaches, such as Art Therapy.

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http://www.painpathways.org/art-therapy/

Counseling v. psychotherapy is there a difference between the two? I call my profession a counselling psychotherapist. Sometimes a client needs a listening emphathetic ear to gain a better understanding of their life situation. I call this counselling. Other times a client has entered a pattern of unhelpful, unconscious behaviors or thoughts that they feel unable to escape from. As a Paychotherapist I might offer the client tools to change paths. I would then, once again, journey with my client as they enter new discoveries about "Self" and gently offer non - judgmental relationship.

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http://www.novelguide.com/reportessay/science/social-science/differences-between-counseling-and-psychotherapy

TRIBE: Cognitive distortions are at the core of what many cognitive-behavioral and other kinds of therapists try and help a person learn to change in psychotherapy. By learning to correctly identify this kind of “stinkin’ thinkin’,” a person can then answer the negative thinking back, and refute it.

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http://psychcentral.com/lib/15-common-cognitive-distortions/

"If Gandhi Took A Yoga Class."

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https://www.facebook.com/CollegeHumor/videos/10152682880357807/?hc_location=ufi

Joseph Campbell - The Hero's Journey Movie - The Hero's Journey is a 1987 biography of mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904–1987), directed by Janelle Balnicke and David Kennard. In the years just before his death, Campbell was filmed in conversation with his friends and colleagues, discussing his own life and career in terms of the myths that he studied throughout his life. The conversations in the film lead to the book, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (1990)

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https://vimeo.com/115006689

Why We Hallucinate The 5 most common causes, and 3 primary theories. In my past I have experienced hallucinations due to dissociation and PTSD. I must say that now that they have stopped, I miss them.

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https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sideways-view/201506/why-we-hallucinate?utm_source=FacebookPost&utm_medium=FBPost&utm_campaign=FBPost

Kid Power Strategies to keeping your children safe. A valuable set of educational videos on children gaining personal safety. These videos are focused on children with a variety of disabilities but all of the information is relevant to all children

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https://www.kidpower.org/library/videos/7-kidpower-strategies-for-keeping-your-child-safe/

The dark side of nursery rhymes - In our own sanitised times, the idea of presenting these gritty themes specifically to an infant audience seems bizarre. It outraged the Victorians, too, who founded the British Society for Nursery Rhyme Reform and took great pains to clean up the canon. According to Random House’s Max Minckler, as late as 1941 the Society was condemning 100 of the most common nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty and Three Blind Mice, for “harbouring unsavoury elements”.

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http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150610-the-dark-side-of-nursery-rhymes

7 Ways to Support Friends When They're Mentally Unwell : When faced with a friend who is suffering it is tempting either to blame them for their problems and try to shake them out of it, or to leap into ‘rescuer’ mode and try to fix them. Neither extreme is a good solution.

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http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/7-ways-to-support-friends-when-theyre-mentally-unwell/

Music - Tantra ❤ Love Meditation Sensual Sitar ♂ ♀ Tantra Meditacion de Amor

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Can Family Secrets Make You Sick? If you're otherwise healthy, not a smoker or a drinker, and not obese, can childhood trauma alone increase the likelihood of diseases like cancer and heart disease? Last year I conducted research on my own health dating back to 1982 when I was 18 years old and noted 49 hospital, specialist or procedural events in a space of 42 years.

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http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/377569413/can-family-secrets-make-you-sick?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150302

Elliot Krane: The mystery of chronic pain. As someone who suffers with Fibromyalgia, I found this very informative.

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When Words Do Not Speak: It can be difficult to open up to a complete stranger about your deepest and darkest emotions. Sometimes, we are taught to suppress our emotions and put on a blank face, even when experiencing inner turmoil. In art therapy, words are not always necessary. A mere lump of clay or a blank canvas can be far less threatening than giving voice to painful feelings, words, or images.

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http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-depression-expression-0619125

Cognitive Distortions are at the core of what many cognitive-behavioral and other kinds of therapists try and help a person learn to change in psychotherapy. By learning to correctly identify this kind of “stinkin’ thinkin’,” a person can then answer the negative thinking back, and refute it. By refuting the negative thinking over and over again, it will slowly diminish overtime and be automatically replaced by more rational, balanced thinking.

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http://psychcentral.com/lib/15-common-cognitive-distortions/

My son Lachlan is on his way to the Indoor Lacrosse World Championships in the U.S and Canada. Well done Lachlan. I am so proud of you.

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Lachlan http://www.maribyrnong.starweekly.com.au/story/1838900/brooklyn-s-lacrosse-champ-trawls-web-for-backers/ Australian Indoor Lacrosse team

Music - Light Background Guitar Music - study, think, yoga, meditation

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Brené Brown on Blame - Like to Blame Others When Bad Things Happen? Here's What You're Missing Out On 3 minutes | You might be a bit of a blamer - most of us are. But why should we give it up?

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Cymatics : Science Vs Sound Nigel Stanford

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TRIBE - Tavis Smiley: There Are No Shortcuts. You Find Your Path By Walking It.

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SANE: A guide to aging well - A guide to planning ahead for older people who live with mental illness, their families and friends

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https://www.sane.org/sane-guide-to-ageing-well

Images to think about - One of my Pintrest pages. A collection of images can offer a place to begin to create a bigger picture of how we feel within.We are all made up of "Parts of Self". Some we know about, some, others can see and some are yet to emerge. Image can enable the unconscious to become conscious. Please share comments with kindness and positive regard for others.

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https://www.pinterest.com/maireadash/images-to-think-about/ Who might your inner superhero be?

The prison of your mind | Sean Stephenson | TEDxIronwoodStatePrison After his speeches, Stephenson found he was often approached by people seeking advice on personal issues. Feeling ill-equipped to advise them, he decided to go back to school and become certified as a therapist.

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Grieving the Loss of a Child: The Five Stage Myth Numbness, not denial, is often a parent's first feeling

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https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-about-trauma/201506/grieving-the-loss-child-the-five-stage-myth

Border _ : A compassionate documentary on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

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TRIBE Transformation Support Group for Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

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The Homestead, Logan Reserve Altona TRIBE Transformation A support group for survivors of childhood sexual abuse will start this month in Altona. As an Altona resident and abuse survivor have started the fortnightly group called TRIBE Transformation. Sadly, many of us were initiated into the adult world too soon, entering elements of the tribe that we were not yet ready to understand or cope with. The purpose of the support group is to share our experiences and transform them into positive responses while learning from each other. One in three females in Australia and one in six males in Australia are going through this ordeal every day. One of the devastating impacts of being an abused child is a loss of personal power which can carry through into adulthood creating a variety of difficulties in life. Sharing experiences honestly and openly in a safe and empathetic environment with others who have had similar life experiences can create an opportunity for new perspectiv...

Sleep Paralysis 101: Waking Up And Being Unable To Move - This phenomenon has been problomatic for me in the past couple of months. I have been experiencing much more stress than usual and I feel that this might play a big part in the recurrences. This article offers some handy tips to cut the anxiety around this sometimes terrifying experience.

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http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/sleep-paralysis-101-waking-up-and-being-unable-to-move/

Art Therapy as a Treatment for Childhood Sexual Abuse and Trauma - Often the least stressful way to explore anger, fear, sadness, and other threatening emotions is through art. Children are able to give a shape and form to these feelings, which is the first step in learning how to cope and overcome them

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http://eyesonnews.com/art-therapy-as-a-treatment-for-childhood-sexual-abuse-and-trauma-20668/

TRIBE - 3 Top Self Care Tips: Create Balance & Enjoy Your Life And S.T.O.P Mindfulness exercise.

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While undergoing any form of counselling, whether it be one-to one, group work or support groups, it is important to connect to what is happening to the whole self during sessions and  especially during all of the time in between. Often people expect that the time spent with the counsellor or group facilitator is when most of the therapeutic work takes place. In fact, it is during the time away from the session that the material that may have come up for an individual may become of more importance to the person. It is during this time that a person might be triggered, remember new material or have a deeper relationship with a particular topic.  Triggering, remembering and feeling a stronger relationship to a difficult topic can be a frightening experience. It is very important at this time to understand that the topic itself can not harm you. You are safe. You may experience some internal or biological discomfort. At this time it is important to...