“Love is the capacity to take care, to protect, to nourish. If you are not capable of generating that kind of energy toward yourself, it is very difficult to take care of another person. In Buddhist teaching, it is clear that to love oneself is the foundation of the love of other people.” Thich Nhat […]
Generally speaking, Mindfulness is the intentional acceptance and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment. Mindfulness interventions have been on the rise in the addiction treatment community and with good reason. It seems like each month there are more scientific studies published that support the practice […]
Recently, a client shared that he had listened to an NPR podcast whose topic was the Marshmallow Test and the research of Walter Mischel, Ph.D. He had also watched a short youtube video that showed a modern version of children trying to resist the marshmallow. The video is cute and funny and provided him a visual […]
My last blog post shared the Buddhist lojong slogan, “Don’t bring things to a painful point”. Today I want to share another slogan written about in a Shambhala Sun article that I feel also really applies to recovery. As a reminder, this article focused on using these slogans in our work life. However, we can […]
After a full day of client sessions, I decided to eat dinner before my ride home. I had just picked up the January edition of Shambhala Sun (http://www.lionsroar.com/) and read an article that fit right in with what many of my clients were talking about today. In this article, Lodro Rinzler (http://lodrorinzler.com/) discusses five slogans […]
“And God said, Love your enemy, & I obeyed him, & loved myself” Khalil Gibran A client shared this quote by Khalil Gibran in session this week. It has become the sentiment or ideal that has permeated many of the sessions this week, both group and individual. My clients struggle with many things in their […]
Last night one of my long term recovery groups began the first week of Brene Brown’s Connections Curriculum; a 23-minute video of Brene discussing Shame, Empathy, and Vulnerability. We have used her Shame Resilience workin our program for years. Yet, I never cease to be amazed at the reactions to the initial video.
I had another plan for my second blog post but was alerted to the publication of the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health findings by a client. I found this a timely publication to comment on as, in private practice, I am faced this week with trying to find a way […]
Many people are becoming accustomed to hearing about sex addiction or seeing something about sex addiction in the news. Political scandals and movies such as Shame can make it seem like sex addiction is something new. The truth is those who work in the field have been battling to create legitimacy for sex addiction in […]
