Our work and our mission is to redefine therapy and our conversations are about the art and practice of healing. This blog was launched in May 2018 by Dr. Jamie Marich, affiliates, and friends.
Originally published on the Dancing Mindfulness Expressive Arts Therapy Blog, 5/4/2017 If you’ve followed Dancing Mindfulness and other projects connected to my Institute for Creative Mindfulness work, you’ve likely encountered the hashtag #redefinetherapy. What started as a book chapter and a hashtag is quickly turning into a movement that you
By Dr. Jamie Marich Today I celebrate nineteen years of continuous sobriety from drugs and alcohol. Nineteen is a very important number for me, making my arrival at this milestone all the more special. When I was chronologically nineteen, I crossed the line into chemical dependence. I also came out
There are many hot button issues in the EMDR community that get discussed in formal consultation, or informally in the online support groups. A shortlist includes: Can you do EMDR therapy with someone who is pregnant? Which protocol works the best for addiction and can you do EMDR with someone
I’m an Orthodox Jewish woman who spent years working in prison with juveniles. And the most threatening thing I encountered was the staff. In 2009, I had my first exposure to our country’s justice system, as an intern in a methadone clinic in New York. My caseload was full of
I am who I am today because of my teachers and mentors, and in my writing so far I’ve had the great privilege to pay tribute to several of the amazing ones who are no longer with us—Valerie Leone and Frank Kovach from Chaney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, Jerry
My friend Heather and I were recently talking about the marvels of travel and sharing on all of the places we’d like to go. She said, “India is on my ‘bucket list,’ although I really don’t like the term ‘bucket list.’” “Yes!,” I declared, “Neither do I!” The phrase never
The term disability or identifying as disabled has long been seen by mainstream society as negative, wrong, bad, a character flaw, dirty, tragic, pitiful, or an inability. Those with disabilities are seen as having a lesser value and remain outside the human experience. This way of thinking and the discomfort
Several years ago a workshop attendee came up to me after a continuing education class to pay me a compliment. The attendee relayed to me that his boss had warned him that although I knew my stuff, I was a bit “hippy dippy” for that person’s tastes. Hippy dippy? Because
Where do I even begin? So many thoughts and feelings have swirled in me as I’ve read the myriad posts and articles commenting on so-called “cancel culture.” Because unhealed and activated trauma can impact the way that the brain organizes information, I am admittedly having difficulty putting coherent
“This is not so much an opioid epidemic we are in – it is more a trauma epidemic that people take opiates for.” – My admonition to my therapists and trainees since the early 2010s. In 2015, I started a pilot project at an addiction treatment agency in order to