Bring the Elders Their Ice Cream
During the last six weeks of his life on this earth, I brought my Baba all the ice cream that he wanted. One night in
June 30, 2025
Categories
Tag: addiction
Nourishing and Depleting: Applications As An EMDR Therapy Inventory Strategy
One of the loveliest practices I ever learned for my own self-care is to make a two column list. In one column, I write down
April 17, 2025
A Lullaby for Jason
I’ve written several pieces inspired by my friend Jason Fair on this blog. You can check out Merry Christmas, Jason, published just two weeks after
September 23, 2024
Freedom is What You Do With What Has Been Done To You
As I share this reflection with the world on my twenty-second sobriety birthday, I recognize that many folks in the trauma recovery movement may take
July 8, 2024
The Capacity to Be Honest
Dr. Jamie Marich explores their journey through addiction recovery and trauma treatment, emphasizing the transformative power of honesty in confronting societal stigmas, challenging clinical norms, and advocating for authenticity and inclusivity in trauma care.
February 29, 2024
The Dissociation Made Simple Playlist
The process of making playlists is a great joy for me and an important aspect of living life in expressive arts process. These songs emerged,
January 12, 2023
Pal, This is Not a Holy War
As I slowly moved down another painful declining portion on my second day walking the Camino de Santiago, my already injured knee rolled in and
November 14, 2022
Baba
In her classic Women Who Run with the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes tells the tale of the misplaced zygote. This magical fairy child, brimming with
June 19, 2022
God is in the Music
This summer, I sat in a chapel run by a major religious order before the Holy Mass where my brother Paul would make his vows
December 10, 2021
Bulk Flash within Ego State Therapy
The Flash Technique (Manfield, Lovett, Engel, & Manfield, 2017) developed by Dr. Phil Manfield has shown that moving a memory is possible without directly activating
August 26, 2020
Rethinking “Tribe”
Growing up in Northeast Ohio, the first time I heard the word tribe was in reference to the Cleveland Indians. Our major league baseball team
August 19, 2020
Be the Candle: A Tribute to my Guru and Teacher
In the Spring of 2004, I made what would prove to be the best educational decision of my life. Although I commuted to a small
August 12, 2020
Being “Out,” Naked, and Vulnerable
Since coming out unapologetically as a woman in recovery from a dissociative disorder in 2018, I’ve received so many messages and social media replies that
July 8, 2020
Merry Christmas, Jason
Dear Jason: I am having a very difficult time getting into the fullness of Christmas spirit this year, still very sad that this will be
December 24, 2019
Addiction as Dissociation Model
Addiction is a dissociative response. Sounds like common sense, right? For many years we’ve operated in our practices fueled by this assumption. As individuals in
October 15, 2019
The Girl From Nowhere: Subjectivity and World Around Us
The study of subjectivity is broadly concerned with what it means to be an experiencing subject in the world. When I touch the book, “I”
August 6, 2019
Before You Talk Shit About Another Addict
If there was a category in my high school yearbook for “Most Likely to Become a Junkie,” I would not have been a contender. Indeed,
July 8, 2019
How EMDR Therapy Helped Me to Reclaim My Life
I was sitting in front of a client one afternoon as she talked to me about the rape she had experienced a few months ago.
June 25, 2019
Not So Much of a Rebel: Making Peace with the Standard EMDR Protocol
When EMDR clinicians learn that one of my specialties is addiction, I usually get asked, “Which protocol do you use? FSAP? DeTUR?” I’m often met
June 18, 2019
Does Labeling Me Really Negate Me?
Sometime in the sixth grade, I first heard philosopher Soren Kierkegaard’s wisdom, “Once you label me, you negate me.” I wish I could tell you
April 29, 2019