Mom and Sidekick get together after an extended Fourth of July hiatus Scene: Mom’s weekend came and went like a speeding train. There were picnics and parties, day and night. Crackling and booming, the black night sky was lit up with red, white and blue, fireworks and rockets that burst heaven-ward. Mom had flashbacks and […]

Scene: Wearing masks and practicing social distancing, Mom and Sidekick reflect on Mom’s parting comment from the previous week: “…Finally, after years of struggle, I feel I have a bright future to achieve my dreams. Anything is possible,” Mom had said to Sidekick. They pondered that as they sat, satisfied. Sidekick: Interested in having Mom […]

Scene: Gray clouds rolling, thunder clapping, The Greek Chorus gathered and is chanting about Mom’s  epiphany.  They discuss the value of VAK and imagery. The leader: “We understand it means visual, auditory and kinesthetic, or see, hear and feel.” The volume of the chanting increases with the new awareness that these are our ‘true strengths […]

We perceive the world through our senses. These are mainly see, hear and feel. We can learn to change these in order to feel better or to set goals. As an example, let’s say that you want to be better at your work. Make a postage stamp size picture of that. For more effect make […]

Scene: Mom, tired now, sat to relax with her sidekick on a long, green bench. “Courtesy of The Chamber of Commerce” it said. They talked about how trauma can have long lasting effects on a person. Mom, deep in thought about how previous events and decisions have affected her life, said that she had an […]

Mother talked excitedly with her sidekick about how she was frozen in the memory of the fire. She tried to move but found she was stuck in a state of panic on her Maslow timeline. Focused now, …the sidekick mentioned to Mom that “It’s clear, I can see you have a problem as you tell […]

What is C.C.E. you might be asking. It’s Corrective Emotional Experience. Mom, just as any of us who have had any situation that our operating system has coded as traumatic will benefit by revisiting, reprocessing and re-imprinting that experience. That is the basic premise of EMI, Brief Eye Movement Therapy and EMDR. Let’s do an […]

Addiction and SUD (Substance Use Disorder) often are tied to past life changing experiences. Any type of abuse, witnessing any type of abuse or ‘trauma inducing’ behavior can haunt a person for a lifetime. When considering how this happens, maybe you weren’t beaten yourself but you witnessed someone else get beaten. That could do it. […]

“Non-12 Step Addiction Treatment Philosophy” Palisades of Malubu. Not with me! I believe in 12-Step Recovery. If you wanna it will work. Some professionals and lay people say addiction is a disease. Some say No, it’s a choice. Just like the Non-12 Step idea just above. Some say yes, some say no. I know a […]

Four days ago, we left our Mother and her sidekick stranded as they were about to maybe discuss why the fire came to mind on her “timeline floatback”; described in the prior post, May 26. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs formed the basis of the timeline in a linear format. When Ma reached the Sense of […]