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Tell Us Your Story

Many of us have had healing experiences that have changed our lives. They may be moments of profound insight that changed our perspective or awakened our consciousness to everything around us. Or perhaps we have had experiences through the guidance or support of a talk therapist, shaman or meditation teacher, that opened our hearts and altered our actions. Reading other people’s stories of insight or triumph gives us inspiration and motivation to continue our own journey’s. And writing our own stories often furthers the healing experience because we are authentically giving to others. This is the place to share your story. Send it to us at info@wellnessprovidersnetwork.com and our editors will help get it ready for publication here. We are all in this together. We look forward to hearing from you soon

23 Jan

Powerful Advice from a Dying 24-Year-Old By

Powerful Advice from a Dying 24-Year-Old By on Friday August 4th, 2017 Upliftconnect.com What Would You Tell Others If You Knew Your Time Was Nearly Up? Most of us go through our days on autopilot, not really living; merely existing. We have so much outwardly, but feel so empty and lost on the inside. We allow our minds to keep us up late at night, mulling over things that don’t really matter in the end, such as bills, money, what others think of us, etc. Why do we do this to ourselves? Of course, none of us truly knows the answers and what happens to us after this life, and we’ve all been thrown into the same boat. How we navigate our lives, however, and the choices we make along the way, define our character and our existence. Our experiences and choices shape us, but many of us spend our lives locked into commitments; chasing money and power and stability, instead of digging deep within us. We count down the hours on the clock until we can go home for the day, rest, and do it all again the next day. We all run around chasing something and wake up one day […]

18 Jul

Disordering Gender: Breaking the Transgender Taboo

What are therapists treating when they treat clients for “Gender Identity Disorder”? Both insurance companies and standards of care demand that therapists carefully diagnose patients who present ourselves as having gender identities at odds with our bodies and social roles, ruling out other possible diagnoses before accepting our claims of transgender identity. But while some clients experience transgender identity – that is, a gender identity that doesn’t fit the conventional categories of male or female – as a “disorder,” many do not, and transgender critics have long argued against the “pathologization” of transgender identity implied by the diagnosis of “gender identity disorder.” These critics see therapists as “gate-keepers,” whose role should be limited to authorizing medical services and insurance coverage, rather than assessing clients’ claims to know themselves. If therapists are merely gate-keepers for transgender clients, and “gender identity disorder” is merely a set of magic words required by doctors and insurance companies, therapy sessions should be few, brief, and pro forma. If “gender identity disorder” refers to a psychological condition that can benefit from therapeutic intervention, therapists should engage in diagnosis and offer therapy as well as statements of authorization. However, if claims of transgender identity indicate a psychological […]

17 Jul

Myopia Road: Reflections on Painting and Therapy

Growing up on a road named Myopia always seemed fitting for my family since a myopic vision involves being able to see objects when things are close by, but having difficulty in seeing when objects are far away. My family has always had a special gift for selectively paying attention to emotional events and ignoring their larger significances. The Myopia Road I speak of winds through the hills in a leafy New England town, with secluded, traditional colonial houses located far away from the road. It appeals to those seeking privacy and distance from neighbors; and for many people, it is a location that represents the very image of success and family life. But from my perspective, having so many bushes and trees in between houses meant that relief was far away when things went wrong, as they so often did. Our family’s first attempt at therapy came when I was just four years old. My older brother’s hyperactivity was the ostensible reason for our meeting with the friendly child psychiatrist, Dr. Brand, but it quickly became apparent that this was just the tip of the iceberg. True, my parents’ marriage was strained by having their first son set fires […]

16 Jul

A Son’s Vows to Love, Honor, and Obey Go Awry

My brother’s troubles began with my parent’s marriage. They knew each other for only one week when they married. Mother told me that she only agreed because she was twenty-five, an old maid. Dad was financially established. It was during the Depression and he owned a record store. Father was autistic. He was also a savant. He committed to memory 250,000 eleven (11) digit record catalog numbers without effort. His store was often filled with celebrities who delighted in picking a random number from a thick RCA Victor record catalog and witnessing my father display his unusual talent. Our Father never knew what number was our age or our grade in school or our birthdate. He sometimes would burst into song in the midst of social gatherings which would embarrass my mother and cause a fight. Most likely my father had Asperger Syndrome , a disorder on the autism spectrum characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests; it was not widely recognized and understood until the early 1980’s, so mother spent a lot of energy trying to change him into a different person. Father was incapable of intimacy, expressions of warmth, […]

15 Jul

Stoked on Recovery: A Surfer’s Perspective on Treating the Chemically Addicted

Last week I was out in the water giving a surf lesson to a young man. He paddles his board back to me after a heavy wipeout. He’s clearly frustrated. “I keep falling off. Everyone else has stood up, except me.” And then the classic line, “I can’t do this.” As he is lying on his board, scrambling, wobbly, and off-balance. I redirect his attention to the present moment by having him find his balance point on the board. As he begins to focus, his balance improves. “Julius, here is your wave,” I tell him. He looks over his shoulder as he is instructed to do. I give him a light push. He stands up. He rides his first wave on two feet all the way to shore. When he returns I look him in the eye and say, “Julius. You can’t find success in the present moment if you’re focusing on the failures of the past. To be a successful and productive human being you must train your mind to focus on the present moment. Finding balance within and focusing on the present moment is the difference between being held under water or staying afloat.” By the way he […]

Tell Us Your Story

Powerful Advice from a Dying 24-Year-Old By

Disordering Gender: Breaking the Transgender Taboo

Myopia Road: Reflections on Painting and Therapy

A Son’s Vows to Love, Honor, and Obey Go Awry

Stoked on Recovery: A Surfer’s Perspective on Treating the Chemically Addicted

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