Furthermore, cultivating a meaningful connection with something bigger than yourself can result in increased emotions that may be more pleasant to experienc

The therapeutic relationship is a special one. It’s unique, co-created, and profound. The relationship itself allows for the potential of great healing, but the relationship goes both ways. It’s not only that the patient or client experiences transformation – I do as well.

The healing happens in the space between the hearts and minds and spirits of the patient and the therapist. The relationship is the healing container.

Oftentimes the worst part of withdrawal is in the early days, meaning if you can make it to the three-day mark, ceasing marijuana use will become easier and easier. It’s also important to be aware that it is very likely you’ll feel anxious or depressed in the first 24 to 72 hours after you quit.

This time of the year, the veils are the thinnest, some say. It's the witchiest time of the year as we are halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. The darkness is longer than the light and it's a prime time to reflect on our ancestors, life, and death. Death is inevitable and something that we will all experience. Not only the “big death” at the end of our lives, but also smaller deaths like the end of a relationship, losing a furry companion, or letting go of a behavior.

Everybody must take responsibility for themselves and their own lives of course, especially as adults, but let’s not give more weight to the women. It’s time to bring men into the equation and recognize the daddy in “daddy issues.”

Paternity leave is good for everyone and yet when we have a public example of someone doing that in the U.S., he’s criticized for “taking a vacation.” As Buttigieg pointed out to NBC News, “When somebody welcomes a new child into their family and goes on leave to take care of that child, that’s not a vacation; it’s work. It’s joyful, wonderful, fulfilling work. But it is work.”

The behavior is a patriarchal one because the person is doing what society encourages them to do – push through and pay no attention to any feeling. In doing so, the person becomes not only disconnected from themselves, but also from a Higher Power, God, Goddess, Godx, Source, etc. Those divine energies are accessed via a more feminine approach and often through the body.

None of these scenarios allow for flexibility or for the wide range of feelings and emotional expressions that are within the human experience. And that includes people with penises.

Therapy – whether it’s traditional, psychedelic-assisted, or sex therapy – never involves sex. Ever. Neither does therapy ever involve verbal sexual advances or any other kind of sexual contact or behavior.

Many of us are indoctrinated with shame. It seems to be a readily used societal mechanism to control and dominate when someone or something is perceived to be out of control. A place where that shows up a great deal is with sex, including solo sex, or masturbation. Shame is the instilled belief there’s something bad or wrong with you — fundamentally. It’s not the feeling that you made a mistake, but rather the feeling you are a mistake.

The breath is ever present. Always here as a constant in our lives. When we feel lost, we can come back to our breath. It is a guide for us. A tool to go inward. A tool to then go outward from a centered place.

Ideally, there needs to be someone present who is trained in trauma-informed work, the human psyche, somatic-oriented understanding of the human experience, and psychedelics. This person would know how to hold the depths of the realms that people go to, and someone to adequately conduct in-depth integration after the psychedelic journey.

The body is its own boundary. The body contains us, holds us, keeps our organs intact. Our skin especially separates us from the rest of the world. It designates where we end and others begin. The skin is what differentiates the inside from the outside.

However the body wants to respond, I encourage you to listen. The body has its own wisdom so let whatever wants to occur, occur.

The breath tells us something if we notice it. It can give profound insight into the inner landscape of a person.

Psychedelics offer the possibility of a mystical experience or connecting with something greater than the self. However, psychedelics can also heal intergenerational as well as ancestral trauma.

If you’ve lost your pet to death, I encourage you to take time to grieve because the loss is not a trivial one. Your life has been disrupted. As you honor the loss of your beloved pet, also be gentle with yourself and practice extra self-care.

They say it’s their medicine and their bodies operate better with it. That may be true – after all, the body gets used to substances (provided they’re made to be consumed). That’s why withdrawal can be so hard and highly unappealing.

A boundary is an imaginary line that separates you from another person, place, thing, activity, or process. Think of it not only in terms of separating you physically from another person, but also delineating your feelings, needs, and responsibilities from others. Boundaries also communicate how you do and don’t want others to treat you as well as what type of situation you desire being in.