The holidays can be extremely difficult when you are dealing with addiction, abuse, and trauma. It’s the time of year when I need to double down on my self-care efforts. With that in mind here are the very best Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, etc. Deals that I can find! I’ll keep this…
Spiritual
7 Tips for Living a Mindful Life
I believe that recovery for the traumatized and the addict is completely impossible without mindfulness. We can’t heal things that we do not understand. Last night we were watching an episode of Once Upon a Time that is set in Neverland. Emma, the story’s main heroine, is presented with a map by Peter Pan. She…
Four Compelling Reasons to Keep a Journal
I have found journaling to be an essential part of my healing from betrayal trauma and PTSD. Journals help me to process emotions, organize my thoughts, and keep myself grounded in truth. Let’s be honest, keeping a journal my not sound like the most exciting thing you can do for your healing. For years I’ve…
Embracing Your Shero’s Journey
I’m a HUGE fan of all the Marvel/Avengers movies that have come out in the last few years. I’m a total sucker for a good superhero story. I especially love how each of the characters have pretty big flaws that make them human. As a kid I used to love playing superheroes with my friends….
4 Keys to Unlock Hidden Treasures in the Scriptures
The Bible tells us that if we search after God’s commandments “as for hid treasures” the Lord will give us his wisdom. Here are 4 keys for effective scripture study. *all verses quoted come from the LDS King James Translation* Find the Knowledge of God In Proverbs 2:1-6 it reads: My son, if thou wilt…
Head Above Water- How the Codependent Model Perpetuates Abuse
Your symptoms are not signs of a codependent mental disorder. You are suffering from betrayal trauma induced PTSD. Society needs to see and treat the victims as victims, not co-addicts. The codependency model is abuse. The Relationship Begins One day a young woman was standing on the shore of a big lake with her sweetheart….
I am a Misfit
How often have you felt alone, unappreciated, or just plain weird? I know I do, a LOT!! When you feel like a misfit you often tend to turn that into feelings of inadequacy. “I’m not good enough because I don’t do…..”, or self doubt “should I be doing this instead of that?” Sometimes being a…
Serenity Prayer Zentangle Doodle Drawing
What is Zentangle? I have recently discovered and fallen in love with doodle drawings also commonly called Zentangle or doodle drawing. This type of art has been around since the beginning of man, but has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity due to Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas giving it the name Zentangle and dictating…
It Doesn’t Have to Leave a Bruise to be Abuse- Identifying the Different Types of Abusive Men
It’s not always easy to tell if you are in an abusive relationship. We, as a society tend to see the abusive man as a towering hulk who leaves bruises on his wife and kids. The truth is far more sinister. Emotional abuse is real and dangerous with lasting effects. Did you know that 1 in…
As a Hen Gathereth Her Chickens- Scripture Journaling Tutorial
The metaphor of a hen gathering her baby chicks under her wings is used in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. Now I don’t know about you, but when I think of the Son of God a chicken isn’t the first animal that comes to mind. They are pretty much flightless, quite…