A few of the lessons learned over the years as I’ve seen clients every Wednesday
Michelle Hutchings, MA, LMFT Take a minute and remember the last time you took a legitimate break, had some real rest. Can you remember, or has it been a while? And perhaps the word “legitimate” sort of makes you pause there – “what constitutes ‘legitimate’?” If you had a thought similar to this, then whatever rest or break you’re thinking …
My thoughts on school shootings
When a person, country, etc gains a position of power (as the US has) they gradually, subtly think they’re superior to those “under” them. They close themselves off to outside feedback about their functioning, stop looking to others for help solving the few problems they are willing to acknowledge, and blame the existence of those problems on the least among …
Anyone for a societal reboot?
When we lived in the Appalachian mountains we’d sometimes drive out to Floyd, a small town on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was indescribably beautiful. On Friday nights a group of local farmers, mechanics and hippies would pull into town in their beat up pickups, plop down on the porch of the general store, grab their banjos and harmonicas, roll …
When Robin Williams died I remember a debate over, ultimately, whether kindness can heal depression. Many felt a natural desire to reconnect with their loved ones, and made the assumption that the lack of this connection had led to his suicide. However, saying that more love could have healed Robin Williams can imply that those close to him didn’t love …
As a marriage and family therapist, I’m often asked how I’m able to hear so many difficult things day after day. Truth is, while seeing the hidden side of people’s lives can be challenging at times, the unintended benefits far outweigh the costs. One of the biggest benefits has been vicariously learning a lot of life lessons as my clients …
“The only true voyage of discovery would be…to behold the universe through the eyes of another.” ~ Marcel Proust In grad school, when I first started seeing clients, I found it hard to be nonjudgmental. Naturally, the more judgmental I was, the less effective I was as a therapist. A supervisor helped me with this by pointing out that …