The Disruption of Dirty Pain
Nobody likes pain. It makes sense that we make every attempt to avoid it or make it go away. That’s just part of being human. But why do some humans seem to have less of it than others? There are two types of pain: clean pain and dirty pain. We don’t have a whole lot of choice about our clean pain. But we can create dreadful amounts of dirty pain throughout our lives in reaction to the clean pain.
We start to experience clean pain on the very first day of our lives as we enter a bright, loud, cold, and unfamiliar world. As we develop, our experience of pain expands from physical pain to... Read More
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this from couples during a session. Something big happens between them (for instance, one person cheated on the other), and the offending party apologizes; however, the difficulty continues, and the person who said they were sorry wonders why that is. The person who got hurt wants to feel better. The person who has apologized becomes exasperated because he or she feels they have done everything they can. “I said I was sorry. What else do you want from me?”
Unfortunately, this is frustrating for both people. Each person wants to feel better,... 
Grief, a deep feeling of sadness over a loss, is one of the most difficult experiences a person can have. During the grief process, we may feel hopeless, out of control, dead inside, empty, pained, afraid, angry, or just about any other painful emotion one can name.
Just about everyone experiences grief at least a few times in life. The only way to avoid grief is not to care about anyone or anything, or to bury one’s feelings with drugs or other distractions when a loved one leaves or dies, when we have a serious medical condition, when we lose a job or other opportunity, when we fail, or,... 
Art is a language. For the sake of this blog, let’s call it ‘artlish’ (not to be confused or linked with the Artlish Caves Park in British Columbia). ‘Artlish’, the language, can externalize experience, perception, hope, fear, rage or a combination of those feelings and others. On opposite ends of a spectrum, art language, or artlish, can be raw or it can be refined. It is influenced by culture, education, repetition and trends. But most often, artlish is spoken privately in the imagination, in dreams and nightmares, in a studio, on a stage, in a welding shop, in an edit suite, on paper,... 
The final paramita, or practice leading to happiness, is Prajna, or Wisdom. This is not the wisdom that comes with age or long study. This is the wisdom of seeing what is actually happening in any given moment. This is discriminating awareness, which can tell the difference between our imagined storylines about what is going on, and what is true. It is the wisdom of clarity, and acceptance, and it requires more than a little awareness and courage. It is the wisdom of accurate reporting.
Awareness helps us to see what it is that we may not be seeing. Courage helps us to accept that things are... 
Altars and Shrines…What are they?
In nearly all places where there is evidence that humans have lived, archeologists have found evidence of altars and shrines. The predisposition to construct these kinds of sacred creations seems almost to be part of our DNA. Traditionally, shrines are memorials, or monuments, to the dead. We have made shrines for thousands of years and across all cultures. Some well-known shrines include the Taj Mahal and the Egyptian pyramids. Memorials such as the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, the Mount Rushmore carvings, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Martin Luther King,... 
According to a new study, soldiers who play aggressive video games on a regular basis experience less traumatic nightmares than soldiers who only play occasionally or who play less violent games. Jayne Gackenbach of Grant MacEwan University believes the video games offer an opportunity of empowerment that transfers into their dreams. “Video game play may offer not only a type of training for learning to shoot targets or attend to peripheral cues in a dangerous environment, but also some inoculation to threats in nightmares,” said Gackenbach. “These dreams are the most common element of... 
“Bereavement is a painful event that most people experience at some point in their lives. While most bereaved people are able to resume normal functioning within a year after the loss, a small but important subset, usually around 10–15%, continue to suffer from prolonged 
Marion Woodman is one of the most well-known Jungian analysts. She has published many books, lectured widely, and is one of our elders in the Jungian community. Marion writes and teaches by exploring dreams, literature and mythology, imagery in the body, many artistic forms, and case material. Marion’s imaginings and wisdom are part of the foundation that informs my work as I play and create with others. My bookshelves are filled with her writings and often I find myself picking up a volume of her work to imagine and journey through a spiral.
Some of her books include (non-inclusive list):... 
I’ve learned to trust myself, to listen to truth, to not be afraid of it and to not try and hide it.
-Sarah McLachlan
There are no physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual benefits to low self-esteem. On the other hand, when you value yourself highly you are most likely positive, consider life to be a playful adventure, are confident in your abilities, maintain a healthy lifestyle, laugh a lot, and are never bored by what life offers.
What are 20 things you love about yourself? How easily you complete this exercise or (complete it at all!) will give you an idea about your current... 
Did you know there are individuals who minimize sexual addiction as a disorder? Regardless, its impact, devastation and pain to the individuals who are struggling with it, their spouses and children along with many areas of their lives cannot be ignored. When we consider that the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity describes sexual addiction as a progressive intimacy disorder characterized by compulsive sexual thoughts and acts. Like all addictions, its negative impact on the addict and on family members increases as the disorder progresses. Over time, the individual struggling... 
