Bloomington Center for Connection

10/25/2025

We love having Darrelyn Valdez, Fitness Instructor & Dance Enthusiast bring the zesty dance joy to the building! Join us today at 5! $5.00!

Good morning, Dance Fitness Family! 💗

COME JOIN US FOR ANOTHER ZUMBA CLASS!
ONLY $5!

Details are below! Please come join me! I'd love to see All of YOU! 💕

⭐ DATE: Saturday, Oct 25

⭐ TIME: 5:15-6:15 PM

⭐ LOCATION: Bloomington Center for Connection
(315 W Dodds St, Bloomington, IN 47403)

⭐ COST: ONLY $5!!!
(Cash, Check or Venmo are accepted)

⭐ PARKING: There is Free parking around the BCC building in their parking lot and surrounding neighborhood.
At the bottom of the hill of the BCC across from Hopscotch Coffee on the B-line trail, there is "Paid" parking. You will see a sign on how to pay if you park there.

⭐ Wear comfortable workout clothes, shoes and bring water!

⭐ Please send me a private message if you have any questions. Thank you so much! 😘💗💕❤️

10/14/2025

In a culture that mistakes invulnerability for strength, Relational-Cultural Therapy reminds us that courage grows through connection.

Supported vulnerability means knowing our tenderness will be met with care — that our self-representation will be held with compassion and mutuality, not exploited or dismissed.

Like a bird cradling an egg cracking open, we can hold ourselves and each other gently enough for what’s emerging to unfold.

What gives you the courage to be vulnerable?

10/13/2025

From Sydney, therapist at the BCC:

Therapy shouldn’t require translation.
It shouldn’t ask you to shrink.

As a q***r, neurodivergent woman of color, I know what it means to navigate systems not built for all of us.
The micro-adjustments.
The coded language.
The worry about being “too much” or “too emotional.”

In my work as a therapist, I offer a space where all of that can fall away.

You don’t have to code-switch here.
You don’t have to mask.
You get to show up in your full voice—messy, curious, complicated, real.

I’m Sydney. I support teens and adults, especially those navigating trauma, marginalization, and the long process of coming home to yourself.

Let’s talk when you’re ready.

10/13/2025

On , we honor the Indigenous communities whose relational knowledge reminds us that healing and belonging are inseparable.

Our work in Relational-Cultural Therapy asks us to keep listening with humility and to learn what it means to live and work in right relationship with people, place, and history.

10/10/2025

This Mental Health Awareness Day, support our sliding scale program and wear cool stuff! (Or snuggle with an adorable Columbo blanket, or slap a hilarious bumper sticker on that car!)
https://www.bloomingtoncenterforconnection.org/2025/10/support-accessible-care/

At the Bloomington Center for Connection, we believe healing isn’t a solo journey. Now, you can wear that message wherever you go. Our new merch supports accessible care and looks fantastic. Grounded in our values We’ve been committed to offering accessible care to underserved, underinsured, or ...

10/03/2025

You didn’t grow out of play.
You just got better at hiding it.

But your brain?
It still needs those wild, messy, imaginative moments.
That’s where flexibility, focus, frustration tolerance, and relational insight are built—
not in checklists,
but in connection.

So if you’ve recently had that
“Ohhhhh... I think I’m ADHD and probably need some therapy?” moment—
you’re not alone.
And you’re not broken.

Executive functioning isn’t about getting your life perfectly together.
It’s about practicing how we move through the world—together, imperfectly, playfully.

And when everything feels like too much—when the world is heavy, and joy feels far away,
that’s when we need play the most.
Not because it fixes everything.
But because it gives us a place to breathe, experiment, and feel alive again.

Executive skills like frustration tolerance, communication, and psychological flexibility get stronger, not through pressure,
but through puddles, storylines, sand trays, and connection.

Because play isn’t a break from the work.
Play is the work.

09/30/2025

Language carries meaning. For Mandarin speakers, therapy can feel more authentic when it happens in your first language—where words hold their full weight and nuance.

At Bloomington Center for Connection, Xinyi offers therapy in Mandarin, creating space to share your story without needing to translate your heart.

If you know students, faculty, or community members who may be seeking a Mandarin-speaking therapist, please share this resource.

Request an appointment on our website (link in bio)

Hashtags:

09/29/2025

When everything feels hot and dangerous, even staying still can take everything you’ve got.

In Relational-Cultural Therapy, we talk about Positive Relational Moments—real, felt experiences of safety, connection, and attunement.
Moments we can return to.
Moments that remind our nervous systems what steadiness feels like.
Some of those moments come from memory.
Others come from imagination--- when we allowed ourselves to experiment with danger and safety,
and landed someplace safe.

Safety isn’t just an idea.
It’s something we feel.
Something we co-create,
Something we practice.
And many of us first learned how—through play.

Play is how we explored the difference between danger and discomfort.
How we practiced being brave, being scared, being soothed.
And it’s still how we find our way back to solid ground.

🧡 What helps you stay on the cushion when the floor heats up?
🧠 What memory, connection, or moment helps you feel steady?

We need that kind of play.
The kind that reminds us:
You’re not overreacting.
You’re just trying not to fall in.

Art by Dora Carter

09/26/2025

We’ve seen a lot of mutuality and authenticity nurtured in these groups!

09/16/2025

The heaviness isn’t just in you.

Some days it feels like the air itself is weighted — by violence, by politics, by grief. Each event adds to what we’re already carrying.

The heaviness isn’t just a mood. It’s relational. It’s cultural. It’s shared. We’ve created it together, and we carry it together.

When we remember this, we can stop asking “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with them?” and start remembering: Of course it’s heavy.

That doesn’t mean we owe grief to everyone. And it doesn’t mean trans people should take on the shadow of misplaced fear.

From there, another shift becomes possible:
Not “what now?” but “who with?”

Healing doesn’t mean pretending things are light. It means finding connection strong enough to hold the weight — together.

💬 What helps you share the heaviness with others?

Bloomington Center for Connection offers an online relational group for Trans and Gender Nonconforming adults-- reach out for more information!

09/16/2025

We don’t always get clarity first. (in fact we usually don't, and if we do, it's possible the first thing we need to do is jump into the mud!)
In Relational-Cultural Therapy, growth often begins in the MUD:
Mystery. Uncertainty. Doubt.

It’s okay not to know.
It’s okay to wade in anyway.
You're not alone in the mess.



Art by Dora Carter Makice

09/14/2025

Ready to win a one-of-a-kind quilt?

Enter our 2025 festival sweepstakes for a chance to win a stunning, bespoke Alice in Wonderland quilt by the incredibly talented artist Julie Parmenter !

This beautiful quilt measures 72" x 72" and features whimsical fabrics inspired by the classic tale. It’s the perfect piece to add a touch of magic and artistry to your home while supporting Spencer Pride.

Here's how to enter:
1. Purchase entries online at:
https://go.rallyup.com/2025festivalquilt

2. Visit our community center in downtown Spencer Indiana (17 E Franklin Street) to purchase sweepstakes entries

Have a friend that loves Alice in Wonderland? Share this post and let them know about the quilt sweepstakes!

The sweepstakes runs until 11:59p Eastern on Saturday 10/4 (the day of our 2025 festival).
The lucky winner will be announced on Thursday, October 9 at noon Eastern. Good luck!


NO PURCHASE, DONATION OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
Alternative method of entry: https://go.rallyup.com/e09642/mailentryrequest