Melanie Epp, LPC, LMFT, RPT-S

11/27/2021

Such a precious, loving woman.

11/06/2021

82 signatures are still needed! Keep strong academic standards for counselor licensure in Texas

10/11/2021

07/30/2021

Clean house.

J

Credit Michelle McGraw.

07/25/2021

Hi Bestie,
You might be feeling anxious right now, please remember just because things are 'allowed' by the government now, it doesn't mean you have to do them if you don't feel ready.
No, is a complete sentence, but if you'd like some nice ways to elaborate on that powerful word, here are some options 💖
Please add your own ways to say no below to help other besties know they are not alone.
Thank you for being you.

07/17/2021

Happy Friday night from Me Camp!

I guess I want to tell you this, maybe for the women reading who are still bleeding out or wishing for magical new memories too: One thing I am learning about grief is that it doesn't have a clean ending only to be replaced by a new, shinier story. I mean, I want it to work that way but it doesn't.

So like, even here, even in this personal paradise of my own making, I get waylaid by sadness. The trigger is usually the same: happy families. When I see a mom and dad with kids running around them like puppies while they manage and laugh and hold little hands and look at each other with love for their little brood, it is like a spear to the heart.

I miss my family so much. We were that family for so long. Loud, funny, in it together, invincible. I wanted to be the parents and grandparents our kids and grandbabies came home to forever, their one safe and trustworthy space. I loved us together. That was my crew, Team Hatmaker, my own little dream come true. I had to close my eyes today when a family walked by with their rowdy teens and silly trash talk and the dad with his arm around his wife.

So what I am saying is that grief doesn't go away. It is more like a partial eclipse; not scorching the earth anymore but not gone either, just somewhat shrouded. At any rate, that is what it feels like at the one year mark.

So enjoy my special story here in Maine, and in my life, yes, every word is genuine, but please know I have not achieved some miraculous healing where the old is entirely gone and I stand here, dazzling, in the new.

I think we just learn to live with the sadness that will never, ever be completely erased even by new happiness. That is the work. To hold both, denying neither, letting it come when it does.

You aren't alone. We have loss and we have hope, all at the same time. They remain stubbornly overlapping. You don't have to release either.

In Bar Harbor, every window of every house is always open, day and night. We don't have air conditioning, only the Maine air. So you take in whatever is out there. I guess this is what we do, sisters; we leave all the windows open knowing that even after a howling storm, we'll also get the delicious breeze, and if we keep at it, the storms just blow in ever so often, less and less.

IG post below from my friend Nedra Tawwab who is a trustworthy guide through absolutely everything life has to throw at us.

07/14/2021

Post written by Alex Elle.

07/13/2021

💜Ashok

www.guptaprogram.com

📸 Artist unknown but much appreciated

06/16/2021

DEPRESSION TIPS

Shower. Not a bath, a shower. Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even need to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you gotta.

Moisturize everything. Use whatever lotion you like. Unscented? Dollar store lotion? Fancy 48 hour lotion that makes you smell like a field of wildflowers? Use whatever you want, and use it all over your entire dermis.

Put on clean, comfortable clothes.

Put on your favorite underwear. Cute black lacy panties? Those ridiculous boxers you bought last christmas with candy cane hearts on the butt? Put them on.

Drink cold water. Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost. I always use lemon.

Clean something. Doesn’t have to be anything big. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink.

Blast music. Listen to something upbeat and dancey and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. Sing to it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.

Make food. Don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. Take the time and make food. Even if it’s ramen. Add something special to it, like a soft boiled egg or some veggies. Prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.

Make something. Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. Create.

Go outside. Take a walk. Sit in the grass. Look at the clouds. Smell flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.

Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to a stranger on the street. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps.

Cuddle your pets if you have them/can cuddle them. Take pictures of them. Talk to them. Tell them how you feel, about your favorite movie, a new game coming out, anything.

May seem small or silly to some, but this list keeps people alive.

*** At your absolute best you won’t be good enough for the wrong people. But at your worst, you’ll still be worth it to the right ones. Remember that. Keep holding on.

*** In case nobody has told you today I love you and you are worth your weight and then some in gold, so be kind to yourself and most of all keep pushing on!!!!

Find something to be grateful for!

May I please get 2 friends or family members to copy and re-post? I am trying to demonstrate that someone is always listening.



1-800-273-8255

Just two. Any two.
Say done.

💚💚💚💚

**copied and pasted, feel free to do the same**