Space to Heal Counseling and Wellness, PLLC

06/07/2024

When you’re grieving a loss, it can be difficult to put into words what you are feeling.

Grief is a profound, whole-body experience that encompasses a wide spectrum of emotions that can often feel overwhelming—even confusing. It can be hard to sort through and make sense of what you are feeling and scary to allow yourself to feel your emotional pain.

On June 22, I will be facilitating a workshop called Collaging Your Grief, in which we’ll be using collage to explore and get to know your unique grief experience.

There are many therapeutic benefits to making art. Art gives our emotions an outlet, a way to feel and release what our bodies and hearts are holding, as well as be with and accept our feelings instead of denying them or pushing them away. The art you create can be a powerful form of self-expression and a meaningful way to honor yourself, your grief, and all the parts of your journey.

This workshop honors all types of grief across the landscape of loss. Some examples may include: Death of a loved one, illness or loss of health, loss of pet, loss of a relationship (e.g., family member, parent, partner, divorce), miscarriage, losing a job, retirement, moving to a new home.

Click for more details.

Collaging Your Grief Explore and get to know your unique grief experience. “The right way to grieve is your way.” – David Kessler When you’re grieving a loss, it can be difficult to put into words what you are feeling. Grief is a profound, whole-body experience that encompasses a wide spec....

05/01/2024

I’m sitting with so many feelings this morning reflecting on yesterday’s The Courage to Write workshop. I’m not sure I have all the words to capture what yesterday meant to me. I’m always astounded by the courage participants have to confront that which feels painful, scary, vulnerable, and then share those truths with people they just met. It’s out of a lot of people’s comfort zones, but the fact that they did it anyway feels so inspiring and so brave to me.

Writing gave them a safe place to feel emotions they haven’t allowed themselves to feel. It gave them the freedom to voice their truths and have honest conversations with each other about the challenges they face living with chronic illness. Uncensored. Unfiltered. The support for each other was a moving and beautiful thing to witness. I just want to say thank you to the participants.

Each time I’ve facilitated this workshop, it has become more apparent to me that many people with chronic illness don’t have a space or a community to be able to honestly talk about their experiences. As someone living with chronic illness, I feel this too.

After seeing the impact of yesterday’s workshop, I feel compelled to create more safe spaces and help build more community for people with chronic illness. I’m considering expanding The Courage to Write into a 4-week series—weekly 60-minute gatherings where we delve into one writing prompt centered on a particular topic relevant to chronic illness. That means more time for writing, more time for sharing and discussion, and continued, consistent support over a longer period of time.

If this is something that would interest you, drop a heart 💜 in the comments below or feel free to email me at carla@spacetohealcounseling.com to share your thoughts and feelings or to offer other suggestions of what type of support would be most helpful to you in your chronic illness journey.

I’ll be offering The Courage to Write again this summer, so stay tuned for details in the coming weeks.

04/28/2024

Spending my afternoon finalizing the writing prompts and grounding exercises for the Courage to Write workshop on Tuesday. So grateful (and so excited!) to be offering this.

There’s still time to register. https://spacetohealcounseling.com/the-courage-to-write/

What You Will Explore and Discover:

📝 How chronic illness impacts and has impacted you and your life
📝 Space to process and express your feelings about your chronic illness
📝 Emotional release and freedom of writing and telling your story
📝 Physical benefits of decreased tension and stress in the body
📝 A safe and supportive space
📝 Connection and validation from others on a similar journey and who truly understand your experience

04/26/2024

Writing to me is like breathing. It has been my trusted companion throughout my journey living with chronic illness and a safe place where I can process my feelings and try to make sense of my experiences.

Two years ago, I designed The Courage to Write, a workshop to help people with chronic health conditions use writing as a tool for processing and expressing their feelings, experiences and beliefs about themselves. Chronic illness can feel isolating and lonely. So I also wanted to create a safe place where people could tell their story to other individuals who hold similar experiences and who truly understand what it’s like to live with chronic illness.

I’m hosting The Courage to Write again on April 30, and there’s still a few days left to sign up. If you are looking for a tool to help you express all that you are holding inside and are longing for a community of people who “get it,” I hope you’ll consider joining us.

Throughout our time together, I will guide you through writing prompts, as well as various grounding and calming exercises to take care of ourselves as we explore and share.

You don’t have to be a writer to take this workshop. All you need is a curious mind and an open heart.

To learn more or register, click here:
https://spacetohealcounseling.com/the-courage-to-write/

05/14/2022

“Writing is the act of reaching across the abyss of isolation to share and reflect.” ~ Natalie Goldberg

Thank you to all of the participants who attended today’s writing workshop The Courage to Write. I am so grateful for your stories and inspired by your courage on your chronic illness journey. Today was a reminder of the power of community and connectedness. Writing and sharing our stories can help us feel less lonely in our experiences. It not only heals ourselves but also others.

04/23/2022

“We write memoir not to remember, not to cling, but to honor and to let go.” - Natalie Goldberg

I had some time to myself this morning to write, honor and let go. Writing feels so freeing. Afterwards, I always feel lighter. It’s like a cleansing of the heart after emptying its contents onto a fresh page.

I have a few spots left in my writing workshop May 14 if you are needing a place to honor your experiences and empty your heart.
💜✨📓 ☕️

To register or learn more please visit https://spacetohealcounseling.com/the-courage-to-write/

04/14/2022

Living with a chronic illness can feel overwhelming and even confusing at times. It can be hard to process what we’re feeling while at the same time being in survival mode.

Writing can help sort through all of it and help us begin to make sense of the journey we’re on. Writing can feel freeing, to empty onto the page all that we have been carrying. Writing gives us space to feel, to understand, to put into words what has felt unspoken.

I hope you can join me May 14 for The Courage to Write, an online writing workshop for those living with chronic illness.

What You will Explore and Discover:

🖊 How chronic illness impacts and has impacted you and your life

🖊 Space to process and express your feelings about your chronic illness

🖊 Emotional release and freedom of writing and telling your story

🖊 Physical benefits of decreased tension and stress in the body

🖊 A safe and supportive space

🖊 Connection and validation from others on a similar journey and who truly understand your experience

To learn more or register, click here: https://spacetohealcounseling.com/the-courage-to-write/

💜

03/31/2022

I'm excited to announce a new workshop I'm offering in May: The Courage to Write, an online writing workshop for those living with chronic illness.

This idea has been a year in the making and I'm so excited to be able to finally share it!

This workshop was inspired by my ongoing mission to support others in their chronic illness journey. It's also inspired by my own journey living with chronic illnesses and my first and forever love of writing. Writing has helped me process the life-altering effects of chronic illness and express and understand my feelings. My hope is that this workshop will help others experience the power and healing of writing in community with others on a similar journey.

I hope you can join me. 💜

The Courage to Write: An online writing workshop for those living with chronic illness.

03/24/2022

Like so many people, I have not felt like my creative self during the pandemic. Creativity is important to me, and when I go for long periods of not creating, I feel it. But I’ve learned some things over the past few months that have helped me find my way back to my inner artist.

A friend recently reminded me that creativity comes in cycles. Just like seasons. There are periods of dormancy and periods of flourishing. Even in the dormant times—whether that’s days, months, years—growth is still happening. Rest nurtures creativity.

Shifting how I viewed creativity changed my relationship with it and how I approach it, honor it and nurture it. Now, I worry less about if and when my creativity will return. I know it will. When my creativity pays me a visit, I feel gratitude and a sense of peace instead of fear and urgency to create before it disappears. There’s less clinging and less forcing of creativity. I’m learning my own creative rhythms and how to nurture my creativity throughout its cycle or seasons. Writer Nicole Gulotta captures so well what this experience has been like for me: “I didn’t know my creativity well enough to understand there would be periods of waiting and trusting.” 💜

03/08/2022

Recovering from trauma can feel like a daunting process, overwhelming at times. Having a therapist journey with you through that process can help ease that sense of overwhelm. All of my therapists over the years have played a vital role in my healing. They helped me go to the dark places I was afraid to face. They helped me untangle the mess of trauma. They helped me rediscover and reclaim my intuition, strength and power. They helped me feel less lonely on the journey back to feeling whole. They’ve been survivors too, so they know and understand how this process feels.

Wherever you are in your recovery, this is a reminder that you can do this. You are stronger than all that has happened in your life. Carl Jung said, “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” 💜

03/01/2022

Ways I ground and calm my nervous system at doctor appointments:

- I carry a stone or crystal. This particular crystal is Labradorite. I like to turn it around in my hand to see the flecks of gold and copper, its metallic shimmer and its beautiful glow of blues and greens. ✨

- I look at photos on my camera roll that make me happy. 📷

- I place my hand on my belly and turn my attention to the natural rhythm of my breath, the rise and fall of my belly, the expansion of the breath. 😌

- I bring up in my mind my circle of allies, an EMDR resourcing exercise. I imagine being surrounded by people and animals (living and dead) who make me feel protected, safe, secure. I imagine them there with me every step of the way—the waiting room, testing, exam room. 💫

- Text with loved ones. 💜

- Read a good book. 📕

Medical appointments can be challenging environments for our nervous system. It took me years to learn that I didn’t have to suffer through them, that there were things I could do to calm my nervous system and help me feel more safe and secure. These are some of the tools that work for me. What has been helpful in your chronic illness journey?

01/19/2022

I took a break midday today to nurture my creative spirit. I like to ground myself and relax before I create because it helps my creativity flow more freely and also allows me to focus. So I brewed some tea before I sat down to these fresh pages, filled with possibility. I raised the mug to my nose and inhaled scents of cranberry and vanilla and savored the warmth of the first few sips. My shoulders relaxed and my pen glided across the pages. I felt the urgency of the day melt away. All that mattered was this moment. What grounding and relaxation practices do you do to support your own creativity?