Amber Smiley, PLLC

09/06/2025

❤️

07/27/2025

These words (all of them) deserve a read through a few times but this is my favorite part:

“I carry you: not as memory alone,
but as a hush of compassion
woven into every offering—
for you are not just my past.
You are the soft persistence
of hope in my chest,
and everywhere I walk,
your spirit bends the light
toward mercy for all beings. “

—Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

Cheyenne, it’s been 31 years since I held you—
in my weary arms,
yet you remain at the center of every wild thing
— I love.

You aren’t just the echo of my years gone by—

you’re the sunlight trembling through new leaves today,

the hush leaning against my shoulder in the quiet field before tomorrow morning.

You are kindness, caught like dew
in the grass under my feet, next week

and gentleness, singing low
with the river as it passes
over the small stones of sorrow.

As I walk—slowly, with a heart
attuned to everything—
I find you with me in the bright unfolding of ordinary things:
the tilt of a bird’s wing,
the way the air moves,
a golden pause in the mid-afternoon.

What is grief but an open hand,
and love, and wild geese calling
across the sky of my forever?

I carry you: not as memory alone,
but as a hush of compassion
woven into every offering—
for you are not just my past.
You are the soft persistence
of hope in my chest,
and everywhere I walk,
your spirit bends the light
toward mercy for all beings.

—Dr. Joanne Cacciatore
Missing my beautiful daughter 31 years after her death

(This is an age progressed photo, created by a forensic artist from 15 of her baby photos)

07/16/2025

For my fellow ADHD clients. 🤗

07/12/2025

Accurate.

07/03/2025

10/15/2024

October 15th at 7pm (your local time) we light candles to remember all the babies and children gone too soon, creating a Wave of Light that moves around the globe.

We remember with you.

10/12/2024

🫶

10/03/2024

Are you aware of the mental health resources CCSD offers? Care Solace connects students, families and employees to available providers in the community. It’s confidential and free. To learn more, visit caresolace.com/ccsd.

09/18/2024

ℹ️ FINDING A SENSE OF WHOLENESS: COMPLEX PTSD, SELF-COMPASSION, AND SELF-MARVELING |

On the road of healing from Complex PTSD (CPTSD), our stories are often filled with sadness. In other moments they may be filled with stories of liberation and possibility. I actually believe that, in moments along the healing path, they may occur together to create a sense of wholeness.

There’s no denying that there’s much sadness connected to surviving relational trauma. We may grieve what we’ve lost in time, our own potential, opportunities, relationships, or even a simple peace within ourselves free of shame and anger. And, it’s necessary and central to healing to remember, and to feel our way through, deep sadness.

Read the Full Article: https://cptsdfoundation.org/2024/09/16/finding-a-sense-of-wholeness-complex-ptsd-self-compassion-and-self-marveling/