WellBeing

03/31/2026

We’re building momentum across the country, and we’re excited for what’s ahead.
No One Cares About Crazy People is heading to Chicago, New York, New Paltz, and San Francisco, bringing these conversations to new communities and continuing the dialogue around severe mental illness, stigma, and the urgent need for compassionate care.
Each screening is more than a film. It’s a space for connection, reflection, and honest conversation.
We can’t wait to gather with audiences in these cities and keep pushing this movement forward together.
Find dates and details:
https://noonecaresfilm.com/screenings/ (Link in bio)

03/30/2026

Today’s Lenten Meditation began with a quote from an author I was introduced to by my mother & grandfather. The writings of Kalil Gibran are special to me.

As I began reading the meditation itself, I was thinking “I could have written this myself!” …. then I got to the part revealing it was written by a Therapist. If you live with Scars (physical, emotional or otherwise) this one is for you. ❤️‍🩹

✝️🕊️✝️🕊️✝️🕊️✝️🕊️✝️🕊️✝️🕊️✝️🕊️

Palm Sunday Lenten Meditation

Scars. We all have them. Some are visible, like those on a dear friend’s body. We shared a hotel room on a recent trip, and one morning she came out of the shower smiling, unconcerned with modesty. “Look at me,” she said. “I am covered in scars. I see them as my survivor wounds.”

Her breast cancer had cost her a breast, and the scars around that site were obvious. There were more beneath her arm from lymph node removal, and a few lower in her stomach from other surgeries. And there she stood, gazing into the mirror with joy and pride—so comfortable in her own skin.

Years ago, I worked with a woman who had survived a fiery accident in her young life. After much time in a burn center and countless surgeries, her smile was slightly crooked but her spirit strong. One day, as we explored the effects of her trauma, she suddenly lifted her shirt and cried out, “Look at me!” again and again, until the words became sobs.

I did the only thing I could; I looked at her. Then I held her as she wept. I silently prayed over her—thanking God for her life, her courage, and the trust it took to be seen. I still hope I honored that sacred moment.

Invisible scars tell stories, too—scars from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Scars from neglect, bullying, or the loneliness of being different. Scars from betrayal, from bad decisions—our own and others’.

As a therapist and spiritual director, I believe our best chance for healing comes when we allow others to see our scars, both visible and hidden. In safe spaces, when we share the stories of our wounds and our efforts to heal, something within us softens. Acceptance grows. Our unhealed wounds become scars—marks of resilience and of the miraculous capacity of our bodies and souls to mend.

“Look at me,” we cry, in one way or another. See me. See my scars. Know my story.

We all know what’s coming this Holy Week. Jesus will be betrayed, denied, and crucified. He will bear nail holes in his hands and feet, wounds from the whip and the crown of thorns. I imagine he also carried emotional wounds to the cross. And when he rose, his scars remained— signs of both his true humanity and his divine wholeness.

Perhaps Jesus wanted to be seen with his wounds because he knew that seeing them could change us—that wounds and scars are not shameful, but sacred. I am still here, look at me. When we love deeply and live fully, we will be marked. And allowing others to see our scars is part of how we heal and become whole again.

Maybe that is what resurrection really looks like—being seen, scars and all, and still being loved.

03/21/2026

Stats.

The VA lost about 700 social workers and 500 psychologists and psychiatrists over the course of 2025 — a significant change for an agency that was adding mental health staffers nearly every month leading up to Trump’s return to office.

Read our full investigation: https://propub.li/41lIECE

03/07/2026

Lenten Thoughts for Meditation: Is Self-Care Selfish?

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. *
—Prayer of St. Francis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I complete an intake assessment with a new client, their "wholistic care" begins with that assessment. The questions are not only about the individuals Mental, Emotional & Behavioral background; but also about their Medical/Physical & Spiritual lives. I am not a Priest, Rabbi, Minister or Medical Provider ..... but each of those aspects of an individual inter-relate and have impact on each other. They can pull each other down but they can also help in pulling each other up.

When a client is struggling with boundaries or self-care and have identified as Christian, it's not unusual for me to inquire if they recall the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and spirit; and your neighbor as yourself." We review that there is not a hierarchy between our neighbor or our self. It does not say "and the left overs, if there are any, are yours for the taking". It says "as yourself"...... which can be interpreted as "equally". If you identify as Christian and have spent any time in my office, you may have experienced this conversation.

Are you giving yourself the same care you are giving others? If not, is it actually having a negative impact on your ability to give the care to others that you would like to? How can you re-integrate practices that nurture your emotional, spiritual and physical well-being? ~ Melinda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christians sometimes wonder if it is self-centered to focus on their own emotional and spiritual wellness. Isn’t it our call to love and serve others, not ourselves? My thought is that if our only goal is our own well-being, that would be self-centered. However, when our goal also includes being well so that we can serve others effectively, we become instruments of healing and wholeness in our world. In that case, we are better able to fulfill our desire to love our neighbor as we better love ourselves. There is a significant difference between being self-centered and having a centered self.

The opening words of the St. Francis Prayer above are a prayer for being able to be instruments of God’s peace. It can be helpful to think of this in musical terms. If our own instruments—our hearts and souls—are out of tune, it is difficult to share the gift of beautiful music with others. When I am not emotionally or spiritually well, it is difficult for me to convey well-being to others.

But if we regularly tune the instruments of our lives, we can then truly be God’s instruments for spreading the peace and healing described in the Prayer of St. Francis.

*Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console
Not so much to be understood as to understand
Not so much to be loved, as to love
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in dying that we awake to eternal life. [Amen.]
—St. Francis of Assisi

03/07/2026

A Lenten Reminder that "Tears are a gift"

Tears are a gift. We tend to apologize for them, but actually they are jewels in the crown of human feelings. They express what is inexpressible in words. Tears reveal our innermost wounds.

—Macrina Wiederkehr

Tears can be deeply healing. When we’re carrying emotional or spiritual pain, giving ourselves permission to cry releases some of what we’ve been holding, opening our hearts to God’s loving presence. Even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35), and in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). His tears remind us that expressing sorrow is not weakness, but part of being fully human.

In times of pain or grief, finding a safe place to let our tears flow freely — without judgment or shame — is an act of deep kindness and self-compassion. As the Psalmist writes, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalm 56:8). God cherishes every tear we shed, holding us with boundless love through it all.

We often feel pressure to hold back our tears; afraid they will be seen as a sign of weakness or lack of faith. Yet, tears are a natural and necessary part of who we are. They allow us to process and release intense emotions, helping to cleanse our hearts, minds, and souls so we can make room for healing. When we give ourselves, and others, permission to cry, we open the way to deeper connection with ourselves, others, and God.

02/08/2026

“Racism causes real harm to mental health AND community well-being.

I could use my “psych-counselor-verbiage” and say “be kind & mindful”….. but those are behavioral choices …. I’d much rather we could all learn to be good hearted humans.

01/26/2026

The Body Keeps the Score & Talk Therapy isn’t the “be all end all” when it comes to this. This is why a solid understanding& application of somatic healing is so important in trauma recovery.

"𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀.

You think you've moved on. You've forgiven, let go, done the mental work.

But your body? Your body still flinches at certain tones of voice. Still contracts around specific types of people. Still holds tension in the exact places trauma landed.

Because trauma doesn't live in your memories. It lives in your tissues.

You can't think your way out of what your body is holding. Talk therapy gets you to understanding—but understanding doesn't discharge stored survival energy.

This is why you can intellectually know you're safe and still feel anxious. Know you're worthy and still feel small. Know it's over and still react like it's happening.

Your nervous system is waiting for somatic release, not more analysis.

The body keeps the score. And only the body can clear it.

When you address trauma where it actually lives—in your cells—that's when freedom becomes embodied, not just understood."

- Live In Frequency, GS

01/17/2026

“This demonstrates the strength of our collective voice when we stand together “ ~ 🔱 American Psychological Association 🔱

Exerpt from the article linked below:

“The termination letters that were sent out Tuesday said bluntly that a wide variety of mental health and addiction programs didn't align with the Trump administration's public health agenda and would no longer be funded. This took care providers by surprise.

The [bi-partisan] backlash triggered a series of high-level meetings inside the Trump administration, and by Wednesday evening the decision had been rescinded.

NPR hasn't been able to determine who made the initial decision to cut these funds, nor would sources say who made the decision to restore the money.

👩‍⚕️🧑🏽‍⚕️👨‍⚕️🏥🩺🩻🏥Public health officials around the U.S. described the last 48 hours as chaotic.💥
🏥🩺🩻🏥🧑🏽‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👩‍⚕️”

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/14/nx-s1-5677714/trump-administration-mental-health-addiction-grant-cuts-restored?fbclid=IwZnRzaAPWrUdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEexZKPHyJGklpKrkDBCtgs5zih-Uw0IF5VGzWq_9sbFvNxEW3fJn2nFAgdmoU_aem_OA0dLJtjl_TQUA73HkO28g

12/28/2025

People call it burnout.
Depression.
A rough patch.
A phase.

But what happened to you wasn’t sudden.
It wasn’t random.
And it wasn’t a personal failure.

It was cumulative.

It was years of holding everything together while telling yourself,
“It’s not that bad.”
“I’ll deal with it later.”
“This is just how life is.”

Years of functioning on adrenaline.
Years of staying alert, responsible, capable.
Years of pushing past signals your body sent quietly at first —
fatigue, tension, anxiety, numbness —
and later, more loudly.

You didn’t collapse because you were weak.

You collapsed because denial finally ran out of fuel.

Denial takes energy.
Silence takes energy.
Performing “I’m fine” takes enormous energy.

Especially when you were never actually fine —
you were just surviving inside a system that required you to override yourself to stay included, employed, loved, or safe.

And then something shifts.

Awareness arrives.

You finally see what you lived through.
Who failed you.
How long you adapted without support.
How much you normalised because questioning it would have broken everything sooner.

And once that truth lands, the nervous system can’t pretend nothing happened.

So it slows you down.
It pulls the plug.
It takes away your capacity to perform.

Not as punishment.
But as protection.

This is the part no one prepares you for:

Collapse is not the body betraying you.
Collapse is the body refusing to carry a lie any longer.

A lie that said you could keep going without cost.
A lie that said your limits didn’t matter.
A lie that said endurance was the same thing as health.

You weren’t lazy.
You weren’t unmotivated.
You weren’t “losing your edge.”

You were waking up inside a system that only worked
if you ignored your own signals to survive it.

And once you see that,
you can’t unsee it.

That’s why this phase feels so disorienting.

You’re not just resting.
You’re not just recovering.

You’re dismantling an entire survival architecture —
the hypervigilance, the over-functioning, the self-abandonment,
the identity built around being capable no matter the cost.

That structure kept you alive once.
But it was never meant to be permanent.

And dismantling it is slow.
Messy.
Non-linear.

You didn’t fail at coping.

Coping expired.

Because what you need now isn’t endurance —
it’s safety.
It’s regulation.
It’s a life that doesn’t require you to disappear to function.

This isn’t the end of you.
It’s the end of a system that asked too much and gave too little.

And rebuilding doesn’t start with productivity.

It starts with truth.

12/25/2025

WellBeing Therapist Elf has closed the office while helping to spread “Comfort & Joy”.

Reminding you that you can always call or text with an URGENCY …. And call 988, 911 or go to your local E.R. for any mental, emotional or behavioral health EMERGENCY.

When you’re ready to “Express Your Elf” in 2026, please call to schedule an appointment ! There are oversized ears on this side, ready to hold space & time for you!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/melinda-anne-ensley-north-chesterfield-va/1388912

12/13/2025

“Estrangement is not sudden, it’s long overdue. Because no contact, you learned, isn’t bitter or cold. It’s choosing your peace over the myth you were sold. “

If this resonates with you, you are not alone & might benefit from reading the entire post below:

There’s nothing abusive about stepping away from a relationship you never consented to. There’s nothing immoral about it. There’s nothing unethical about it.
Theres’s nothing “anti-bible” about it, either (my undergrad degree was in biblical studies, for those keeping score).

It’s not abuse when an adult child cuts contact. Period.

You may not like the fact that your adult child chooses to keep their life separate from yours, but disappointment, discomfort, and even grief do not equal abuse.

Labeling autonomy as harm because you’re angry about losing control doesn’t make it so. And it’s the “kids these days” who need to grow up?

12/04/2025