Natural Wisdom Counseling

12/22/2025

Solstice Reminder:
Therapists can only guide and mirror and reflect back to you. You have to face yourself, your journey, your choices. The work is yours. We are candles and company.
-love notes from a therapist

12/17/2025

12/17/2025

I know you’re busy. Everyone is. Get some rest anyway.
It’s not a strategy for being more productive; it’s permission to be more present.

12/17/2025

Discernment.
Learning to figure out how to make the best call in the moment.

It's a skill.
It's involves attunement and connection to yourself; being present to your own needs, and aware of what's within your control and what isn't.
And it's not easy. It takes practice, and it takes making mistakes and then reflecting on your lived experiences and how they impacted you, so that you're able to learn from them and apply those learnings to new situations.

Discernment requires self-honesty; being able to own what is yours in a dynamic with another person. To be able to recognize your own limits, your triggers, and to be able to take responsibility when your baggage is at the heart of the conflict you're navigating.

Discernment also requires self-trust. It requires trusting yourself to be able to walk away when you need to, and knowing that you can handle the emotional discomfort that comes from sharing your limits.
It requires listening to your own intuition when something doesn't feel right, or when it feels deeply right and making the call that might not be popular with others.

It takes time, practice, self-attunement, and humility to be willing to improve your discernment; to deepen your self-trust by improving your judgment over time.
It's learning how to be in the present moment; not simply acting out of fear of repeating the past, but learning how to notice what's different this time, too.

Discernment is a practice, and it requires on-going presence and connection to your own heart and body.
Do you trust your ability to discern what's right for you?

If you're interested in improving your connection to self and ability to discern what's right for you, the new cycle of my year long program begins in January, working with Cycle Breakers - those who are working to heal and shift old patterns, and are looking to practice new ways of relating to self & others in a small group of like-minded people. Many people in this year's cohort name this as one of the biggest learnings —
how to stay connected to and trust their own intuition and hearts.
https://theeqschool.co/cycle-breakers

12/16/2025

NWC is closed until January 5, 2026.
Enjoy the holidays.
Be safe. Be kind. Hold boundaries.
And take care of each other.

12/15/2025

December is National Giving Month, a time to celebrate compassion, generosity, and the simple acts of kindness that strengthen our communities. Dr. Maya Angelou believed deeply in the power of giving — not only materially, but also with love, time, attention, and care.

In her poem “Continue,” she reminds us: “Continue to be who and how you are, To astonish a mean world, With your acts of kindness”

Her words call us to recognize that giving is not limited to grand gestures. It lives in how we show up for others, how we speak life into one another, and how we carry hope into the spaces that need it most.

This month, we honor every person who gives — formally or quietly, publicly or behind the scenes. Your generosity uplifts, restores, and reminds us that we are more alike than unalike.

May we continue to give with open hearts and open hands, just as Dr. Angelou taught.

12/15/2025

Forgiveness does not mean condoning. You can forgive someone for any multitude of things without letting them continue to harm you or the ones you love.
-love notes from a therapist

12/14/2025

Grief is a sponge. It soaks up and holds onto pieces of everything we do. As the weight grows heavier, it feels like the emotions are impossible to contain.

When we access and acknowledge our grief, we give space for the weight to lighten. We give space for those pieces of us to be shared with others, so we’re not holding it all alone.

If you need support, we’re here for you.

Resources:
TWLOHA Peer Support: twloha.com/peersupport
Crisis Text Line: Text TWLOHA to 741741
FIND HELP Tool: twloha.com/find-help
Mental Health Toolkit: mentalhealthtoolkit.co

12/13/2025

Wild Magic: Story of the Day

"You don't know who they will be, the ones who open your eyes to life's wild magic, but when you find them, it will not be hard to tell."

This story by Gabriel Andreas, with art by Matthew Andreas, is available as an ornament here: https://conta.cc/4aeNFTA

Want little bits of goodness in your email inbox? Click here to learn more about Story of the Day and to get a sweet treat: https://conta.cc/4scnVhd

12/13/2025

Holiday Gift Idea 4 of 5.
Looking for a gift for someone that is hard to get gifts for?
Consider donating to Wisconsin Family Connections Center in their name for the holidays!
Affiliates of Wisconsin Family Connections Center have collaborated with NWC since we first moved here in 2018 and launched the Wisconsin Hawthorn Project! Since then we’ve run a number of events for people affected by the foster/adopt/kinship care systems, including family days and an event for birth parents!

Donating to Wisconsin Family Connections Center could be especially meaningful for friends/family who care about resources for families navigating foster care/adoption/kinship care, who care about resources for supporting parents/guardians through trauma, and/or who care about community programming!

Tip Sheet Tuesday: Restoring Calm After Trauma Storms 🌊

As parents and caregivers, you work hard to create a safe, calming environment. But trauma storms can and will happen—sometimes with warning signs, sometimes completely unexpectedly.

Children who've experienced trauma are continually alert to potential threats. A trauma trigger (sounds, smells, feelings, tones of voice, even emotions) can cause a "fight, flight, or freeze" response that changes their bodies and how their brains respond to the world.

After the storm passes, here's how to help restore calm:

Create safety:

Provide a safe physical and emotional space to talk
Be fully present and available
Ask the child how you can best support them

Debrief, but be brief:
Ask open-ended questions like:

"If this happens again, how could I respond helpfully?"
"What ideas do you have on meeting your needs better?"
"What lessons did we learn?"

Take care of everyone:
An outburst affects the whole household. Decompress by taking a walk, listening to music, practicing mindfulness, or doing something that brings you peace. This also models self-care for the children in your care.

Reach out for support:

Connect with a friend (in person or virtually)
Join a support group
Talk with your worker about respite or other resources
Call the Wisconsin Family Connections Center—we're here to help!

Teaching these life skills takes time, practice, and patience. After all, parenting is a marathon, not a sprint.

Download the full tip sheet with trauma response information and resources: https://bit.ly/4og82TG

12/12/2025

Another gift I gave myself that let even more peace free in my life! 💯