My invitation to you: What if you considered the holidays rest days? What if instead of staying with family for five continuous days you took breaks in between? Or were with them only one to two hours each day? Otherwise, you might need a vacation from your vacation because your “vacation” was so stressful! It can be hard to feel rested if you’re anxious about everything that “needs” to get done during your supposed “downtime.”

“What’s communication like?” Are both people in the couple talking about sex? What they like, what they don’t, how frequently they want to have it? Or is sex filled with assumptions and expectations? If it’s the latter, that’s the recipe for an unsatisfying sexual encounter. And yet not many of us have been taught the skills to learn how to have these integral conversations. Instead, melting into the taboo of cheating is the way many folx still proceed.

I spoke with a friend of a friend recently who said he copes with anxiety solely through medication because that’s all he’s been exposed to. It got me thinking about how some people don’t know what else to try for anxiety other than pharmacological interventions because they may not have considered therapy as an option. And even many people who have considered therapy may not be able to afford it. Learning how to cope with anxiety in healthy ways can make such a difference.

the “forever love,” the idea one person can be your “everything” is crumbling. And, let’s be honest, that idea has been crumbling for some time.

There is nothing dysfunctional or abnormal about any fetish play, as long as there is consent between participants. The same goes for kink, which is an activity or behavior someone enjoys that goes outside the bounds of “traditional,” or “vanilla” sex.

Furthermore, cultivating a meaningful connection with something bigger than yourself can result in increased emotions that may be more pleasant to experienc

The therapeutic relationship is a special one. It’s unique, co-created, and profound. The relationship itself allows for the potential of great healing, but the relationship goes both ways. It’s not only that the patient or client experiences transformation – I do as well.

The healing happens in the space between the hearts and minds and spirits of the patient and the therapist. The relationship is the healing container.

Oftentimes the worst part of withdrawal is in the early days, meaning if you can make it to the three-day mark, ceasing marijuana use will become easier and easier. It’s also important to be aware that it is very likely you’ll feel anxious or depressed in the first 24 to 72 hours after you quit.

This time of the year, the veils are the thinnest, some say. It's the witchiest time of the year as we are halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. The darkness is longer than the light and it's a prime time to reflect on our ancestors, life, and death. Death is inevitable and something that we will all experience. Not only the “big death” at the end of our lives, but also smaller deaths like the end of a relationship, losing a furry companion, or letting go of a behavior.

Everybody must take responsibility for themselves and their own lives of course, especially as adults, but let’s not give more weight to the women. It’s time to bring men into the equation and recognize the daddy in “daddy issues.”

Paternity leave is good for everyone and yet when we have a public example of someone doing that in the U.S., he’s criticized for “taking a vacation.” As Buttigieg pointed out to NBC News, “When somebody welcomes a new child into their family and goes on leave to take care of that child, that’s not a vacation; it’s work. It’s joyful, wonderful, fulfilling work. But it is work.”

The behavior is a patriarchal one because the person is doing what society encourages them to do – push through and pay no attention to any feeling. In doing so, the person becomes not only disconnected from themselves, but also from a Higher Power, God, Goddess, Godx, Source, etc. Those divine energies are accessed via a more feminine approach and often through the body.

None of these scenarios allow for flexibility or for the wide range of feelings and emotional expressions that are within the human experience. And that includes people with penises.

Therapy – whether it’s traditional, psychedelic-assisted, or sex therapy – never involves sex. Ever. Neither does therapy ever involve verbal sexual advances or any other kind of sexual contact or behavior.

Many of us are indoctrinated with shame. It seems to be a readily used societal mechanism to control and dominate when someone or something is perceived to be out of control. A place where that shows up a great deal is with sex, including solo sex, or masturbation. Shame is the instilled belief there’s something bad or wrong with you — fundamentally. It’s not the feeling that you made a mistake, but rather the feeling you are a mistake.

The breath is ever present. Always here as a constant in our lives. When we feel lost, we can come back to our breath. It is a guide for us. A tool to go inward. A tool to then go outward from a centered place.

Ideally, there needs to be someone present who is trained in trauma-informed work, the human psyche, somatic-oriented understanding of the human experience, and psychedelics. This person would know how to hold the depths of the realms that people go to, and someone to adequately conduct in-depth integration after the psychedelic journey.

The body is its own boundary. The body contains us, holds us, keeps our organs intact. Our skin especially separates us from the rest of the world. It designates where we end and others begin. The skin is what differentiates the inside from the outside.

However the body wants to respond, I encourage you to listen. The body has its own wisdom so let whatever wants to occur, occur.