Best breakfasts, flea markets, second-hand stores, free museum days, skiing, hikes, coffee shops, organic groceries, work out facilities, side trips, day trips, information sources, gallery openings, you name it. If it is about Santa Fe and New Mexico, we plan to tell you about it here…

Welcome, and we hope to see you soon at Southwestern College…

By the way, guest bloggers welcome! Are you already IN Santa Fe? Albuquerque? Taos? La Cienega? Placitas? Bernalillo? Well, jump in and let me know you want to post something for our readers!

 From Jim Nolan, having a great morning coffee at Tribes, about a mile and a half from the College…

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

Alicia Hoffman, LPC
Psychotherapist
Urban Balance, LLC

www.urbanbalance.com

Here is an excerpt from Alicia’s blog (read full blog and others at http://aliciahoffmanlpc.blogspot.com/)

I created this piece in 2004 as part of heuristic research project in my second year of grad school at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM.  The objective was to perform this qualitative research study to gain understanding about a topic of our choosing. My research topic was love. I specifically wanted to know what it was like to be in love. Looking back, my time in grad school was a period of falling in love with myself. 

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

THE BEAUTY OF TWISTS AND TURNS
A strong above and below
Two sides, what’s left and what’s right.
The Lynx sits, nestled, waiting, in dark crags, watching
He looks out, direct, like the girl that’s left,
Holding on tight, direct unwavering stare
Old gnarled tree, twisted and coiled from so many years of living
The beauty of twists and turns, adapting unplanned,
Responding to the momentary demand,
Finding ways to grow around when the straight and clear path is blocked.
The roots of the old wood seem to feed on air,
Touching the stone lion’s back, the ancient sculpture guarding the doorway.
Red robed people move back and forth,
Silently knitting the worlds together
Kneeling, walking, watching, waiting
Bringing pieces of the green land into the blackened earth
Belly button of the world, the circled center,
washed by the tides of a changing sea
Dark waters and bright,
land greening on the edges until it bursts into flames of flower
Beneath the arching canopy spread by the woman rising
Clearing wind, the breeze fresh with dawning.

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

I notice these days that a lot of people in the spiritual counseling world, and related metaphysical worlds, are scrambling like crazy to support their beliefs or teachings by grabbing ahold of the somewhat elusive and esoteric coattails of what they knowingly call “Quantum Physics.”

It is kind of entertaining how many of us somewhat suddenly feel equipped and sufficiently educated to speak on behalf of such a complex discipline as Quantum Physics. (Reminds me of the Interpersonal Neurobiology “expertise” everyone suddenly has, but that is another blog piece altogether…)

I mean, just like that. They know all about it.

Wowee.

Now, silly me, I woulda thought you needed to actually STUDY Quantum Physics, but evidently not. Evidently it is enough to read a Greg Braden book, or overhear a “scientist’s” comments about the topic, or hear a keynote speaker, regardless of discipline or training, wax cross-disciplinarily about spirituality and Quantum Physics.

My bad.

Me? I’ve read some stuff, but typically haven’t had anywhere near enough background to evaluate its veracity or credibility. It is certainly INTERESTING, no question about that. But I can’t yet join my colleagues in beginning sentences with “Well, Quantum Physics has shown that blah blah blah” or “The Oneness of all things is now being proven by Quantum Physicists.”

“Oh, really? And…you….uh, have a pretty, um, deep, shall we say, understanding of, uh, Quantum Physics theory and research? I, uh, I did not…I did not realize that.” 

So my biggest learning continues to be in what Abraham calls “The Art of Allowing.” This fundamentally involves (in part, at least), trying to cultivate a non-judgmental and neutral attitude, whereby I spend minimal time and effort and energy on what The Other Guy is doing, saying, teaching as truth, hawking, or holding onto as a life preserver or as an emblem of his self-identity.

I think if I had mastered The Art of Allowing, I would not have started this blog piece. But alas, I haven’t mastered it. I am still writing this blog. Partly, as president of a graduate school, with ultimate responsibility for the teachings and stuff that gets offered at our school, I can’t help but be a bit of a sentinel at the curricular gate. I need to be able to hold some kind of standard and question the credibility, or basis of what gets offered—not necessarily in judgment, but in a way that students learn, by my/our modeling of informed inquiry, what to question, and how to question it. It ain’t so just because somebody says it’s so. 

I just can’t help but notice that a lot of us, when caught in the uncertainty, in the uneasy feeling of not holding an altogether externally-buttressed position, will grab for “science”, or “proof”, or “evidence”, or Einstein, or indigeneity, or alleged ancient-ness of a teaching, or for whatever other perceived luminary or lineage or folklore we can rally to support our position, to make us feel better, safer, more grounded, more empowered.

I don’t blame us for doing so. But one of the utterly magical things I am finding in my 60th year is that these funny human foibles, strategies, crutches and tricks (including my own, maybe ESPECIALLY my own), are more evident than ever to me, by a magnitude or multiplier of probably 5 to 10. People I used to be in awe of, people I still like, and admire, and read—well, increasingly, I can see, and somehow, feel, when they are talking out their rear end, and not acknowledging that their model or theory is a model or a theory, or a metaphorical cosmology myth. I can just see it. And I can see that they cannot. Or do not. Maybe that is a gift of elder-hood. I kind of like it. It is the curtain being pulled back, revealing Oz as a chubby fellow, caught up in himself, but essentially a charming guy with good intentions.

And even beyond that, it’s like having Superman vision. You can see fear and hope from a hundred miles away, even when it is dressed up like a wolf, or a sadhu, or a guru, or a Quantum Physicist, or, say, a spiritual counselor pretending to understand  Quantum Physics.

Jim Nolan

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

I have come to realize that a lot of prospective students looking at master’s degrees in counseling or art therapy really just don’t get it. This graduate school journey is only very partially about “getting a master’s degree in counseling or art therapy.” It is really about:

1. Realizing your dreams. (No kidding.)

2. Recognizing the stupendous life price, for many of you, of staying in the life you are currently in. For many (I was one), this would be a soul death.

3. Opening yourself up to embracing and exploring your deeper self and your own higher consciousness.

4. Creating a deep, reflective, consciousness lens, through which you will then see EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, for the rest of your life.

5. Acknowledging/admitting that becoming a therapist is NOT about consuming academic content, “evidence” and research, or learning to copy skills.

6. It IS about your personhood, your consciousness, your higher self, learning to hold sacred space for the evolution and transformation of other human beings (and possibly doggies.)

7. Connecting deeply with intentional and evolving students who share your passion and your dream of making a difference in this world.

If you are REALLY thinking that one master’s degree is pretty much the same as another master’s degree, and that “both will allow me to do private practice”, then this blog statement is not meant for you, because you are pretty much already lost. Sorry.

If you are one who gets that the federal government’s primitive ROI (return on investment) metric is irrelevant to this discussion and decision, I might still be able to help you whether you are right for my particular school or not. When one claims to assess “Value” or “Quality” in respect to graduate school, by looking at total cost of graduate school versus how much one makes their first year out of graduate school (yes, that IS how many people assess “value” and “quality”), then they are so far gone in some crazy world, that it is hard to know where to even start a conversation.

My point is not to get you to come to MY school, but to go to the right school for you. Trying to coax you to our school, which is truly unique, and makes high demands of your personal development, if that is not what you are looking for, would not only be stupid of me, but unethical.

And if you are going to one of those strictly data and evidence factories, and LIKE the idea of being “clinical”, and fixing disorders, then you might not be right for “helping people” at all…That is not what this field is about. I am dead serious.

This is strong language. That is intentional. A master’s degree is a huge commitment, and it costs money, and you really need to know what you are buying, and what the total value proposition is. If you think you are “buying a master’s degree”, then that is all you are going to get, and that is a very, very low bar you have set for your destiny path in this life. I would not recommend it.

Demand more. Much more.

Jim Nolan, Ph.D.

President, Southwestern College, Santa Fe

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

Mitakuye Oyasin!

My Grandmother shared with me a powerful time when the
people came together for prayers during the Dust Bowl in
the 1930’s. She accepted a C’anupa to bring out the White
Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle to end the drought and bring
healing to Mother Earth. Even the non-native farmers heard
of this prayer time and offered a cow to feed for the
ceremony. The prayer was answered!

Recently I accepted tobacco from a Grandmother – Anpao
Wic’ah’pi Was’te Winyan of the Ihanktowan Oyate. She had
a dream of bringing People together at the bundle to pray
for a healing of the biggest cancer that is spreading
upon Mother Earth; caused from the Tar Sand efforts with
XL pipeline that is threatening to come through our territory and our
Sacred Sites.

Our Nation who is known as the Pte Oyate (The Buffalo
People) will be praying with Sacred Bundle on May 18, 2013.
Please bring food for feast and tobacco offerings.

I am asking “All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer’ to help
us during this time of this gathering by praying with us on
this day where ever you are upon Mother Earth.

We need to stop the desecration that is hurting Mother
Earth and the communities. These recent spills of oil are
affecting the blood of Mother Earth; Mni wic’oni (water of
life).

Chief Bernard Ominiayak of the Lubicon Lake First Nation
of Canada is also asking for prayers and to let the World
know of his People’s stand against the Development that is
happening against his People. They sit on 70% of oil; those
that are after this oil are threatening their lives. His
concern at this moment is of non-members, without their
consent, signing away their rights and negotiating with
Corporations that will forever affect their way of life  -
to live off the land – handing them a death sentence. At
this moment there are too many of their people dying from
cancer. When they hunt, they are finding maggot-infested
moose. When they fish they are finding two headed fish. The
people are dying from trying to survive in a traditional
way in their territory. The UN has submitted a statement
in support of Lubicon Lake Nation’s stand to live in
Sovereignty and live in their tradition.

We have many concerns at this time. Along with the
First Nations whose territory is within the Tar Sands
desecration; with their lives being threatened and also
the high death rates of cancer, along with the sickness of the land and animals.

Many other Nations are committed to praying with us on the
day of our ceremony. For those that cannot attend, Chief
Wic’ah’pi To Wambdi is helping with his sister’s dream
representing the Ihanktowan Oyate, by asking those that
cannot attend to send him tobacco ties and flags so he can
carry them for the People to the Bundle.

I have also been contacted by People who will have another
gathering outside the UN at Isaiah’s Wall in NYC, they are
committing to support and pray with us on May 17th, 2013 at noon.

In a Sacred Hoop of Life, where there is no ending and no
beginning!

Hec’el oinipikte (that we shall live)

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the
Sacred White Buffalo Pipe

For More Information:

www.lubiconlakenation.ca <http://www.lubiconlakenation.ca>

Address of Chief Wic’ah’ipi To Wambdi, 30702 Eggers Road,
Wagner, South Dakota 5738

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

Playing tennis this morning. I am not a tennis player. My wife and I whack the ball around with the idea of keeping the volley going. No matter if the ball bounces 2 or 3 times, falls outside the lines—we don’t care. I have no idea how to play, but have good eye-hand coordination, and, although kind of slow, I am nevertheless reasonably quick. So it works out.

Anyway, there are two ways for an amateur to play. Probably fifteen ways, but today I am aware of two.

Style One—saving your energy, you go after balls only enough to get close to them, you reach, you stretch, and you whack the ball. This style feels athletic, and it looks like you are hustling to get to hard-to-get-to shots. Good all the way around. Except that you are always in kind of a funky position to hit the ball, you have less control, and although you can return a lot of them, you don’t hit the sweet spot as often, and you get less velocity on the ball. But again, it can look real good.

Style Two–when you see the ball coming, you hustle hard to reach the spot where the ball will be, plant your feet, get grounded, square yourself up, and focus on your grip, set an intention for your follow through. So then when the ball actually arrives, you are the Walmart Greeter Man, you’ve been WAITING since the store opened for that ball, you see if coming from a settled position, not on the run, you get a much better look at it, a much better whack at it, the percentage of sweet spot hits goes up by a LOT, and you get more velocity and follow through. It looks like the shot is easier when you do Style Two, and in a sense, it is. But it is not less work—it is actually MORE work, because you don’t just hustle when you HAVE to, you hustle on every single shot, in order to be there to greet the ball from a grounded position.

You look less flashy, but you play a much more solid game.

So, in life.

Running last minute to meetings or classes, maybe even a few minutes late, running deadlines out past the eleventh hour, reaching, stretching, maybe looking like a multi-tasking star as you lean WAY out, just barely reach the ball, theatrically manage to get some racket on it, and send it over the net as you stumble forward from the momentum. Pretty dramatic.

But unnecessary.

And you are not in the greatest position to field the next volley back, especially if it comes behind you.

The Heavy-Handed Lesson?

You can’t get to everything, but you can get to a lot. You can’t always hit the sweet spot of every challenge in your day, but if you hustle to get in front of it, and you are waiting for it, the odds go up immeasurably. Other amateurs might still be wowed when you catch one at the very last second and launch it, but the other professionals will know you should have been there a long time ago, and met it with more authority, and confidence, and certainty.

You’re not as invisible as you think. Unless it is to yourself, and you don’t even know that you are a Style One player.

Might be a good idea to ask yourself that question, even better to be honest…

Jim Nolan, President

Southwestern College

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy

 

http://swc.edu Masters Degree in Counseling and Art Therapy