In the Aftermath of Yesterday’s Massacre
We heard the news about the June 12 massacre on Sunday evening. A man declaring himself an Islamic fundamentalist entered a gay bar in Orlando, Florida and began shooting. He killed 50 people and harmed 54 more. It is the most destructive mass shooting in U.S. history.
My partner…
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Writing has quite simply saved my life. When I was 16, I was on the verge of ending my life when I received a letter informing me that my first short story and illustration had been accepted for publication. When I was 39, and had just suffered through the death of my life partner, writing…
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A Letter to Anybody even REMOTELY Thinking of Working in Addictions/Substance Abuse
Dear Friends, Colleagues, Prospective Students, Current Students, & Alumni,
Credentials, licenses, and professional certificates can help us get jobs, and help us get clients and referral streams in private practice.
This letter is for ANYBODY who thinks they MIGHT even POSSIBLY be interested…
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What the Writing Group has Meant to Me – Jaylek Ahn
While difficult to put into just a few words, I am so grateful for the depth of emotion, opening, closing, re-opening, awe and reverence that I’ve experienced in the presence of fellow writers that have come to mean so much to me, as has…
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I’m the chairperson of the Art Therapy/Counseling program. I moved to Santa Fe to teach at Southwestern College in 2002, and continue to be delighted by the insightful art therapy provided by our students during Practicum and Internship. It’s been an honor to witness our students as they blossom into therapists. And actually, I also…
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Thoughts about why personal therapy is required at SWC...…
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Life purpose and vocation; I sometimes wonder how they are related.
Sometimes I hear life purpose described simply and clearly, like this quote from notetoselfphilosophy.com:
Note to Self:
“What is my purpose in life?” I asked the void.
“What if I told you that you fulfilled it when you took an extra hour to talk…
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Ron is the Landscaping Director at Southwestern College. You have seen him around a thousand times, and if you’re lucky, you have had opportunities to talk with him. He is a really interesting guy, with a wide and colorful background.
Ron was born in Chicago, and, well---I’ll let him tell you…
“I grew up…
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Howard W. McConeghey passed away on March 28, 2016 at the age of 95, in Albuquerque. He was an important leader in the field of Art Therapy and established the Archetypal Art Therapy Program at the University of New Mexico in 1975, which he directed until his retirement in 1990.
During WWII he met Gertrude…
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Featured Artwork: Mandala Buddha, acrylic on paper, 36"x24", 2012, Tejal Murray
Over the last few blogs, I’ve been exploring Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life in a general way with examples from my own life. Today, I’m going to dive more deeply into the teachings by profiling one of Southwestern College’s graduates.
…
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Hello! My name is Beth Lykins, and I am a current student at SWC. I am starting my final quarter of my first year in the Art Therapy and Counseling program, and I wanted to share a student’s perspective of life at SWC. I am attending part-time, so I generally take two courses per term.…
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In my last blog, I talked about the intersection of dharma (our sacred duty in this lifetime) and flourishing at midlife.
The issue that typically arises from someone exploring dharma at midlife is fear. Fear that they’ll have to throw away most everything they’ve created and worked for in order to follow their dharma. Sometimes,…
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Lee Cartwright, M.A.
I have a private practice that focuses on helping people resolve the biological/energetic basis of trauma.
I feel deeply honored to do the work I do. I am also blessed to be a presenter in the Trauma, Grief & Renewal certificate program and at the College's Annual Transformation and Healing Conference. Although all of the modalities…
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I'd been exploring the intersection of Stephen Cope's book The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, and Martin E. P. Seligman's book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being in relation to a blog series when this photo quote by Brené Brown came across my Facebook feed.
I think she hit…
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Southwestern College is really defined by the extraordinary individuals who work there–the staff, instructors, and the board members. In an effort to give you a more intimate sense of our school, we are launching the “Who’s Who at Southwestern College” series so that you will get to know these extraordinary people who change lives.
So…
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How Quitting School Was the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me
Charmayne Kilcup, Ph.D.
At the young age of 23, I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and sure I wanted to be a therapist. I had just graduated college and knew that furthering my studies was the next step in my career. I had fallen in…
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An MA in Counseling is the fastest and most economical track to becoming a Psychotherapist/Counselor...…
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Life evolves.
My 3rd and 4th Acts have taken place here at Southwestern College - first in Admissions and now as Director of Student Services. My 1st act was also in higher education – as a Residence Hall Director, Director of Student Support Services, and then as a Doctoral student. I advised, taught, managed, and…
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If you have been told that you are a good listener, or you are the one your friends come to who have problems, keep reading....…
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Looking for a Therapist?
I was looking for a therapist. (And I have heard my story from countless others…)
I looked on my insurance company’s page, “Looking for a Therapist", or something like that. There’s very little information, maybe a photo (too often from 10 years and 30 pounds ago), and a long checklist of…
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Missed Part 1 or Part 2?
Part 3 - The Way Through: Relying on Intuition and Faith
In The Great Work of Your Life, Stephen Cope describes the way he has come to see intuition at work as we navigate decisions at midlife. He describes an 8-step process that is co-creative; it includes both our…
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Missed Part 1?
Part 2 - The Terrain: Navigating the Transition
Midlife is a time of transition; a time when we are asked to put our mind in service to our heart. It's a time to serve ourselves and the world by embracing what is ours to do, and stepping onto our dharma path. This…
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Part 1 - Living Your Dharma
As spirituality goes mainstream, there is much talk about “living your dharma”. But what does that really mean?
René Guénon, in Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines defines dharma as “the essential nature of a being, comprising the sum of its particular qualities or characteristics, and determining, by virtue…
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Graduate Student, Amy Gordon, discusses the content of an important cultural event in Santa Fe, New Mexico. …
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For the past 8 years I have worked at county community health agencies in Oregon providing therapy, case management, forensic program oversight and clinical supervision to chronically mentally ill populations (and the teams that serve them) in three different counties. I am currently a Program Manager for a Community Supports Team, and in the next…
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Graduate student, Amy Gordon, describes her love of a course in Applied Interpersonal Neurobiology at Southwestern College's New Earth Institute.. …
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Southwestern College requires its students to be engaged in personal therapy, and that is a good thing. …
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Arianna Gray, MA, LPC
One of the greatest gifts of my education at Southwestern College was being taught to pay attention to my own body and feelings when I’m in session with a client and to TRUST that information as a diagnostic and treatment approach tool. I meet so many people who trained at other…
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Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM