Nas h v i l l e P s y c h o t h e r a p y IInstitute nstitute Newsle tter Nashville Psychotherapy Newsletter Nashville Psychotherapy Institute Newsletter

Volume 2: Issue 2 Volume 2: Issue 2

Volume 3: Issue 2

NPI NPI REFLECTS REFLECTS

NPI REFLECTS NPI REFLECTS

Spring 2013 Winter 2012

Time to Renew Memberships and Time to Renew Memberships and A Letter from the Editor... Update Online Directory Profiles Update Online Directory Profiles By Editor Amanda Lucas, LCSW

Winter 2012

Renew Membership Renew Membership It Makes No Sense It Makes No Sense Cogito Ergo Sum Cogito Ergo Sum Readers Write

NASHVILLE PSYCHOTHERAPY INSTITUTE Inside This Issue: Inside This Issue:

1 1 1 1 3 3 5

Readers Write Tetan A Letter

Inside This Issue:

from the Editor Tetan Is This Normal?

Is This Normal? Jewel Boxes Beauty and Grandness

16
8

5 6

One Spirit Jewelin Boxes Training Review

Training Review The Horse Reel to Intuition: Real

29
9

8 9

Power of Equine AsReel to Real Credits

Credits

sisted Psychotherapy

4 10
10

9 10

10

Armchair Deductions: Emotional Immunity

It Makes No Sense Editor Writes: It Makes No Sense 8 Who I Used to Be

By Karen Silian, Ph.D.

Although can renew oron join NPI for When you renew your membership, be emails, inone magazines I read, websites I peruse, etc. I find almost all of them intriguing Although one can renew or join NPI for When you renew your membership, be the first time at any point during the sure to update your online profile. Go and would love to pursue many of them, if I didnt have to work for a living. In private the first at any is point during the sure to update your online profile. Go year, the time NPI membership runs the NPI website and click the LOGIN practice, the obstacle not year just the cost of to the training, but the income we lose by not from January 1st to December 31st. button in the upper right hand corner of year, the NPI membership year runs to the NPI website and click the LOGIN working that day. It is therefore awfully tempting to ignore opportunities provided by That means it is time to renew our the HOME page. If you have forgotten from January 1st to December 31st. button in the upper right hand corner of people with whose work we are not familiar. dues! your password, you If can click FORGOT That means it is time to renew our the HOME page. you have forgotten PASSWORD and follow the prompts toof dues! your password, you can click FORGOT Jean Hantman is our speaker for the NPI Spring Workshop on May 4, 2013. For those Current members should have received create a new password. PASSWORD and follow the prompts to you unfamiliar with Jean, she is a unique voice in our field. According to our colleague a dues invoice on January 3rd, 2012. Current members should have received create a new password. Kyne, Jean Hantmans thinking on psychotherapy and life is full of will tension in the There been no changes in the The Membership Directory be genaJamie dueshave invoice on January 3rd, 2012. way that will blow your mind, refresh you, and wake you up. The essays and reflections membership categories or rates, and erated based upon information in be your There have been no changes in the The Membership Directory will genshes posted on her website both brash and sober at theso same time. Shes irreverent membership has many benefits. NPI online profile, it is important that membership categories or are rates, and erated based upon information in your members get at reduced rates on three everyone online profiles. and reverent the same time. Shes an iconoclast andprofile, aupdates wise soul atis the same time. Her membership has many benefits. NPI online so their it important that NPI continuing education workshops In order to be included in the 2012 presentation offer on a road map as to what to do when what we are doing is not members getpromises reducedto rates three everyone updates their online profiles. per year. There are also held Membership Directory, dues must NPI continuing workshops working. I think education we can allluncheons benefit from a refresher on how to think outside-of-the-box, as In order to be included in the 2012 each month (with the exception of the be paid by March 1, 2012 . per There are also luncheons held Membership Directory, dues must it isyear. easy to keep relying on our tried and true methods. month of July) where certificate each month (with thea exception ofdocuthe We behope paidyou by will March 1, 2012 . memcontinue your Please register as soon as for docuthe workshop. Scholarships are available! For more menting CEU credit is provided. month ofone July) where a possible certificate bership in you this will wonderful organization, We hope continue your meminformation, the NPI website: menting onecheck CEUout credit is provided. Most importantly, membership meanshttp://www.nashvillepsychotherapyinstitute.org and join us connecting and collabobership in in this wonderful organization, your profile will be published in rating. Mostpractice importantly, membership means and join us in connecting and collabothe annual NPI Membership Directory, your practice profile will be published in rating. a highly-valued to many cliniRenew Your Dues Today! the annual NPIresource Membership Directory, cians for referrals and consultation a highly-valued resource to many clini- www.nashvillepsychotherapyinstitute.org Renew Your Dues Today! Please email submissions to: alucaslcsw@gmail.com. sources. cians for referrals and consultation

Chad A. Buck, Ph.D., Co-Editor Chad Buck, Ph.D., Co-Editor I dontA. know about you, but I feel inundated by training offers. I get them in the mail, in

ADVERTISE IN NPI REFLECTS!!

sources.

www.nashvillepsychotherapyinstitute.org Full Page Ad: $200 Half Page Ad: $125 Quarter Page: $50 Business Card Size: $30

By Karen Silian, Ph.D. We so often speak of and celebrate Not Your Story to Tell, 10 the ones random acts of kindness a poem We so often speak of and celebrate that we cherish and highlight berandom acts of kindness the ones cause it makes us feel good and helps that we cherish and highlight bePerennial Intimacy, us feel safe. We speak far less of ran11 cause it us feel good helps dom acts of devastation andand death a makes poem us feel safe. We speak far less of ranthat we all share, that can shake the dom acts of devastation and death that we all share, that can shake the

core of our hearts and minds, bodies mediately after a sudden death of a Classified Ads: $20 for the first 20 words, and spirits. Many of us, myself indear, young friend of mine. then $.20/each additional word. core ofdespite our hearts and minds, bodies mediately after a sudden death of a cluded having navigated and spirits. Many of us, myself indear, young friend of mine. In the days and months after loss, we deaths in my own immediate family, cluded despite having navigated Direct inquiries to NPI Executive Administrator struggle to find or make meaning feel discomfort and fear in the face In the days and is months after loss, we deaths in my own immediate family, when often there none none that and unknowingness ofat: death. I wrote struggle to find or makeor Lisa Smith npinashville@bellsouth.net meaning feel piece discomfort and in fear in the face this last April the weeks im(Continued on page 2) and unknowingness of death. I wrote when often there is none or none that this piece last April in the weeks im(Continued on page1 2)

Beauty and Grandness in One Spirit

by Paulette Jackson MA

Do you neer think what wondrous beings these? Do you neer think who made them, and who taught The dialect they speak, where melodies Alone are the interpreters of thought? Whose household words are songs in many keys, Sweeter than instrument of man eer caught! ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Like many of you, I have a birdfeeder hanging from a beam on my back patio. Filled with tempting morsels, it is for the purpose of seducing feathered friends. It appears to be working because, with the arrival of spring, it has become an open aviary for a variety of ornithological wonders who have returned from their flights to warmer climates during the winter. And with their return, also came their inspiration. I love their beauty as they rest on the breath of the earth and transcend gravity. I love their song that rides on their wings and serenades creation with the purest expressions, reflecting the sacred as if in antiphonal response. They are truly a welcome gift. The picture above is of the Red-Shouldered Hawk. Photographed by Lora Render of San Antonio, Texas and awarded First Place in the Audubon Societys 2012 National Contest, she has captured the image reflecting mankinds perception of the species for thousands of years; that of a magnificent, powerful spirit, boundless and free, full of grace and grandeur, inspiring the human soul. Historically, all birds have held symbolic meaning, particularly as a symbol of freedom, the future, eternal life, renewed life and transition between life and death. Their ability to soar in the sky creates that same desire in mankind, who lacks their ability.

The meaning of the hawk connotes three qualities; nobility, acute perception and quick discernment. Like the eagle and falcon companion, the hawk is also considered a messenger of the sky, symbolic of spiritual awareness and rejuvenation. In 2011, the film The Big Year honored bird watchers everywhere. Starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson, it is a narrative depicting the three mens lives and loves through the lens of bird watching. The movie also reveals a metaphor of Sternbergs model of love. As we get a glimpse into both the humans and the bird world through the film, we have the opportunity to see the qualities of commitment, passion and intimacy connately expressed. We can also observe the human tendency to project our operating styles onto the non-human world, while in truth, it is we who often learn much insight from them, ironically, in regard to how we relate to life and others. An easy- going and enjoyable film for everyone, you might anticipate after seeing it, to experience a sudden desire to wander the aisles of your local hardware store, either to buy additional birdseed, a new feeder, or house, for the purpose of attracting those winged creatures so you can both enjoy and be inspired, by the beauty of their presence and the grandness of their spiritevery day.

PsychotheraPy

transformation
for

Stable
PeoPle

using

horses

Horse Intuition: The Power of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy

by Paige Holliman, M.Ed., M.T.S., LPC/MHSP Ive seen some unbelievable things in my years as an equine assisted psychotherapist, but nothing compares to the day I watched a horse collapse in the midst of one mans work. I had tasked this man to get a horse to walk and then trot in a circle around him as he stood in the middle of a round pen (lunging, for all of you horse people). The key to doing this successfully is in the connection, or relationship, one has with the horse. Mind you, the horses that are used in this work do not belong to the client -- this is a new relationship for both horse and human. And as we as therapists know, in order for one to have a good relationship with an other one must have a good enough relationship to the self. Thus, equine psychotherapy is at its core about relationships. Sam, as I will call him, had trouble with relationships. He was in his 50s and had come to one of my equine groups to address what he described as an unfulfilling lifea job he felt indifferent about, few friends of significance, no hobbies, and little to no dating life. As Sam tried to get the horse to circle around him, it became evident that his connection to the horse was lacking, revealing his own lack of connection to himself. Watching this unfold over the course of 15 some odd minutes I began to realize that Sam had no point of reference for how to tap into his own emotional center, his life force, and offer it to the world. I was about to step into the round pen with him to do some breathing as a starting point for bringing him more fully into his body when all of a sudden the horse that he was working with dropped to the ground and lay there motionless; her eyes closed. A therapist should never do this kind of work without a horse person in tandem, and I thanked my lucky stars that day for mine. She was quite calm as she assessed her horses condition but as minutes passed with no signs of life none of us were feeling very hopeful about the outcome. At one point I heard Sam ask the horse person whether or not he had done something to cause this. Almost as if the horse had heard his question and decided that she had gotten her point across, she slowly began to awaken out of her stupor. Crazy thing is -- no medical reason for her collapse was ever found. In his book entitled Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Science and Spirituality of Working with Horses, Allan J. Hamilton, MD, says, Horses offer us a unique opportunity to see ourselves in divine mirrors, reflecting back the chi we give off in our own emotions, to show ourselves in the moment. Horses react to what lies in our hearts, not in our heads. They are not confused by the words we use to lie to ourselves or hide from others. Horses are uniquely equipped assistants in the psychotherapeutic process. Their sheer size alone renders us unable to force our will upon them, assuming of course that we are not abusing them. More importantly, however, is the fact that they are animals of prey with a herd identity.

In other words, they are social beings whose survival depends upon their collective effort to identify and protect themselves from potential predators. Incidentally, humans are predators. Its a marvel they let us anywhere near them. Horses also come in all different shapes, sizes, and personalities, which provide ample opportunity for transferences to arise in the therapeutic process. The key to a horses survival is an exquisite attunement to the present moment. Horses are highly sensitized to the slightest shifts in their environment and can communicate these shifts to the members of their herd through a sophisticated set of non-verbal communication strategies. For an animal of prey there is no time to dwell on the past or worry about the futurethat kind of distraction equals lunch for a tiger. When we enter into a horses field of perception, which is quite large, a horse immediately begins to feel the energy we carry and to intuit whether we are safe or not, i.e. whether we are looking for a connection or for dinner. We may have only part or no awareness at all of the emotional energy we are holding, but the horse knows and will instantly respond based on its sense of us. This is Dr. Hamiltons divine mirror. And this is precisely what transpired with Sam that day. The horse was picking up on and responding to Sams anesthetized inner world. And this is where things get a little spiritual for me. I believe that this horse was doing an intervention on Sam, as if to say, This is you. Now lets together help you feel your way out of this. This is the other beautiful thing about using horses in psychotherapy. They offer themselves as forgiving partners in the clumsy work of relational repair. Horses are not like us humans who get mired in old scripts and play them out ad naseum. For a horse, yesterday is gone and done (remember that survival thing?). This truth gives us a very patient partner who is ready and willing to help us learn a new way of being in the world. And this work doesnt just help the human. I have seen many formerly abused or neglected horses find healing for themselves in this partnering. I have seen them trust more, play more, and have more confidence. I have learned that my main task is to get out of the way and let the horse and human unfold together. So do I believe that Sam did something to cause this? Nah. But I do believe that she had his number. Incidentally, if youre like I was early on then you might be thinking right about now that this all sounds like a bunch of horseshit. I dont blame you. But I challenge you to come out to one of my demo days that my company, Stable Transformation, offers free to therapists. Well talk afterwards. For upcoming group dates and referral information about Stable Transformation, please visit our website at: www.stabletransformation.com

VOLUM E 2: I S S UE 2

NP I REFLECTS

PAGE 3

ARMCHAIR DEDUCTIONS Emotional Immunity Cogito Ergo Sum?

By John Charles Danley, MA, Contributing Columnist Taking a speculative approach to rudimentary neurosci- During an autopsy it was discovered that an aggressive Ask any pediatrician or epidemiologist and they will confirm that children are born with an innate ence, the 17th Century French philosopher, Rene Desbrain tumor, along with other developmental traumas immunity to certain environmental pathogens. However, most of a childs immune system develops cartes, hypothesized a definitive split between an individendured throughout his formative years, were affecting uals time mind and bodyon including the propositionto that the Whitmans bizarre mental states. Eagleman employs parover based increased exposure deleterious microorganisms. As an adult, macrophage human mind represents a non-material entity interacting allel examples of how neurological disorders can induce cells perpetually scan the body for invading antigens while sending messages to helper T cells for with the body at the intersection of the pineal gland. This other criminal behaviors such as pedophilia, gambling, allowing the bodys white blood cells to create This evolutionary race of virulent notion, commonly referred to as Cartesian Dualism, has antibodies. violence, and drug addiction. Canarms a lottery of bad genetbeen challenged and host commonly by ongoing emics, bad and bad luck demand Subsequently, that one is acpathogens versus cellsrejected is a non-stop competition forupbringing, space in biological systems. pirical discoveries in modern neuroscience and developfor their actions? Throughout his book, Eaglethe first human vaccine was developed in 1796countable as a precursor to more than two centuries of mental biology. For example, the mind is almost univer- man emphasizes and argues for the significance of psychisuccessful vaccination treatments including the atric global eradication of smallpox. Century to be a sally understood by scientists in the 21st analysis and specialized approaches to criminal sen-

material manifestation of the brain that consists of biltencing and rehabilitation while not diminishing the imlions of pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neurons innervat- portance of keeping such individuals quarantined from Similarly, human emotions are affected by a never ending cascade of environmental stimuli; some ed by an electrical storm of intracranial activity precedsocial interactions within the general public pending a traumatic, someof prosaic, and others Developing resilience the construction ing the emergence conscious thoughts via exhilarating. a complex critical understanding of all requires causative factors (30 percent process of protein synthesis and synaptic plasticity. But of incarcerated criminals suffer from some form mental of an emotional immune system capable of identifying activating life stressors while of carefully what does this mean concerning the notion of self or the illness). Given this premise, one can immediately specucalibrating the correct behavioral responses. The more exposure one has to lifes unpredictable range concept of I? Are we a cohesive personality with an un- late about the psychosocial implications concerning such of experiences, the more availability has process the disease, outcomes of various events. mitigated core self, or is the self a changing,one fluid, andto adaptively maladies as Alzheimers depression, chronic dynamic process subject to deterrence by mental illness, pain, PTSD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Does one My personal aphorism and philosophical default position has been wisdom is notetc. experience, physical brain injuries, disease, trauma, and comprochoose to be clinically depressed or to be rendered incabut rather the interpretation of experience. How an individual interprets and assimilates mised cognitions? Another way of thinking about this is pacitated by trauma? Furthermore, is a person who haplifes occurrences often ones ability to to preemptively avoid attaching emotions to visualize choices as beingdetermines predicated by the options in pens be neurologically affected by deep depression the to ones immediate environment what feels like deci- issole arbiter of their actions? If various of the brain uncontrollable outcomes.while If emotional stability predicated on the fallout of lifeparts events, anxiety, sions are actually complicated biochemical processes are already competing for space in regard to causal bedisappointment, and disillusionment are sure to follow. sculpted by millions of years of evolution and primed by havior, doesnt the introduction of an unforeseen variable neuronal activity that precede conscious awareness. compromise personal accountability? Many will argue Simply put, one cannot think a thought until a thought that this way of looking at the brain constitutes a sliparises. As if this information wasnt grossly counterintui- pery slope that inevitably leads to moral relativism or an tive and baffling enough, the idea of self must be reavoidance of personal responsibility. However, it seems evaluated based on various deterministic and contextual more obvious that an opportunity presents itself for uninfluences that challenge any preconceived notion of a covering neurobiological etiology in a profound way that true internal locus of control. could become a catalyst for paradigm changes in approaches to counseling, understanding mental illness, So how does all of this neurological verbosity affect the and the teaching of abnormal psychology. solution-based field of therapeutic psychology? Just ask the neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling auThe following is an excerpt from Eaglemans book: Brains thor David Eagleman who practices his empirical craft at are in the business of gathering information and steering Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In his rebehavior appropriately. It doesn't matter whether concent book, In Cognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, Easciousness is involved in the decision making. And most of gleman asks us to examine the criminal justice system by the time, it's not. Whether we're talking about dilated eyes, exploring how genetics, neurological disorders, and envi- jealousy, attraction, the love of fatty foods, or the great ronmental influences often determine human behavior in idea you had last week, consciousness is the smallest playsocial contexts. As an example, Eagleman describes the er in the operations of the brain. Our brains run mostly on life of Charles Joseph Whitman, the University of Texas autopilot, and the conscious mind has little access to the at Austin student and former Marine who killed 16 peogiant and mysterious factory that runs below it. ple and wounded 32 others during a shooting rampage on and around the university's campus on August 1, 1966. (Continued on page 4)

(formerly Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee)

of Middle Tennessee

Upcoming Conferences
April 18 Nitty Gritty of Caregiving College Heights Baptist Church Gallatin June 21 Addressing Behavioral Healthcare Disparities in Multicultural Populations MHAMT Conference Center, Nashville 6 CEUs/Contact Hours August 16 Childrens Issues MHAMT Conference Center, Nashville 6 CEUs/Contact Hours For More Information or Registration: www.mhamt.org or (615) 269-5355

EDITOR WRITES: Who I Used to Be

By Amanda Lucas, LCSW

I was inspired to select this topic for our Readers Write column after hearing from colleagues several times recently that psychotherapy is a second career for them. I was hoping that one of them would share their story, but as it turned out, I have been afforded the opportunity to share my story with you. By the time I was a freshman in college, I had already been a volunteer for years. So it was no surprise when I plunged headfirst into volunteer work in college, starting with the Vanderbilt Prison Project. By the time I graduated I had taught English in the Tennessee State Penitentiary, mentored with a cognitive skills program at the Tennessee Prison for Women, and had been a volunteer visitor for juveniles in youth detention centers. My experience in those institutions created a keen interest in social justice for the incarcerated, which in turn brought me into my first full-time professional career as a Parole Officer in inner-city Atlanta. I had always been the kind of person who prided myself on having the courage to do the things no one else wanted to do; go to the places no one else wanted to go. And no one wanted to go where I went. The conditions in the inner-city of Atlanta in 1992 were dismal. Four years before the Olympics brought revitalization, the housing projects and tenements buildings in the city were decrepit. The crack epidemic was in full force and our caseloads were bursting at the seams. I had seen extreme poverty first hand in the ultra-rural Mississippi Delta, as a volunteer with Alternative Spring Break in college, but urban poverty seemed to me to be such an uglier animal. For those unfamiliar with the work of a Parole Officer in the early 90s in Georgia, our role was equal parts adult case manager, social worker, counselor, and police officer. I visited my parolees in their homes and at their places of work. I made sure they took their medication, kept their appointments with their providers, and stayed out of trouble. I helped them find work, housing, treatment, and even furniture. And if I found out they were violating parole, or when they got arrested again, I tried to send them back to prison. And I was the one who had to obtain the warrant, go to their house, and take them in. As a result, I carried a weapon and often had to wear a bulletproof vest.

I have stories upon stories of my time in Vine City, the neighborhood where most of my caseload lived: ramshackle, shotgun homes, empty storefronts, crack dealers and prostitutes on every corner. My clients had Schizophrenia, Addictions, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder. They were addicted to Everything; they smoked it, crushed it up and snorted it, shot it in their arms, their legs, between their toes. They were in wheelchairs from being shot in drive-bys, on disability due to strokes (one as young as 25), on oxygen from a lifetime of smoking. They were sexual predators who preyed on children with the relentlessness of sharks. They were dying of AIDS, Cancer, Cirrhosis, and several died while I was working with them. And many of them smelled. My Lord, no one ever talks about how badly people smell when they live at the bottom of the world. It was extremely easy to become hard, as the song says. And many of my colleagues were just that. I felt I offered my clients a rare commodity: respect, compassion, and fairness. In return they offered me avoidance at best, flagrant disrespect and resentment at worst. At times they frustrated me and disgusted me and angered me and occasionally made me so stressed out that I would literally shut my office door and cry silently at my desk. One day I received a call from a young man on parole for selling crack. His name was Herman* and he was a tough character. When he called me I could not understand him and I soon realized it was because he was crying hysterically. When he calmed down somewhat, he was able to tell me that his mother was in the hospital, having had a massive heart attack. He wasnt sure if she was going to make it. After speaking with him for a few minutes, I could not contain my curiosity and asked why he was calling me. Or more specifically, why he was calling me. He burst out crying again and said, I had no one else to call! I had no one else to call, his voice trailing off at the end. I was completely stunned and instantaneously enlightened. He trusted me, the person most parolees avoid like the plague, with the worst moment of his life. I knew he adored his mother and had to be terrified. I suddenly saw him as the wounded, isolated, helpless soul that he really was. He called me because he had no one else to call, but also because he knew that I would care. The compassion I had showed him had registered, it just wasnt acknowledged. Because he did not believe he deserved it. I came to see with amazing clarity that no one was more angered, frustrated, stressed, or disgusted with them than they were. They knew the difference between right and wrong, and they knew what they did was wrong. And they abused themselves in their shame and regret. My work in Atlanta stays with me, as it gave me some of my proudest moments, and some of my most embarrassing failures, as a professional. But the greatest gift it gave me was to see these individuals as human beings, with all of the same longing to do the right thing that anyone else has, without finding the ability to do so. What agony that creates within the human spirit. We had a motto in the volunteer program, borrowed from John Harrigan, that Volunteers in Corrections know that people need love the most when they deserve it the least. My work as a Parole Officer was the impetus for me to become a psychotherapist, to help people heal before they traveled so far down the path of self-destruction. I wanted people to see that nothing we do in life, no matter how immoral or illegal, means that we cannot become a better person. I still believe strongly that it is never too late for anyone. One of the greatest honors I have ever received in my life is that call from Herman. His mother made it, by the way. I sincerely hope that Herman did as well. I only wish he knew how much his act of reaching out to me taught me. As only the smallest of gestures between two human beings can. *Not his real name

Not Your Story To Tell

Listen its my life Listen to learn about me Listen please put aside the lens of your life Listen be cautious with labels that you affix to me they may not fit and if held too tightly I wont be able to breathe Listen with me, as I untangle the tangledness of my life story Listen with compassion as I seek to find my way Listen with curiosity, hope, and gentle loving -kindness Listen so you can know me not the me you need me to be not the me you hope me to be not the me you think I am not the me I appear to be Listen so you can see and feel with your human-sized heart my human-sized journey Listen to my losses, my joys, my failures, my loves, my dreams Listen I deserve to be heard and known.

26 January 2013 Oro Valley, Arizona Karen Anne Silien, PhD

10

Perennial Intimacy
L.J. Ratliff, LCSW
There is a mossy companionship in old friends. Pungent earthiness of ease in this togetherness that has weathered years through injuries, storms, high winds, and even re. The mottled hickory bends with age and the moss, adoringly green, simple and present. We are growing older now my friends, reaching for the sky in these last years while cherishing quiet connection. I will dance one last time on the forrest of desire in shoes made of little twigs and leaves. I will throw off my clothing and howl at the full moon while you witness the end of my mind. No soft shoe shufe into oblivion for us, we have dared to be different all our lives, my weird friends who hear words in the wind and nd worlds in the glistening weight of a single quartz stone. We are growing older now my friends and we will not go gentle into that good night. We will not be tagged, warehoused, and dying, kept alive. We will dress in purple linens and tye dye and lay down in meadows of wildowers to be taken by the sun, to be eaten by fox and vulture shapeshifting at last. We always knew we could. We are growing older now my friends and the light of each full moon means more than dollars, more than sense, more than almost anything except love. that ows in many directions, often upstream, dammed up it overows, because it has to always move. We cherish the love between us, the love around us, the love within us. This is the lesson we were here to learn We moved the boxes down gravel driveways of impermanence, we separated the Christmas decorations, the vintage glass ornaments for one, the kitschy candle lights for the other. We walked away. We said hello. And so we learned to move through the currents of love, the euphoria, the heartbreak, the leaps of faith to connect, the betrayals, the anger, the loss, the loneliness, the yearning, the amazing resilience of the human spirit, dowsing rod for underground streams of love. We are growing older now my friends and we wade through these streams with delight, knowing they change in split seconds and might sweep us to our knees or buoy us to weightless new heights. And we refuse to be boxed up, warehoused, tagged, and dying, kept alive.

11

NPI BOARD 2011-2012 Co-Chairs Andrea Barrett, LPC, MHSP

PAGE 12

NPI BOARD 2013-2014

Want to Get More Involved in NPI?

The NPI Board has several committees that you can join! If you are interested in becoming a more active member of NPI, please email the 2013-2014 Co-Chairs, Angela Hart: angela@angelahart.info Bethany Ezell: ezellcounseling@gmail.com

Co-Chairs Julia McAninch, PsyD

Bethany Ezell, LCSW Angela Hart, LPC, MHSP
Members Melinda Borthick, PhD; Hutton Historian

Zach Bryant, PhD Bethany Ezell, LCSW Chad A. Buck, PhD; Immediate Past Co-Chair Maria Gaskill, LPC/MHSP; Treasurer Peter Donets, LCSW Kathryn PhD, MSW Angela Galbraith, Hart, LPC/MHSP Susan Hammonds-White, EdD, LPC, MHSP; Hutton Shirley Jaeger, LCSW Historian Beth Lamb, LCSW Paige Holliman, M.Ed., M.T.S., LPC/MHSP Parrish Paul, PhD Beth Lamb, LCSW Amanda Lucas, LCSW; Co-Chair Elect Rob Rickman, Med; Co-Chair-Elect Rebecca Pearce, PsyD; Treasurer, Co-Chair Elect Kenneth Robinson, MS, MTS Barbara Schmitt, MS Kacy Silverstein, MEd, NCC Kenneth Robinson, MS, MTS Jay Tift, M.Ed, NCC Eve Vanzant, MEd; Secretary Eve Vanzant, M.Ed Lindsay Vaughn, PsyD Lindsay Vaughn, PsyD
Gretchen Watts, LCSW

Members Chad A. Buck, PhD; Co-Chair-Elect

Newsletter Credits:
Editor: Layout & Design: Printing & Distribution: Amanda Lucas, LCSW Jeffrey Nelson Lisa Smith

**Editors Note: The content and opinions expressed within this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the Nashville Psychotherapy Institute, the Board of Directors of the Nashville Psychotherapy Institute, or the Editor of the newsletter.

NPI
C/O Lisa Smith, Executive Coordinator P.O. Box 158626 Nashville, TN 37215 Phone: 615-799-2000 Fax: 615-279-1394 E-mail: npinashville@bellsouth.net