This is Tamara Johnson of GetOutoftheMud.com. Have you ever asked yourself: What is the purpose of feelings? Take a minute to think about that. Why do we have feelings? Maybe you have never thought of it before, but over and over again when I'm working with clients in my private practice, I find that people would just rather avoid feelings altogether instead of experiencing them.
Hello. I am Tamara Johnson, your host at The Get Out of the Mud Show. Thank you for joining me.
Tonight, I want to talk to you about how we deal with crisis. I chose this topic today because the recent California Wildfires remind me that we have had a series of crisis in our country over the past six years that have impacted many, many lives. The first major crisis occurred on September 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people died in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania at the hands of terrorists. Many Americans still suffer serious health consequences and even death because of their rescue efforts related to the terrorist attacks. Those continuing casualites of 9/11 were documented by Allan Tannenbaum at www.sohoblues.com/9-11-Still-Killing.html. Two years later, in October of 2003, Wildfires in California destroyed over 3,600 homes. After another two years, in August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devistated Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast, including parts of Alabama, destroying approximately 275,000 homes and taking at least 1,800 lives. And most recently, 1,300 more residents of Southern California lost their homes in October due to the fires.
These large-scale diseasters have touched many of our lives and leave lasting emotional, mental and financial difficulties in their wake. If we have not been directly impacted, we know and care about someone who has. But, in addition to large-scale diseasters like these many of us also experience personal crises as part of our day-to-day experience. Those crises come in the forms of a devistating health diagnosis such as Cancer or AIDs, divorce, foreclosure on our home, death, the serious injury of a child, disability or unemployment.
Whether the crisis is a shared community loss or one that is very private, one thing is certain, crisis and the losses associated with them touch each of our lives from time to time. But because we don't expect the unexpected, these experiences take us by surprise and we can find ourselves unprepared to deal with the emotional and psychological aspects of recovering after crisis.
Hello, this is Tamara Johnson, host of The Get Out of the Mud Show. Tonight, I am exploring the topic of The Fearless Child Within Each of Us.
Have you ever watched a young child playing care-free in the park, jumping fearlessly from high places or imagining wildly that she is an airplane pilot or a prima ballerina or a lion tamer at the circus? When you have seen such a child, do you wonder where your own inner, care-free, fearless child went? Have you ever thought of pursuing your childhood dreams as if they were more than just dreams but, in fact, potential realities in your life?
On a previous episode, I talked to you about the purpose of feelings. Today I want to add to your understanding of what our feelings are meant to do for us as well as how we came to disregard our feeling selves in the first place. Finally, I'm going to explain some things about feelings that will help them seem less threatening to you.
Happy New Year! I found this video on YouTube and I think it is so powerful that I want to share it with you!
All my Love and Best to you for 2008!
Tamara Johnson
Do I have to be a "Good Girl" or can I take care of myself?
Hello, I'm Tamara Johnson your host of The Get Out of the Mud Show. Thank you for tuning in. It is my pleasure to share what I know about being whole with you in this forum. All I ask is that you help me spread the word about my show by telling your friends about it!
Today, as promised, I'm going to explore the concept that while we were growing up, little girls were taught to "be nice" or "be good" and often times, we interpreted that to mean that we must always place our own needs in a secondary position to the needs of those with whom we are in relationship. In chapter two of my book: "Pull Yourself Out of the Mud: Know and Love Who You Are and Get More Out of Life" coming out in May of this year, I explore this concept in depth. Basically, the concept is this: as children we are taught what is right and wrong by our parents. Often times, but not always, the distinction between right and wrong depended upon the convenience, needs and personalities of our parents. One parent who has a
rambunctious personality and doesn't mind noise will allow her children to play loudly and enthusiastically without being bothered by her children's activity levels. Another parent may be anxious and out of that sense of anxiety requires her children to remain unusually quiet. Whatever form the training took that training began when we were very young. As small as two years old, every child begins to assert her independence and sense of self with the words "no"
and "Mine!" and "I do it!" But frequently, a two-year-old's requests for independence are met with course corrections that serve, over time, teach her that she needs to hear the external voice of direction more acutely than her own wishes.
Hello, I'm Tamara Johnson, your host of The Get Out of the Mud Show. Thank you for joining me.
Today, I want to talk to you about Finding the Right Therapist because I'm amazed at how often people tell me horror stories about a previous therapist who either caused them personal harm or did nothing active during the treatment process.
Perhaps because it takes an awful lot of courage to muster up the strength to actually walk into a therapist's office, many people walk in and just accept whatever the therapist has to say. What I want you to remember is that your first appointment is just like a job interview where YOU are doing the hiring. If the therapist does not meet your expectations, you are under no obligation to make a return appointment! Further, if you are not happy with the course of your treatment and the direction you are going in therapy, YOU are STILL the BOSS! Talk to your therapist about your concerns. If your therapist is unwilling to address the issues you bring up, that therapist is not providing a very good model of communication in relationships -- and that's their job.
Hello, I'm Tamara Johnson, your host of the Get Out of the Mud Show. Today, I want to take some time to share with you my personal exploration of body image and shame because it is a problem that is rampant for so many of us in this culture. So, let me tell you what happened for me and then I will tell you how this issue affects so many of us, even if size is not your particular issue. I think it is a discussion we need to begin to have to be able to reclaim ourselves from shame and self-rejection. I have also decided to re-structure the weekly assignments. Instead of having a quote, I'm going to create an assignment associated with the week's discussion topic. So look in your e-mail box this Friday (if you have signed up for assignments) for the assignment that goes along with today's exploration.
Last Friday, I had the great privilege of returning to the wilderness for a 3-hour solo medicine walk in the wilderness of the San Francisco Bay Area. The insights and healing I gained there were, once again, tremendous. On this walk, I began my journey in the energy of pondering deep questions that had arisen for me while I was listening deeply to my own inner voice and setting my intentions for my journey. Before each of us set out on our solo walk, we shared our intentions as well as our growth since our last journey. .
