I recently had the pleasure and honor of attending an open house at the Santa Ynez Valley Therapeutic Riding Program (H.E.L.P). I was quite impressed with what is happening over there and I wanted to share it with you. I will quote from their brochure:
“The HELP program involves therapists and horses in an experiential approach that has international recognition as an evidence-based treatment strategy designed for various client groups. Horses provide powerful metaphors for life challenges and act as mirrors to our behavior. The horse-human encounter provides opportunities for learning about relationships as well as internal emotional challenges.”

For referrals and inquiries contact:
Mary Ann Evans, Ph.D., HELP Program Director maebe@verizon.net or Robin Serritslev, SYVTRP Executive Director robinserritslev@verizon.net

Billing and Payment Accepted
-Victim Witness
-Sliding Scale Fees
-Scholarships Available
-Fee for Service

Nobody is turned away due to lack of funds.

It is located at 195 Refrugio Rd., Santa Ynez, CA. Please visit www.syvtherapeuticriding.org to find out more about this wonderful program.

Please join us at Antioch University Santa Barbara for an opening reception for the beautiful photographic exhibit “Mbuti: Children of the Rainforest.” The Mbuti are one of the oldest indigenous people of the Congo Rainforest region of Africa and their very existence is being threatened. This exhibit, which will be up through the end of March, is being offerred in order to bring awareness and to foster global support. Antioch is at 801 Garden St. in Santa Barbara, California. The reception will be this coming Tuesday, March 1st from 6 to 8pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

The guest this week on Emotional Pathways at www.webtalkradio.net is psychotherapist and author of Becoming a Wise Parent for Your Grown Child, Dr. Betty Frain. She speaks about Parenting the Adult Child. To find out more about Dr. Frain visit www.drbettyfrain.com or www.becomingawiseparent.com or www.50fabulous.com.

Next week’s guest is Dr. Steve Kadin, who will speak about Managing the Drama of Infidelity.

I feel quite passionate about our ability to use our imaginations to create a more positive and loving future. When we use the term “imagery,” it does not simply refer to the visual field, but to all of our senses. Dr. Jeanne Achterberg, a leader in imagery exploration and application, refers to imagery as “the thought process that invokes and uses the senses: vision, audition, smell, taste, the senses of movement, position and touch. It is the communication between perception, emotion, and bodily change.”

The well-known cognitive-behavioral psychologist and researcher, Donald Meichenbaum, has been a proponent of practices that involve imagery, explaining that imagery helps a person to be able to experience a sense of internal management. Psychoanalysis has used imagery with free association and dreams. Jungian psychology invokes imagery in a huge way with active imagination, dream work, and exploring in depth the metaphoric meanings around archetypal images that are both collective and unique for each individual. Gestalt and humanistic practices honor imagery for both amplifying experiences in the present moment and building upon personal awareness and responsibility. Indigenous practices have always involved imagery.

One of my favorite statements is from Piero Ferruci, well known for psychosynthesis, who said “Images can either imprison us or liberate us. We can be their unconscious slaves and let them govern our lives, or we can deliberately put their immense power to effective use. By clearly imagining a possibility, we automatically bring it closer to actualization. Therefore, we can intentionally use images to aid our purpose in coming into full, embodied existence. And we can do so by thinking of the next appropriate step in our human evolution.”

There are some wonderful resources out there if you are interested in learning more about the power of imagination to heal. Here are a few solid resources:

www.imageryinternational.com ~ Here, you will find a list of imagery practitioners in your geographic area. Among this list, you will find some of the leaders in this work who have training centers as well as therapy and medical practices. I urge you to join Imagery International if you are interested in this work. I am honored to be the President-Elect of the organization. In addition, the Imagery International Conference is coming up October 22 to 24. The theme for this year is “Imagery for the Future: Illuminating Lives.” This is a relatively small and intimate conference and it will be held at Vallambrosa Retreat Center in beautiful Menlo Park, California. There are only a few spots left for participants. If you would like to come, please register right away, as the cut-off date is Oct. 5th. You may go to the website to register.

www.imageryforkids.com ~ This is the site for Charlotte Reznick, Ph.D. Her new book The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success is sure to be a best seller.

www.imagerywork.com ~ This is the site for Miriam Franco, Psy.D., LCSW. She is a researcher and clinician and she specializes in working with imagery for Multiple Sclerosis (also for caregivers). She has been researching several other applications of imagery and she has four specialized guided imagery CDs available for sale on her website. She was the most recent guest on the Imagery International Telechat. If you go to the website, you will be able to hear her interview.

www.thehealingmind.org ~ This is the site for Martin Rossman, M.D., one of the co-founders of the Insitute for Guided Imagery and interactive guided imagery training. He is a wise and compassionate healer. You may purchase his books and CDs on his website.

www.healthjourneys.com ~ This is the site for Belleruth Naparstek, LCSW. She is a mover and shaker in the world of imagery. Her website and blog offer cutting edge ideas, research, and products. Her blog contributions offer intuitive insight, sharp intellect, and humor. A must-go-to for anyone who wants to learn more about imagery-work.

www.stillpointfoundation.org ~ This is the site for Dr. Meredith Young Sowers, medical intuitive and integrative energy trainer. She offers training in how to use imagery in resonance with your own body and for tuning into those you may work with in healing practices. She is currently working on an intriguing project involving breast cancer.

www.learningtoforgive.com ~ This is the site for Dr. Fred Luskin, a leader in forgiveness research and application. Much of his work involves the use of imagery for fostering compassion and forgiveness (with the added health benefits of such practices). He asserts that anyone may learn how to forgive if they choose to embark on a different journey/story for themselves.

www.sacredearthfoundation.org ~ This site was developed by its founder, Patricia J. Turner, who started out in marine biology research and had a dream to open a center to honor indigenous peoples and practices. She has certainly fulfilled this dream, bringing elders from around the world together to share with those who are eager to open their hearts and minds to “remember” all of our indigenous roots. She is currently bringing elders into the Colorado wilderness areas to share their wisdom regarding deep eco-spiritual insights and practices with those who are interested in joining in these endeavors. You will find wonderful Arthur Cisneros, a Chumash elder, on the site as well as others.

To ground yourself in a powerful and connected way, I would like to invite you to Dr. Ed Bastian’s site at www.interspiritualmeditation.org. His new book Interspiritual Meditation: A Seven-Step Process from the World’s Traditions is sure to open your heart to the possibility of transforming our ideas about separateness and for truly understanding what belongingness really means in the bigger picture.

Life is never complete without music, and my dear friends and collaborators for our own guided imagery CDs may be found at www.energimusic.com.

I have been doing a series of radio interviews regarding my book Imagine Forgiveness: A Guide to Creating a Joyful Future. I have had the pleasure of speaking with people in Canada, Texas, Indiana, Hawaii, California, and through cyberspace (with web radio shows). In fact, I have a new (launched in August) half-hour web talk radio show of my own entitled Emotional Pathways where we talk about improving our relationships with ourselves and others and living from our core values. I am getting used to being a host and honing my skill at such an endeavor–an interesting curve for an introvert like me, but it is fun and I am blessed to be able to interview such interesting, heart-centered, and informative guests. Please join us at www.webtalkradio.net and scroll down to either my name or Emotional Pathways. They like to call me Dr. Julie around there (Matrix Media) and I am getting used to that as well. My nickname has always been Julie or Jules, as my mother and I shared the same first name.

I hope that you will look into some of the resources above if you are not already familiar with them and with this work. It can truly make a difference in your life. I love to share what has worked for me over the years. If it had not been for mentors, for creative methods of inquiry and expression, for contemplative/meditative practices, and incorporating imagery into my life, I reflect that I would have not have been able to have developed the peace of mind that I continue to build upon, moment by moment, day by day, and into the future. If you have insights and practices to share with others on this website, I welcome you to share with us as well.

Have a beautiful day, friends!

Metta,
Juliet

          Once at a Rehab hospital, I was sitting with an elderly woman who had lost most of her motor functioning due to a stroke. For a moment, I saw that she was distracted and looking off to her right. I turned and saw an individual who had obviously suffered a stroke or some kind of brain injury that left him stooped over, drooling, and seemingly unaware of who or where he was. She turned to me with great empathy for the man. With tears in her eyes, she struggled to form her lips into words. She was just beginning to gain back some of her ability to speak with the help of a speech therapist. Sitting in her wheelchair facing me, it took her several moments to form her mouth into the words she wanted to speak and I could tell that this took quite some effort. What she felt compelled to communicate to me after observing the other person’s plight, was “There but for the grace of God go I!”

             This woman, after having lost her ability to walk or speak easily, was not focusing on herself in a despairing manner. She was experiencing great compassion for a fellow human being and she was counting her blessings. I was moved to tears. She is yet another example of an elder who can teach us much about how to live.

            The late psychologist, Erik Erikson, in his model of psychosocial development, spoke about the last years of life as years that can lead to either despair or wisdom, depending on how one directs their attention.  There is much to learn from those who have lived long lives, with all of the sufferings and joys that a life contains.

          In families, the intergenerational bond grows stronger when we take time to share stories. My personal experience of having sat with my own parents during their final days and having received the gift of my father’s autobiography leads me to reflect on the power of stories to open the heart and to heal intergenerational wounds within families. I am often saddened by the lack of time and respect our culture as a whole gives to the elderly and their stories, when it is clear that throughout history, in all of the tribes, villages, and households of our ancestry, the sharing of elder’s stories has been a rich and valuable tradition.

          I believe that the sharing of stories can open the pathway to self-forgiveness and the forgiveness of others.  As a writer and researcher on forgiveness, I am considering elder storytelling as a particular type of forgiveness process within families, particularly when sacred time is set aside in a deliberate and formal way for this endeavor and when it is done in the natural environment.