Hope for Healing
The Gift: Healing the Child Within
Christmas is a time of gifts. Often, the gifts most needed are for the hurting parts of ourselves—the gift of healing the child within.
Más Christ
Lights, music, gift-giving, and often a little more kindness are at the center of the Christmas season. Recently, my granddaughter led a discussion in her youth group about the importance of keeping Christ in Christmas. After talk of favorite Christmas memories and crazy holiday schedules, she offered a rearranging of the word “Christmas”: Más Christ….
Reclaiming the Light
Focusing on the light as we work through the effects of trauma can free us from darkness and help us reclaim the light we thought we lost.
Giving It Forward—Join the Campaign!
Giving It Forward is about connection and reaching out in simple ways. Even when we feel empty—like we have nothing to give—getting outside ourselves has a way of filling our hearts.
Finding Joy After Trauma
Joy comes when we let the light of truth into the darkness. It is then that our lives have meaning and purpose.
We do not have to stay in the prison of trauma, heartache, and anguish. Regardless of the harsh experiences we have gone through, each of us can find light, hope, and even joy. We can be free to thrive in a life that is uniquely our own.
Healing Trauma: Repairing Your Life’s Foundation
Building or remodeling a life is not an easy process. But no matter what we start with, we can build a full and light-filled life.
Live Life Fully: Embrace Every Adventure
Living life fully means taking each day as it comes and enjoying things along the way. Don’t wait to enjoy the things you love.
Overcoming Abuse: The Power of Hope in Healing
Hope provides a sustaining power in our healing process. Holding on to hope through the dark times helps strengthen our capacity to overcome.
The Power of Compassion in Recovery
Looking beyond ourselves helps us find relief from the storms and frees us from the prison of the pain we carry. It helps us rediscover our worth and uncover the ability to challenge self-defeating thoughts and behaviors that keep us stuck in the dark. Helping others connects us to our inner strength.
Light Behind the Mask
There is light even in the darkest places—even in the darkest parts of us. Mental anguish, regardless of its source, does not take the worth out of its victim. Accepting that reality frees us to own the light and be ourselves.
Coping Through Creativity
What impact do the arts have on our mental health? I recently participated in a class titled “Coping Through Creativity,” led by my friend Stephanie Nicoletti. Despite my limited visual art skills, I found creating images that expressed my emotions liberating.
In this interview, Stephanie shares how creativity can help us heal.
The Healing Power of Forgiveness
Ultimately, forgiveness is not about the other person, but about giving up burdens so that we can use our strength to move forward. Choosing forgiveness is choosing freedom.
Embracing the Past and Moving Forward
Moving forward does not mean leaving the hurt parts of us in the past. It means accepting our brokenness and holding onto hope for an all-encompassing healing. “You deserve life. You deserve dignity. You deserve a chance at hope and love.” –Danielle Morelli/Survivor Shift: Episode 6. This message is for every part of us. Embracing even the hurting parts of ourselves adds power to our ability to move forward and build a life we can thrive in.
Survivor Shift: Episode 7
In this Survivor Shift episode, Debbie Posnien shares about the resources and hope available to all. 988 is a wonderful resource for anyone who is faced with mental health issues.
How to Honor Abusive Parents
How does honoring parents fit into the murky path of overcoming the pain inflicted by them? The first step is in re-interpreting honor to mean live honorably. In that way, we are doing something good with the physical life they gave us. More importantly, it lifts and enables us to see beyond the abuse and focus on building a life we can thrive in. In living honorably, we can find our true selves and leave behind the worthless feelings that accompany abuse.
Reclaim Our True Self—Reclaim Power
Powerlessness. Its lasting effects can be the difficult to overcome. The truth is that the only real way to reclaim our power is to reclaim our true self.
Survivor Shift: Episode 6
Danielle’s healing journey has been about finding strength through her community. “You deserve life. You deserve dignity. You deserve a chance at hope and love.” She is an example of the triumph that is possible regardless of the trials we face.
Identity Crisis
The identity crisis does not need to be permanent. We can reclaim the light and life that was once lost. We can thrive in a life that is uniquely our own.
Why Build on the Light?
I’ve been asked why the title Build on the Light? In this video, I share the ideas behind the phrase. If we look closely, there are pieces of light buried in the muck of the trauma we have suffered-pieces that can be used to rebuild our lives. Regardless of the pains and heartache we are…
Survivor Shift: Episode 5
A recurring theme in this series is the necessity of turning to God in our healing process. Jeanne shares her journey from surviving childhood sexual abuse to finding the healing power of learning to forgive.
Memorial Day–Honoring Freedom
Are we willing to do what is necessary to keep the freedom we have? Are we willing to stand up for what we know is right and good to preserve the same freedoms for all those who come after us?