Art of Life Counselling

What a year !!! It was a time of tumultuous self understanding and extreme life experiences. It was a time of love, sadness, confusion, victory and joy. The year began with my knowing that after 16 long, long years, I would finally face my childhood sexual abuser, Brother Bernard Hartman from the Marianist Catholic order, in court. https://www.facebook.com/events/406451209531857/ Innocent Child of the Village Event The date was set for the 20th April. The waiting was drawing to a close and I was looking forward contributing to furthering the protection of other potential victims. To mark the event I planned a gathering at Altona Beach to raise awareness if Childhood Sexual Abuse.                                                                  As the time of the trial was coming close our family was engulfed in a disaster of what seemed, at the time, meteorologic proportions. My youngest daughter was hit by a car which resulted in a severe spinal fractures requiring intensive sur

https://newrepublic.com/article/126582/irresistible-psychology-fairy-tales

https://www.sane.org/mental-health-and-illness/facts-and-guides/reducing-stigma

https://www.sane.org/mental-health-and-illness/facts-and-guides/bipolar-disorder

http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/the-top-100-films-for-action/

https://www.sane.org/mental-health-and-illness/5-the-journey-of-mental-illness

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief-loss/coping-with-pet-loss.htm

http://www.filmsforaction.org/news/9_mindbending_epiphanies_that_turned_my_world_upsidedown/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/make-more-art-the-health-benefits-of-creativity_b_8868802.html?ir=Australia

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-howard/part-i-trauma-training-sh_b_3290291.html?ir=Australia

http://wypr.org/post/biography-and-biology-longterm-consequences-abuse

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-last-taboos/201511/birth-order-determines-almost-nothing?utm_source=FacebookPost&utm_medium=FBPost&utm_campaign=FBPost

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/12/surviving-festive-stress-some-simple-but-effective-tactics/

I see beauty everywhere. Of course, as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for me, I behold it every day and in every thing. I observe it in life and death, light and darkness. I embrace scars and blemishes and appreciate lumps and bumps. The roughness of bark and the smoothness of silk, the wings of a butterfly and the fluffiness of a caterpillar are equally beautiful to me. The things that I find most beautiful are the things that I see, hear, touch, taste and smell in the gifts of nature. I think that the story that lives within nature enhances it's beauty. What might be the history of a tree for example. What has it seen? What has it experienced? How are we connected and what do we have in common? Appreciating external beauty can calm and soothe my thoughts and feelings but is this enough? I believe that there is magic in being a living, breathing human as we have the capacity to experience, hold and share beauty from within. We can be enthralled by the ef

https://majohnston.wordpress.com/working-with-our-inner-parts/

http://www.humankind-relationships.com.au/

www.redpencil.org

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/parenting/a-new-book-for-kids-by-kids-shows-the-real-life-ups-and-downs-of-childhood-371020.html

http://www.emotionalgeographic.com/blog-1/2014/12/9/trauma-and-the-holidays-3-practices-to-reclaim-joy?utm_content=buffer21569&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/this-is-what-its-like-to-live-with-schizophrenia#.jl2OJOpJE

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/arts-and-health/201509/bilateral-drawing-self-regulation-trauma-reparation

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/july/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/art-therapy-techniques_56562017e4b072e9d1c19f9b?section=australia&utm_hp_ref=arts

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-truisms-wellness/201511/4-myths-about-schizophrenia-and-the-facts-you-need-know?utm_source=FacebookPost&utm_medium=FBPost&utm_campaign=FBPost

Bobbie, Daisy and Cat.   Sadly Bobbie died of old age 2 years ago and Daisy died from Canine Lymphoma 12 months ago. Cat is kicking on strong and healthy at 10 years old. https://theconversation.com/pets-and-our-health-why-we-should-take-them-more-seriously-47774

Krampus ensnares a child with his famously long tongue in this Viennese card, dated around 1911. Traditionally, he held a bundle of birch sticks with which to whip naughty children.

For information on gaining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Competency please follow this link. https://www.ccca.com.au/

This Paralyzed Artist Paints Beautifully — With Her Mouth

https://archive.org/stream/cossackfairytale00bain#page/n9/mode/2up

http://online.csp.edu/blog/forensic-scholars-today/fasd-art-therapy