Inner Light Counseling Collective

11/10/2024

This year, I pledged to tell 8 stories, one for each solstice and equinox and the cross-quarter days in between. I had a threefold intention: to build community using story as the container;
to weave story through the seasons of the year as a rich, shared metaphor, and to create bridges between the story and the wider world by gathering donations to support the good work of local and international organizations. This year the stories have supported Care International, BeLoved Asheville, World Central Kitchen, Expressive Arts initiatives in Palestine, Foothills Conservancy, Riverlink, Center for Native Health, and Native Songbird Conservation. This will be the last story in this cycle and all donations will go to the ACLU. Someday I will write more about the ways in which this project has informed and transformed me. Stories are powerful! For now, I invite you to join us for the final story of the year, a winter solstice braiding of the tales of the Goose Girl and the Girl Without Hands. Learn more here: https://www.innerlightasheville.com/workshops/2024/12/17/depth-storytelling-the-goose-girl

11/06/2024

https://www.innerlightasheville.com/news/2024/10/25/real-work

By Lissa Carter, LCMHCS

10/28/2024

Join us tomorrow evening for a depth storytelling event in benefit of BeLoved Asheville! Details here: https://www.innerlightasheville.com/workshops/2024/10/29/depth-storytelling-allerleirauh

10/25/2024

https://www.innerlightasheville.com/news/2024/10/25/helene-aftermath-real-work

Some insights from recent conversations with clients and friends

Many of my friends and clients have been sharing that, as the recovery efforts here in Western North Carolina progress, they are feeling guilt, sadness, and a sense that their contributions are not “real”. “I’m just grieving and crying, I haven’t been able to volunteer.” “I’ve only b...

10/17/2024

Some thoughts about this strange moment.

For When People Ask I want a word that means    okay and not okay ,      a word that means devastated and stunned with joy.    I want the word that says      I feel it all, all at onc

10/10/2024

https://www.innerlightasheville.com/news/2024/10/10/helene-aftermath-guilt-gilt-and-gold

Survivor’s guilt is real, but it’s not personal.

Have you been feeling guilty? Guilty when you enjoy the sense of community and camaraderie in your neighborhood? Guilty when you find a way to get to a neighboring town and take a warm shower? Guilty when you cook a warm meal in your own kitchen? I haven’t spoken with a single person since Helene

10/08/2024

https://www.innerlightasheville.com/news/2024/10/7/helene-aftermath-accept-help

Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that the best way to make a friend was to request a favor. There is something about the vulnerability of requesting help that touches the human heart. And yet so many of us seem to struggle with accepting help. Whether it is a fear of inconveniencing another pers

10/05/2024

https://www.innerlightasheville.com/helene-resources

Holding us all in the light as we recover together. Let me know if there are resources you need and I’ll add to this list as I can.

10/04/2024

We are organizing expressive arts process groups for community volunteer organizations, evacuation shelters, and anyone else who might benefit from being guided through an art making process as a way of grieving, grounding, and metabolizing some of the overwhelm. Can host groups of up to 6 in the office or come to you. If you or someone you know would benefit by this, please reach out ♥️.

Expressive Arts Therapy, Asheville Counselor, Counseling, Coaching, individual counseling, therapy, creativity coach, group therapy, psychotherapy, welcome all, Inclusive Support, Groups, Retreat, Creative Offerings & Programs, help heal stress, depression, anxiety, loss, change, art therapy, yo

10/03/2024

Dear clients and friends, I’ll be posting guided meditations, poems, and stories on the blog for a while—sharing what is getting me through these days of storm recovery in case it can help you, too. Please let me know if there is anything you need. I was extremely lucky and I am here. The office is open. ♥️💔♥️

Helene Aftermath: Belonging to Ourselves October 2, 2024 Lissa Carter Some beautiful things I have seen lately: People driving around with trucks loaded with food and water, stopping to ask anyone they see if they need anything. Restaurants and food trucks grilling up free meals and serving them out...

06/07/2024

About the elusive magic of storytelling, Michael Meade says: "If people are willing to enter the moment with full attention and open emotion, then their exact troubles become the context wherein the story becomes personally important and vitally alive. ...a spontaneous arrangement occurs along with a coincidence of artistic and mythic elements which can melt the opposition of ancient and modern and bring the story back to life." To which I say: YES! and PLEASE! I am too small to know what to do with what is happening in this world. Let the myths come alive again and bring with them the ancestral intelligence of thousands of years.

This summer solstice I'll be sharing the story of The Firebird. There will poetry and music, we will engage with the story through writing and conversation, and if all aligns, perhaps we will melt the oppositions of ancient and modern and feel the story breathing wisdom into our ears for this precise moment. Come join us? There are both in person and online options for attending.

When we listen to old stories, when we let them in as though they have something to tell us about our own lives, there is a kind of magic that happens. Our brains are wired to learn through story, and when we can find ourselves in the courageous or heartbroken or powerful actions of a character in