Renegade Therapies

10/07/2023

06/12/2023

Special Announcement
Renegadetherapies.org

01/15/2023

Despite the lack of physical evidence for those bottoming out in the darkest tunnels of the mind. Somehow there appears to be a light.

A light that was always there yet somehow just became visible the moment all hope was lost.

On your approach to the only living thing left in the land of the dead, you stop.

For whatever reason “You” as you believe yourself to be can get no closer or even look at it without dying off.

Is this worth dying for?

With the well-known alternatives leading to darkness and despair you would think the choice would come easy.

But it doesn’t for some people. The shame’s too strong.

And what they’ll never realize in that moment of choice is that the Grace is even stronger.

It’s terrifying. So they turn away, and what they don’t know going into their decision to turn away is that what lies ahead is even scarier.

A common reaction to that kind of emptiness is to take their own life as they know it. Another would be to combo it with contempt and decide how you’ll take others with you first.

But when it comes to a disturbed spirit. Killing the body does little.

The journey continues…

In the wake of the damage done in our earthly realm, will their disturbed spirit have an opportunity to heal in the great beyond?

I believe so with all my heart.

Are any of these things actually true? I’ll never know with certainty which is why it requires a heavy dose of faith to hold the belief that

No matter what…

There is ALWAYS hope.

-Joel

01/15/2023

Interesting perspective from inside the mind of a teenager engaging in some serious self-harm.

He looks at our “elite/leaders” and sees the same dynamics he witnesses everyday in high-school. The same s**t he wants no part of.
He’s not impressed, all he is seeing is old, run down, stressed out faces on stressed out and out of shape bodies of extremely unimpressive people who are holding the highest positions of power in his culture…..

he struggles to find hope that these people will do anything except make things a whole lot worse for everyone.

He see’s social media as evil.

He see’s the pharmaceutical industry as corrupt.

He views celebrities as “fake people”

He hates war.

He refuses to compare himself to others.

ChaptGPT and AI in general are scaring the s**t out of him.

How do you plan and hope for a future as a young person when the adults in the room are just as clueless as to what that will look like as you?

I asked about his drug use. He said he avoids hard drugs.
When I asked him what does “hard drugs” mean to him, he said, “what the doctors prescribe and a lot of his friends and their parents are addicted to”

He doesn’t care for alcohol.

He uses cannabis but only when he’s alone and safe and he’ll watch mindless television but only if it guarantees a happy ending when the show concludes.
He uses psilocybin (magic mushrooms) once or twice a year with close friends which makes him feel a lot better but only for a few weeks.

He has a heavy daily intake of ni****ne via va**ng.

Nowhere in his assessment of the world is he finding any hope. This dude spends a good majority of his day to day life not feeling a fu***ng thing. But dammit if that freshly cut flesh on his thighs doesn’t bring him back life for a minute.

Sorry to hit your social feed with something potentially depressing, but hopefully you got some takeaways that increase your understandings of our youth in some way.

As far as I’m concerned he will be totally fine. There appears to be something really powerful about a quick 30-minute conversation with some random guy outside of his family and friend circle who’s taking a heavy curiosity based interest in his young mind and genuinely cares for his outcome yet seems to seems to lack agenda otherwise. It goes much farther for kids like him than you’d think.

His Mom reported that immediately after our call, it was the happiest she has heard him sound in months.

Is that enough? Probably not. We will keep the dialogue in motion regularly and I’ll always remain just a phone call away for this kid being that he’s out of state but either way my guess is he will be independent and self actualized long before the rest of us.

Brilliant Kid! And far from a clueless teenager.

Thanks for reading,

Joel

Renegadetherapies.org

01/03/2023

Happy New Year

As I did my initial outreach for Renegade Therapies youth project I found myself in the presence of particularly angry young men. One as young as age 12 and as dark of fantasies as murdering their own Mother. There’s obviously work to be done here and fortunately this particular 12 year old came to the right dude when it comes to dark fantasies and understanding them.

But it got me thinking in depth about anger in general for the first time in a while and I’ve really distilled it down to these few ideas pulled from my years of working with my own anger as well as others.

Anger is something to be grappled with and transformed and not dispelled or done away with.
That same energy that manifests itself in such destructive ways when it’s outside our control is the same energy source we would use to protect ourselves and those we love in dangerous situations. The ability to show restraint and mercy in situations like those however, comes down to whether or not we have full control of this force.

If anger is wrestled with and tamed properly, it can be a primary source of fearlessness and strength used in the pursuit to becoming a full-grown human being. But only of course, if it is fully within our control.
And truly controlling it is easier said than done. Especially when what tends to lie beneath all the anger is a hell of a lot more grief than we would ever expect, ever want to feel, or be able to understand. Fortunately, I don’t think you have to understand it but if we ever want the chance to get anger under our full control, fully feeling the grief or whatever lies beneath is something I don’t believe to be optional.

These understandings about anger and more led to the development of the approach currently being utilized by Renegade Therapies when working with youth. Particularly pi**ed off young Men who are at the top of our su***de rates and the only ones shooting up the damn place. ��You can read more about the approach being used in the Youth project at Renegadetherapies.org/about or at the link in bio

It’s a long, strange, complex and highly rewarding road ahead. That’s for damn sure. Keep me and my family in your prayers please. Happy New Year!

✌️

-Joel

11/27/2022

During a meeting with the lead mental health counselor inside the juvenile detention center here in deschutes county she pointed out an insight/statistic that I did not expect AT ALL.

And it’s that a large portion (60%+) of young men being admitted into detention belong to homes of single fathers. With no active mother in their home/lives.

Didn’t see that coming, but it makes intuitive sense.

Mom’s are not as replaceable as the absence of a father in the home.

Young men can find other father figures and role models outside the home to inspire them towards manhood and maybe even love them.

But a mothers love?

Not so easily replaced.

Lots to think about here, strategically for renegadetherapies.org but also a not so fun fact for Moms to mull over this weekend.

To the Mom’s out there…

You’re doing great just by showing up!

To the mom’s wallowing away in their shortcomings..

Showing up everyday with all your mess is a hell of a lot better than not showing up at all.

Unless you’re a narccisistic, crazy ass, severely wounded ass mom, then maybe not. But I’m guessing I don’t have one of those mom’s reading this 😜

Much love ❤️✌️

-Joel

11/18/2022

The most important piece of paper I’ve held in my hands in a long time.

In a way, it’s a shame that it had to be from the IRS in response to the pleading of my case for them to not steal money from Renegade Therapies, so that 100% of donations can go towards serving the youth. But since that’s how the game has to be played, I’ll play it.

Renegade Therapies is officially a federally recognized 501c3 Nonprofit Corporation!

The kids currently or about to be incarcerated in the Juvenile Detention centers of Oregon have no idea what’s coming for them. It’s game on from here ✌️

The website was thinned out for the sake of IRS review, but is now up to date with more details as well as psychedelic therapies being back on the menu.

Renegadetherapies.org

09/18/2022

A HOMEBIRTH STORY

Acoustic Guitar by the late Robert Smith. Our Children’s beloved Papa. Who happened to pull out his phone and record his porch strummings a few years before his passing. May you and your music be memorialized here as you proudly witnessed from heaven your oldest daughter in all of her glory.

Footage and stellar photography captured by Bendbirthphotographer.com who outside of capturing moments, brought the wisdom of a doula and skill of a nanny to a household who definitely took advantage of all three skill sets.

We came extremely close to not sharing any of these images publicly. We’ve spent the past couple weeks debating it. While trying to remain objective as an outsider looking in on an experience like this, we ultimately decided that the inspirational quality for people who see this outweighs our need to refrain from the vulnerability it poses by sharing it.

With that being said, YOU are being invited to witness the birth of our 5th child and you owe us nothing in return. It’s a gift. And we hope you receive it as one. We also hope you shed tears for any reason while watching.

As for us, We desire the human experience in its fullest expression.

So, this is us.

This is how we choose to do life. We choose to have our babies where we make them. Safe at home. Where trust and allowing of the feminine birth experience can be maintained without protocols.

And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now when it comes to an unassisted birth… Please proceed with caution. I would say check with your doctor but there isn’t an OBGYN anywhere in sight that would recommend a homebirth, let alone an unassisted one. So, be your own advocate. Educate yourself. And remember as parents, YOU are the ultimate authority of the sacredness of your birth experience. Whether it’s at home or within the system that’s unfortunately and often times unknowingly been designed to disempower the woman. It’s about YOU! Never forget.

If you’re an expecting father. Step up. Become the man capable of holding a deep space for yourself and others. Educate and get a hold of yourself. The experience of true love making begins and ends with LIFE and is found deep in the eyes of your partner. Hire a Doula for support.

If you’re an expecting Mom without a partner willing to step up to this level…

First, forgive and accept your partner in whatever shortcomings you feel they have around this. And then hire a Doula. Let them help and advocate for you. Especially in the hospital when the fight for power and control begins and the pain becomes too overwhelming to advocate for yourself. You CAN do this. You WILL find softness when softness is what’s needed. You WILL find strength and power when strength and power is what’s needed. Trust the process. The process is much older and wiser than you.

Your true beauty and strength is found in the PAIN of a natural childbirth. Embrace it. Become it. You are WOMAN! Understand this, and let them hear you roar!

Much love from the Mitchell’s ✌️❤️

-Joel Mitchell, Founder
renegadetherapies.org

08/31/2022

Highs and lows ladies and gentleman,

I’ve done drugs to make me feel more alive and drugs to kill the pain of being alive.
But nothing compares to the high of watching your wife free-birth your fifth child on your bedroom floor.

It’s still a blur as to be expected but some core memories are emerging…

-Late night love making

-A sleepless night of prodromal labor

-Stout cup of black coffee to save the day

-Dropping a breakfast plate on my wife’s foot which somehow broke her water

-Our kids ramping up their neediness all day

-A vi****or got involved at some point

-Active labor commencing around dinner time

-A teenager who couldn’t get home from work in time to help watch her siblings during contractions

-A Woman pushed to the edge of exhaustion.

-A face dunk in a bowl of ice water

- The roar of a WOMAN followed by a savage delivery of another perfectly beautiful baby boy washed in blood

-Tears and love

-Cord cut and quick Placenta anatomy lesson for the kids

-Weight, measurements, cord blood test

-More tears and love

Stellar ending to our longest day in our child rearing years to date

Baby is perfectly healthy, Mama is relaxed, pain free and feeling complete. Her well earned retirement is likely. Her portfolio is looking good.

God, I love this Woman!

Emanuel 🙏

Hallelujah 🙌

God did it for us again, Amen ✌️

Renegadetherapies.org