Elbow Tree Counseling

10/26/2025

“I’m convinced most problems disrupting our lives and impeding healthy psychological function are the direct result of how we have been seen, soothed, safe and secure. Or, as is often the case, how those needs have gone unmet in our lives.” -Michael Cusick

What We Need for Secure Attachment Michael Cusick, RTS's co-founder and CEO, has written a new book titled Sacred Attachment - but what does attachment really mean? In this excerpt from the book, Michael explains the four needs that contribute to attachment: to be seen, soothed, safe, and secure. I....

10/06/2025

My dear friend, Jason English, made this beautiful short film three years ago and we have made it a point to link on the home page of our counseling practice websites because it is the clearest metaphor for resilience I have ever heard. Still hits.

I used to have this 150 year old farmhouse that had a mulberry tree in the side yard. It produced literally thousands of mulberries despite having trauma in ...

10/06/2025

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”

― Ernest Hemingway

09/19/2025

Lots going on at Elbow Tree these days! Our team is seeing clients up and down the Florida coast. Here’s a little peek of entry and waiting area in our SoFlo office in Fort Lauderdale.

09/01/2025

Our and operations still growing in depth and strength with offices in St. Augustine and Jacksonville Beach. This weekend we dialed in a new outpost in Fort Lauderdale to begin serving SoFlo. Also launched our south Florida focused website which is officially up and running too at www.elbowtreesoflo.com.

11/21/2024

It’s an EMDR kind of morning!

10/10/2024

Grateful to be spending this blustery hurricane day attending the Church Mental Health Summit! So many interesting and thoughtful workshops on areas of pain, suffering, grief, lament, wholeness, trauma, disaster response, crisis response, and so many more. www.churchmentalhealthsummit.com

10/08/2024

Thinking of so many friends, family and strangers who have been and will be affected by this storm.

As we lean into this newest storm, knowing it won’t be the last...there are many unnamed storms like it we will face ahead.

I am thankful we can lean on a couple core truths…(1) God holds all things together even when chaos ensues. (2) We are God’s beloved and He cares for us. (3) We are God’s hands and feet who can bring God’s goodness and kindness to our neighbors who are struggling and suffering.

What a Hope we can find even as we know there is pain and struggle coming our way…we are never alone!

10/08/2024

Thinking of so many friends, family and strangers who have been and will be affected by this storm.

As we lean into this newest storm, knowing it won't be the last...there are many unnamed storms like it we will face ahead.

I am thankful we can lean on a couple core truths…(1) God holds all things together even when chaos ensues. (2) We are God’s beloved and He cares for us. (3) We are God’s hands and feet who can bring God’s goodness and kindness to our neighbors who are struggling and suffering.

What a Hope we can find even as we know there is pain and struggle coming our way…we are never alone!

10/04/2024

We’d love to sit with you in your story.

10/01/2024

Storm reflections for friends and family...

These words won't clean up the mess but may they be of some good for your soul in the midst of the mess.

Have you been as glued to post Hurricane Helene news like I have as pictures and videos surface from areas impacted in the big bend in Florida and western North Carolina? ​My parents live on an old...

09/26/2024

For the last couple years, I have been studying grief through the lens of resilience.

So I have been reading the following texts;
• Resilient Grieving by Lucy Hone
• A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sitser
• A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
• The Way of Transition by William Bridges

So, I have been designing a reflective resource for myself and my firefighter and first responder clients wrestling with unattended heartache (aka grief and loss).

Meet the "Grief Resilience Assessment Tool" or GRAT. It is a work in progress.

May it be a helpful resource in your own journey through loss. Also, shoot me some feedback. I'd appreciate hearing what was helpful, what wasn't helpful and what else might be helpful.

Based on "Resilient Grieving" by Lucy Hone and "A Grace Disguised" by Jerry Sittser ​ Grief is a profound and multifaceted emotion that doesn't adhere to a set timeline, often resurfacing with...