Focal Points Therapy

01/17/2025

ADHD can be very challenging to live with, but it is also a style of processing information that is very common and need not be pathologized and medicated unless the person with it wants that kind of support. Like all neurodivergencies, ADD & ADHD deserve to be supported and valued.

Adapting schools and workplaces for it can help far more

01/10/2025

Wisdom for coping with polycrisis trauma and stress, with an emphasis on climate anxiety and natural disasters. Truth is we can all use these tips for coping with our day to day stresses and personal traumas against the backdrop of large scale, long term stressors like climate change, racism, sexism, homophobia/transphobia, societal violence, technology, individualism, and the soullessness of late stage capitalism.

Climate emotions in the aftermath of a disaster, and for years to come

11/27/2024

03/22/2024

Happy Neurodiversity Week! 3/18-3/24

"The world needs all kinds of minds." -Temple Grandin

We shouldn’t need a famous person who’s made high profile contributions to society to help us understand something so simple and profound, but we do. And the point is not just to need and use neurodiverse minds for what they can do for neurotypical society. Our challenge is to truly respect, support, and learn about all kinds of minds and ways of being as one diverse society, not from a neurotypical-equals-normal-and-best position. Celebrate neurodiversity!

10/02/2023

In honor of my upcoming grief AND healing milestone and my ongoing passion for supporting other women living without moms, I'm launching a 7 session online peer support group FOR US. Beginning in November and ending in January, this group will cover the tender time of autumn, Thanksgiving, December holidays, and New Year's, all of which hold so many triggers around being without our moms. Take time to nurture yourself and connect with your mom and your community.

11/21/2022

Honoring all trans people whose lives have been lost in anti-trans acts of violence—as we mourn the latest additions to that tragic roster gunned down last night in our state of Colorado.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed annually on November 20th to memorialize those lives lost to anti-transgender violence and to shine a light on the persistence of anti-transgender violence.

10/11/2022

Happy Indigenous People’s Day! We need so much more than a day or a post to center the needs of native people and treat them as the foundation of our country that they are, but at the very least, let us celebrate the incredible vibrance and diversity of indigenous culture on this day of celebration.

Indigenous Peoples Day is Monday, October 10th. Take steps now to advocate for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in your city!

It's crucial Native communities and our allies fight for authentic, accurate, and contemporary representation of Indigenous peoples.

Check out the guide on our website: illuminative.org/indigenouspeoplesday

Photo credit: Ryan Redcorn (Osage)

10/01/2022

Self-Care Is For Everyone exists to make self-care and mental health reminders, resources, and experiences more accessible for everyone! At Self-Care Is For Everyone, we aim to remind our community of their inherent self-worth, normalize conversations around mental health, and encourage individuals....

07/21/2022

With so much that is challenging in the world right now, I want to share Howard Zinn's take on hope, which is not only indispensable, but grounded in reality--lest we feel like Pollyanas or guilty privileged people to let it in.

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

-You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train