WellnessWithHolli

Week One - Self-Shaming: Increasing Our Understanding Healing Begins By Increasing Our Understanding Shame.   Just the sound of the word is heavy.   Shame .   It is laden with debilitating emotions which cause most individuals to recoil at its emergence into our lives.   Renowned researcher and author  Dr. Brene' Brown   has courageously tackled the topic of shame and brought it into the comforting light of conversation. Dr. Brown defines shame as the following: “The intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging – something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection.” (blog, 2013/01/14) In examining the definition of shame more closely, it is important to focus on Dr. Brown's  words: “The intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy...” When individuals internalize the belief that...

We are having a conversation about friendships! For the purposes of this series, we are looking at healthy friendships as a necessary component of any relationship such as a best friend, a family member, a co-worker, or a life-partner. In week one, we examined the quality of being   Easy ,  and we discussed the importance of friendships being Authentic, Honest , and Trustworthy. In week two, we addressed how healthy friendships need to be  Equal   , and we focused on three essential elements: Balance, Reciprocal , and Respectful . In order to get the most out of our series, please go back and read Easy and Equal . Today, we are moving onto the third quality to consider in cultivating healthy friendships – Enriching. Are my friendships Enriching? This question might sound odd or silly! And yet, it is an important one. Because of negative portrayals of friendships such as arguing, fighting, backstabbing, bullying, cyber bullying, and other aggressiv...

Over the past few weeks, there has been quite a bit of buzz regarding the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. Because of my interest in youth, my background in cyber bullying, and my years of advocating for victims of all kinds, I wanted to watch it. I did. Today's blog is not about the controversies surrounding the series or the pros or cons of it. It is about one behavior - shaming - which permeated the entire story-line.  Many of our kids are navigating environments of shaming, both in their real lives and their on-line lives.  It is our duty as parents, guardians, educators, health care professionals and anyone who cares about our kids' well-being to ensure... "shaming is no  more." When most of us were growing up,we saw kids being made fun of. We "put down" other kids or played jokes on them. Or, we were the ones who were teased and taunted. At the same time, most of us were able to establish friendships and we learned about trust, loyalty, and mutual...