Author: William Bishop, LPC, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor
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Why Democracy Failed
This will be the beginning of a large selection of post concerning the evolution of our systems of government. Our country is hurting… and I want to help in the way that I can. My hope is that we can start moving towards evolving our Government’s operating system to more effectively meet the needs of…
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What is the purpose of Marriage?
In this post I will share some of the variables that can be experienced from a life long commitment or marriage. The purpose is to create somewhat of a road map to help you and your partner to identify the strengths of your bond and those areas that could use some attention. This could also…
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interregulation – a simpler explanation | regulating communication
For the sake of usability I am going to attempt at a simpler explanation of how communication can cause mutual regulation between two people – Interregulation or co- regulation. Interregulation is when two peoples’ emotional connection to each other causes an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system thereby making both parties feel relieved… connection is…
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It is only fear
Fear used to be super useful on a day to day basis… it kept us from allowing our curiosity to pick up deadly reptiles and such… it kept us in caves when big things were growling… and lurking sure, I guess fear is actually still pretty useful in that it keeps us from walking out…
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Attunement Exercise
In building an empathetic ability it is very important that people first advance their ability to attune to another person. I will briefly explain attunement, then I will offer a practical – easy to use – intervention.
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Wind Blown Hair (Music Post)
Quick Summary: This is a song that I wrote in 2006ish (can’t honestly remember) that playfully uses sounds and images to paint a feeling. The theme surrounds the wisdom that can be faintly experienced by mindfully holding attention on nature and the seasons while trying to put perception in a space of timelessness. There is…
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I'm not alone (Music)
Quick Summary: This is a song that I wrote in 2010 about accepting the peace of my current restful space. I was in the process of building up my private practice after about 8 years of working in community mental health. During the building time I was practicing Jiu Jitsu for hours a day. At…
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Shed Your Old Skin (Music)
Quick summary: This is a song that I wrote in 2008 about the need to change… fundamentally. I was in a time of extremely heavy stress do mostly to my job placement working with children who had (and often still were) experiencing unthinkable trauma. After a period of time of intense burnout/vicarious trauma I started…
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Come to Carry us Home (music)
Quick summary: This is a song I wrote in 2010 as I sat in a rocking chair nervously waiting for the first phone call from my biological parents. The song is about the confusion surrounding identity that results from one’s (my) contemplation about adoption. The first section is the emotional roller-coaster and the second is…
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Parenting Teens with Diabetes
Quick Summary: I will offer two super easy techniques that I use in family therapy to assist a family in structuring itself to best meet the diabetes management needs of a teen. My wife is a senior research coordinator for diabetes and because of such I chose to specialize in assisting families who have a…
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Stopping unwanted thoughts and daydreams
Quick summary: you have quite a large degree of control over where you keep your attention but often there is an exceedingly appealing reward for keeping our attention on the thoughts and imaginary scenarios, which are the source of our dis-ease and stress. The other day in Colorado I had three hours to myself…
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Feedback loop in a Couples interaction
Quick summary: In a Couples interaction there tend to be dynamics that are reoccurring which spiral out of control and lead to a vicious cycle in which resolution in highly unlikely. I will offer a tool to be used by a therapist to help a couple in isolating and reflecting upon their cycle. Once the…
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Boy of the Fall (music post)
Quick Summary: This is a song that I wrote originally in 2002ish – but reworked in 2008ish. Music is my means of re-centering… generally I start with a poem and add instrumentation. This song concerns many topics and hovers around the double binds inherent in the choices me make. Fall is the season of my…
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Is Depression the Result of Self-Centeredness?
In this post I will be laying out a hypothesis for how the US’s value of freedom and individualism may be affecting our national depression rates.
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Feelings are important in growing consciousness – Existential and Mindfulness Based Emotional Reflection Therapy
Accepting your emotional reality and holding an awareness of those feelings helps us to be conscious of how we are currently being influenced … understanding this influence opens up the possibility to use reflection to guide your actions towards your best interests and towards the most ideal interaction patterns.
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Reflection and Psychotherapy
Reflection is the ability to hold a stimulus in the present moment without reacting automatically. In a state of reflection, a person can notice or observe the presence of a thought or feeling that they are experiencing… noticing or observing can then lead to two different reflective actions; either the person can continue to observe…