René R. Huerta, Sr. LMFT, Doctorate Counseling Psychology student

For your daily contemplation.

Consider the beautiful grace of your existence as a man. How can you make today memorable for yourself and those you love? Perhaps it’s through acts of kindness, heartfelt conversations, or simply being present.

From Illuman

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For you daily contemplation.

Being a man is like standing at the crossroads of strength and vulnerability. It’s about embracing the King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover within. Describe your manhood in a single word. Is it resilience, compassion, or perhaps wisdom?

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This is what grief is.

A hole ripped through the very fabric of your being.
The hole eventually heals along the jagged edges that remain. It may even shrink in size.
But that hole will always be there.
A piece of you always missing.
For where there is deep grief, there was great love.
Don’t be ashamed of your grief.
Don’t judge it.
Don’t suppress it.
Don’t rush it.
Rather, acknowledge it.
Lean into it.
Listen to it.
Feel it.
Sit with it.
Sit with the pain. And remember the love.
This is where the healing will begin.

🕊️ Navigating Grief: Understanding and Healing After Loss 🕊️

Losing a loved one is something that can rattle the very foundation of our lives. Grief is not simply a series of emotions; it's a journey that can shake our resiliency and capacity to cope. It's important to realize and remember that grief is a very personal experience. There is no "right" way to grieve. One day, emotions can vary from sadness and anger to feelings of guilt and even relief—often in the same day. Here are a few thoughts on navigating this difficult time:

Let Yourself Feel: There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Embrace whatever feelings you may have going on. Each of your feelings carries information in it and processing them allows the healing process to begin.

Seek Support: Talking about your loss is very helpful in and of itself. Your friends, family, or a good therapist will provide a safe place to let out your feelings.

Establish Rituals: Simple rituals, like lighting a candle daily, or visiting a special place, bring comfort and a sense of continuity.
Take Care of Yourself: Grief can be exhausting. Try to maintain routines that take care of you: get enough rest, eat well, and exercise.

Be Patient With Yourself: Grieving takes time. It's okay to have good days and bad days. Healing does not mean forgetting. It means healing the loss into your life and finding a way to move forward.

If you experience your grief as overwhelming, or if it gets in the way of your functioning, you should seek professional help. Therapy is a guided journey through grief and offers not only the pathway to understanding pain but also strategies to manage pain and take steps forward.

To all those who are grieving out there, know that this is not a path you have to take alone. Help is at hand, and it's all right to ask for it when you're ready.



🕊️ Navegando el Duelo: Comprensión y Sanación Tras la Pérdida de un Ser Querido 🕊️

Perder a un ser querido es una experiencia que puede sacudir profundamente los cimientos de nuestras vidas. El duelo no es solo una serie de respuestas emocionales; es un viaje que puede poner a prueba nuestra resiliencia y capacidad para afrontar.
Es importante recordar que el duelo es una experiencia profundamente personal y no hay una "manera correcta" de enfrentarlo. Las emociones pueden variar desde tristeza y enojo hasta culpa y alivio, a veces todo en un solo día. Aquí algunas reflexiones sobre cómo navegar este tiempo desafiante:
1. Permítete Sentir: Acepta todas tus emociones, sean las que sean. Cada emoción lleva información y procesarlas permite que comience la sanación.
2. Busca Apoyo: Hablar de tu pérdida puede ser sanador. Grupos de apoyo, amigos, familiares o un terapeuta pueden proporcionar un espacio seguro para expresar tus sentimientos.
3. Establece Rituales: Rituales simples como encender una vela diariamente o visitar un lugar especial pueden proporcionar consuelo y un sentido de continuidad.
4. Cuida de Ti Mismo: El duelo puede ser agotador. Intenta mantener rutinas que nutran tu bienestar, incluyendo descanso suficiente, nutrición adecuada y ejercicio regular.
5. Ten Paciencia Contigo Mismo: El duelo toma tiempo. Está bien tener días buenos y días malos. Sanar no significa olvidar—significa integrar la pérdida en tu vida y encontrar una manera de continuar.
Si encuentras que tu duelo es abrumador o si interfiere con tu capacidad para funcionar, considera buscar ayuda profesional. La terapia puede ofrecer un camino guiado a través del duelo, proporcionando no solo comprensión, sino también estrategias para manejar el dolor y avanzar.
Para cualquiera que esté experimentando un duelo, recuerda que no es un viaje que debas recorrer solo. La ayuda está disponible y está bien pedirla cuando te sientas listo.
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Since its inception in 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been a cornerstone of addressing the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions.

Dream Weavers PsyD Cohort!

Thank you Better Together Mental Health Services for putting this on!

"Very often, a mystical experience will address some issue that the person is dealing with in his or her life. They’re not random experiences. They seem to be tailored to the person’s psychology. They’re called numinous experiences, and Jung wrote that these experiences have a healing effect, they can make one feel better about all kinds of complexes. He was talking about numinous dreams, but I think the same is true for psychedelic experiences. Of course, these kinds of experiences can also make you psychotic. So there are some people who should not use these. There are some contraindications." -Lionel Corbett, Ph.D.
Lionel Corbett will be presenting at the “Individuation and Psychedelics Conversations with Jungian Analysts,” a joint IAAP and Pacifica Graduate Institute Conference, Dec 15-17, 2023, which will feature twenty discussants. You can read more in the "Waking Dreams" interview with Lionel, up on our website now: https://bit.ly/3PMiWRO

Spiritual Alchemy is the act of inner transformation. It is healing and freeing the inner parts of ourselves that need to be changed. By transforming these parts of us, it leads to inner liberation, the freedom from our fears, beliefs that no longer serve us, soul loss, and other self-destructive disorders.

Regarding working with myth and dreams.

"It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation." Joseph Campbell

Psychotherapists are the modern masters of the mythological realm. Their role is precisely that of the Wise Old Man of the myths and fairytales whose words assist the hero through the trials and terrors of the weird adventure. They are the one who appear and points to the magic shining sword that would kill the dragon-terror.
The dangerous crises of self-development are permitted to come to pass under the protecting eye of an experience psychotherapist initiated in the lore and language of myth and dreams, who then enacts the role and character of the ancient mystagogue, or guide of souls, the initiated medicine man of the primitive forest sanctuaries of trial and initiation.- Dr. Ifat Peled (My Depth Psychology professor)

You Don’t Just Lose Someone Once,
You lose them over and over,
sometimes many times a day.
When the loss, momentarily forgotten,
creeps up,
and attacks you from behind.
Fresh waves of grief as the realisation hits home,
they are gone.
Again.

You don’t just lose someone once,
you lose them every time you open your eyes to a new dawn,
and as you awaken,
so does your memory,
so does the jolting bolt of lightning that rips into your heart,
they are gone.
Again.

Losing someone is a journey,
not a one-off.
There is no end to the loss,
there is only a learned skill on how to stay afloat,
when it washes over.

Be kind to those who are sailing this stormy sea,
they have a journey ahead of them,
and a daily shock to the system each time they realise,
they are gone,
Again.

You don’t just lose someone once,
you lose them every day,

for a lifetime.

Credit - Donna Ashworth Words

Today begins the New Mexico MROP 2023! We bow to all the 55 courageous men who will be arriving to participate in this transformative journey. Together we discover the sacred light & sacred shadow within - Everything Belongs. We set aside what we think we “already know” about life, ourselves and others so we can experience LIFE from a more authentic and sacred perspective!

Giovanni Perez, Illuman Weaver, receives a blessing before the Men's Rites of Passage & Umbrales - New Mexico.

The infamous tissue box lecture.

I love asking my masters in counseling students this question.

When a patient cries do you hand them a tissue?

Most of the time they say of course we do!!

Then I ask we do?

They then reply, yes??? Their answer becoming more of a question at this point.

I then ask them to think about what happens for them when someone passes them a tissue.

They state, we clean ourselves up, we stop crying or cry less.

Exactly, I add. When you hand your patient a tissue, it stops their process. In a very indirect way, you’re asking them to stop crying, to clean themselves up.

So, my rule of thumb is always to have tissues in sight and reach; when my patients are ready to use them they will. However, I will never offer my patients tissues.

Next time your therapist doesn’t offer you a tissue, you know why ;) I promise we aren’t keeping our tissues away from you. ❤️

Umbrales 2023!

Please remember that you are not alone.

Taking care of your mental health, can start with one small thing. During try one of these activities each day and share your progress with us. Taking care of your mental health one the most important things we can do for ourselves, and there are things we can do each day that will make a difference.

Celebrate responsibly.

https://illumansocal.org/events/mens-rites-of-passage-umbrales/

Fresno expert says you can make a difference amid high-profile suicides FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The perception of a loved one’s mental health and well-being can be overlooked as sometimes we often cannot believe that people close to our lives could be …

Also, be kind and patient with yourself.

Boundaries are important to protect you from others and to protect others from you.

Here you are welcome and free to be You! Let us work together, find new paths, and heal.

¡Aquí es bien recibido y libre para ser el verdadero tú! A que trabajar juntos, encontrar nuevos caminos, y sanar.

Wampanoag wisdom, "To find your true strength, look deep into the heart of your worst enemy."

& You Have ALWAY BEEN ENOUGH!