CreativeTherapyTools

Addicted And Pregnant

Posted on January 20, 2020 by RichardB

by KARI ANN RINKER. Article from NPR
I bought my first and only pregnancy test when I was 26.

At the time, I had been doing a lot of meth. I was fortunate if I remembered to eat one meal a day. Refilling my birth-control prescription had become just another missed detail in a life that had ceased to have much meaning for me.

I was an addict, and I was staring at two very bright pink lines on a stick.

I showed the test to my boyfriend. “What are we going to do?” I asked. He replied, “Have a baby, I guess.”

He wanted to see the pregnancy through. I was much less certain about motherhood. How would the pregnancy affect my drug and alcohol use? I don’t recall ever feeling as vulnerable and afraid as I did then. Read more click here.

Posted in addicted, Addiction, pregnancy, RecoveryWellness | Tagged addict | Leave a comment

American Wirehair Coloring Page

Posted on January 18, 2020 by RichardB

CPCT-American Wirehair-TR.jpg

Posted in Coloring Pages | Tagged American Wirehair Coloring Page | Leave a comment

The Growing Edge

Posted on January 17, 2020 by RichardB

Every moment of life invites us to open our eyes to what Howard Thurman calls “the growing edge” of life, and aspire to grow with it. As he says, nothing embodies the growing edge better than a newborn — or, I’d say, a very young child.

A wonderful and interesting article from PARKER J. PALMER. Click here for more.

Posted in Meditation, RecoveryWellness, Relaxation, Wellness | Tagged beginning, mindfulness | Leave a comment

Clients find healing, self-expression through restorative art program

Posted on January 15, 2020 by RichardB

Hung on the walls of the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, you can see — and even purchase — Jim Lucas’ saving grace.
The formerly homeless Fort Collins man is a recovering addict who has been clean for four years after a 15-year struggle with meth, his “drug of choice.” He hasn’t had a drink in 11 years. He found his way off the streets around the same time he became clean. 99863-12294804_1654036424877096_324062485663564059_n
“Funny how that works out,” he said.
The struggle to go back to methamphetamine and substance abuse is always there, but Lucas, 53, has the best sober companion he could ask for: art. He’s one of around 15 artists participating in ArtSpe@k, a restorative art program at the Murphy Center in partnership with Front Range Community College’s community studio that encourages Murphy Center guests to tap into their creative side. For more click.

Posted in Emotions, Self expression, Wellness | Leave a comment

Integration & Mindfulness

Posted on January 13, 2020 by RichardB

Mindful awareness can be considered as a way of being, more than something that involves our “doing” something. Engage a certain “state of mind” that has the range of qualities we have heard repeatedly even though there is no fixed and final definition of mindfulness: How we pay attention (different from awareness), on purpose (but it doesn’t have to be done with active effort, it can in fact be an intention that happens “automatically” as a habit of being, not a consciously thought out plan of carrying out a way of focusing attention) to the unfolding of present moment experience (but, in fact, we can pay attention to memories of the past or plans for the future—but do so…) with a sense alertness, attention to detail, and with kindness and compassion. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE @ PSYCHOLOGY TODAY