“I need to take an emotional breath, step back, and remind myself
who’s actually in charge of my life.”
~ Judith M. Knowlton

What women say when they arrive in counseling…
“I have lost myself in caring for everyone else.”
“I am anxious more and more of the time and don’t feel like I am coping well with others.”
“Taking care of my aging parents is extremely stressful, especially considering our past and my childhood.”
“I need to find out who I am now that the kids are older.”
“My marriage is flat, unfulfilling and I don’t know what to do.”
“I can’t shake this grief and depression after losing a loved one.’

As women, we reduce the essence from our lives when we cling to thinking patterns that erase our inspiration and dull our creativity. When we get stuck in emotional limbo, our lives become blurred and lack meaning. We “demean” ourselves when we repeat behaviors that fatigue and build resentment. The vivid essence of who we are often fades into the fabric of everyone else’s needs. We become tired, lose our identity and feel as if something is missing. We suffocate our joy when we hold our breath and refuse to take risks.

Self- Essence…it can be yours!

A lifelong commitment to enhancing yourself

Courage to find your voice   

Learning about happiness

An intolerance for being less than content

Being true to one’s own true nature

A belief that you are fundamentally necessary in the world

Honoring one’s distinctive character, gifts and talents

Seeking out a unique purpose and act on it

A belief that you are indispensable to yourself

Protecting oneself; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual

Sharing goodness, laughter and compassion with others

Being accountable for one’s actions and self-sufficient

Captivated by the joy of the moment, valuing each day

Possess a sense of meaningfulness in relationships

Tuned in to the depth of living and the senses that go with it.

“Women…often need to return to their past, to the women who were part of that past, to girlhood when a self existed that was individual and singular, defined neither by men, nor children, nor home, almost as though with layers of roles and responsibilities they have covered a real person and must now peel back those layers and reclaim the self that was just emerging in adolescence.”
~ Mary Helen Washington