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Each month I post an update called Tuning In on what I'm up to and content I would like to share with you. Most of the links on this post are informational, but a few are affiliate links to help maintain this website. Instead of making New Year's resolutions, I choose a word to represent an intention for the coming year. In 2023, my word was "roots." At the beginning of the third year of a global pandemic, I was feeling very disconnected from myself, routine, and the people in my life. After a year of haphazardly exploring roots, I have developed little baby roots, just below the ground. Nevertheless, I will choose a new word for 2024 and see where it takes me. In the Chinese horoscope, 2024 is the The Year of the Dragon. Scooter's veterinary acupuncturists sent us this message in an email: "Year of the Wood Dragon 2024 symbolizes energy, renewal, inspiration, and innovation in everything you do. It's a great year to start new projects, explore new possibilities, and create value for yourself and others. You have the potential to achieve your dreams and make a positive impact in 2024." Inspired by the dragon, 2024 will be the year of "momentum." Last year in January, I wrote "First roots, then wings." In 2024, I'm ready for my wings. What is your intention for 2024?  Lincoln Park West Seattle Upcoming Events:
Facilitating:
Attending:  Happy New Year from Lincoln Park West Seattle What I'm Reading Related for Therapy: No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard Schwartz, PhD "Is there just one 'you'? We've been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don't match the ideal of who we think we should be. Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz's research now challenges this 'mono-mind' theory. 'All of us are born with many sub-minds--or parts,' says Dr. Schwartz. 'These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us--and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.'" What I'm Reading for Fun: Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister "Can you stop a murder after it's already happened? It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger." (I'm a proud member of the sloth reading club, so what I'm reading will not always change monthly) Vintage Art:  Abba album cover Encouragement: There is no "worthiness if..." or "worthiness when..."—there is simply inherent worthiness. Period. Full stop. Quote: "In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act." - Caroline Caldwell
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Each month I post an update called Tuning In on what I'm up to and various content I would like to share with you. Most of the links on this post are informational only, but a few are affiliate links that help me keep up my website. Events: Facilitating:
Publications:
National Days:
National Months:
Dear Valued Community, Lately, I've been thinking a lot about stuckness and how to move stuckness in the body. Stuckness can show up in a lot of different ways, sadness, overwhelm, and lack of motivation. It's a frustrating feeling and can lead to discomfort in the body. This is a very interesting time in our history. We are possibly starting to feel slightly safer after two years of survival mode. That is a very confusing place for our body to navigate. Like tentative newborns, maybe we are not quite sure what to do with all this input. It's overwhelming, so we may shut down sometimes. That's what the body is designed to do. However, it can feel a lot like stuckness, a lack of motivation, or a lack of forward progress . When it comes to stuckness (and everything else), I don't think we give ourselves enough credit. I think often times we are moving, it's just that the movement is very small or isn't moving us forward quite yet, so we end up feeling stuck. Give yourself credit for the small movements forward, that is what leads to big shifts over time. Perhaps as we settle in to the fall season, start turning inward and slowing down for the winter months ahead. Slowness and stuckness are two very different things. Allow yourself to move slowly and see what happens. With Gratitude, Kerry  Latte Art at Cafe Champagne near Pike Place Market What I'm Reading Related for Therapy: My Inner Sky: On Embracing Day, Night, and All the Times in Between by Mari Andrew "From New York Times bestselling author Mari Andrew, a collection of essays and illustrations, divided into phases of the sky—twilight, golden hour, night, and dawn—that serves as a loyal companion for life's curveballs. A whole, beautiful life is only made possible by the wide spectrum of feelings that exist between joy and sorrow. In this insightful and warm book, writer and illustrator Mari Andrew explores all the emotions that make up a life, in the process offering insights about trauma and healing, the meaning of home and the challenges of loneliness, finding love in the most unexpected of places--from birds nesting on a sculpture to a ride on the subway--and a resounding case for why sometimes you have to put yourself in the path of magic. My Inner Sky empowers us to transform everything that's happened to us into something meaningful, reassurance that even in our darkest times, there's light and beauty to be found." What I'm Reading for Fun: The Plot: A Novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz "Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written―let alone published―anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot." (I'm a proud member of the sloth reading club, so what I'm reading will not always change monthly) Projects: Self-development book on trauma and worthiness, submitting haiku & poetry, ongoing content for various publications. Considering next steps in career training: psychedelic assisted therapy, HeartMath training, biblio/poetry therapy training, or yoga teacher training.  Fall flowers in a community garden in Greenwood, Seattle Poem: The Only Obligation by Rumi Today a new madness is trying to set us free, tearing open our sacks. Some nameless Bedouin Has bought Joseph again for eighteen coins. A narcissus sprouts through the ground. Our souls, having pastured all night on jasmine, leap up for the dawn. The world is new, and you have been chosen to say this poem, because you are the one with the love bites on you. Your love has brought us to silence, where the only obligation is to walk slowly through a meadow and look.  Sunset at Lowman Beach Park, West Seattle Quote: "Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations." - Unknown Each month I post an update called Tuning In on what I'm up to and various content I would like to share with you. Most of the links on this post are informational only, but a few are affiliate links that help me keep up my website. Events: Facilitating:
Publications:
National Days:
National Months:
Dear Valued Community, It happened. After two and a half years, I finally contracted Covid-19. I am beyond grateful I had two boosters and that the virulence of the virus seems to have declined. I continue to be in awe of the times we are living through and how we continue to do the very best we can in such difficult circumstances. With the CDC announcing the end of quarantines, I feel compelled to share some insight into the collective grief of the chronic illness community. From early on in the pandemic, when people raged against the simple act of wearing a mask or opted out of a life-saving vaccine, people who are chronically ill felt the familiar pang of being disposable. While I was fortunate enough to have survived Covid-19, some people are not able to risk how their body would react to the virus. I recently went to a picnic with many people who have chronic illness. It was held outside, we all agreed to do a rapid test that day, masks were optional (but respected), we all brought out own food, and social distancing came naturally. We talked about how difficult this time has been for our community and the ways we are still behaving differently because of risk. To this community of people, I simply want to say that I recognize the pandemic is not "over" or past tense for you. I recognize that you still have to go to great lengths to protect yourself and that is valid. I know it is hard to watch others return to "normal," when your life is not normal. I see you. With Gratitude, Kerry  Lake Roesiger, Snohomish, Washington What I'm Reading Related for Therapy: My Inner Sky: On Embracing Day, Night, and All the Times in Between by Mari Andrew "From New York Times bestselling author Mari Andrew, a collection of essays and illustrations, divided into phases of the sky—twilight, golden hour, night, and dawn—that serves as a loyal companion for life's curveballs. A whole, beautiful life is only made possible by the wide spectrum of feelings that exist between joy and sorrow. In this insightful and warm book, writer and illustrator Mari Andrew explores all the emotions that make up a life, in the process offering insights about trauma and healing, the meaning of home and the challenges of loneliness, finding love in the most unexpected of places--from birds nesting on a sculpture to a ride on the subway--and a resounding case for why sometimes you have to put yourself in the path of magic. My Inner Sky empowers us to transform everything that's happened to us into something meaningful, reassurance that even in our darkest times, there's light and beauty to be found." What I'm Reading for Fun: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus "Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo. Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist." (I'm a proud member of the sloth reading club, so what I'm reading will not always change monthly) Projects: Self-development book on trauma and worthiness, submitting haiku & poetry, ongoing content for various publications. Considering next steps in career training: psychedelic assisted therapy, HeartMath training, biblio/poetry therapy training, or yoga teacher training.  Sunflowers in Seattle Poem: The Living Doubleness by Rumi I ask my heart, Why do you keep looking for the delights of love? I hear the answer back, Why will you not join me in this companionship? This is the conversation of being a human being, the living doubleness. Cool and in motion like water, placed and passionate like fire. Subtle as wind, yet obvious as a wineglass poured to the brim, spilled over and drunk down all at once for toast. Like rain, you make any image more vivid. Live a mirror, you can be trusted to hold beauty. There are mean people who see only meanness reflected in you, but they are wrong. You are pure soul and made of the ground. You are eyeshadow, and the kindness in eyelight. A ruby from no telling which mine, let yourself be set in a seal ring. Lift the sword-discernment that rules a thousand compassions. Shams in the love shape of Shams, spring source of invisible meaning.  Lake Union, Seattle, Washington Quote: "healing comes in waves and maybe today the wave hits the rocks and that's ok, that's ok, darling you are still healing you are still healing." -Ijeoma Umebinyuo |
WelcomeI'm Kerry (She/Her/Hers) and I am a licensed therapist, group facilitator, poet, writer, & speaker. This is a place to acknowledge and validate our suffering and trauma, while also learning how to turn toward aliveness and spaciousness. 
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