Reverse Brainwashing: The Goal of Rebuilding

Reverse Brainwashing: The Goal of Rebuilding

If you have been a participant at any of my speaking events, you know that three years ago today I removed myself and my child from a dangerous situation and unhealthy marriage. Many people (including family and friends) did not know the severity of the situation and...
What’s In a Name?: Choosing Your Words Wisely

What’s In a Name?: Choosing Your Words Wisely

Even when teased as a child, some of us would chant “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” However, as an adult, I don’t find that true at all. I was bullied and teased all through school and I was never able to follow my parent’s advice...
Living With Chronic Pain: How I Got My Life Back

Living With Chronic Pain: How I Got My Life Back

During one of the most stressful years of my life, while I was battling complications from Type II Diabetes, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Before I had visited the Rheumatologist, I thought it was just joint ailments and a touch of arthritis, since I was entering...
How I Was Taught NOT to Care About ‘Self-Care’

How I Was Taught NOT to Care About ‘Self-Care’

by Cheryl Denise Bannerman My brothers had just busted my bedroom’s glass closet doors and put three holes in the hallway walls. Their drug-induced fight started in my bedroom, continued down the hallway, and out the front door to the street in front of our...

Domestic Violence: The Ultimate Paradox

Your home should be a place of safety. Yet, in a month devoted to highlighting the pain and feelings of shame caused by domestic violence, for some it is the place of greatest danger. Each time the door closes, when the light goes out, when no one else is around to...

The importance of self-compassion

If you have ever had a period of clinical depression, or if you have struggled throughout your life with chronic depression, you know that this is more than just a period of sadness. Depression is well named. It pushes down on a person, it makes the world full of...