(903) 399-5131 | jamie@innerrevolution.org

Jamie English

My WordPress Blog

  • Jamie English
  • Home
  • Services
    • EMDR
    • Sandtray Therapy
    • Emotional Transformation Therapy
    • LCSW Supervision
    • INTENSIVES
  • ABOUT
  • Getting Started
    • Appointment Request
    • FAQs
    • RATES & INSURANCE
  • Resources
    • Recent News
    • Other resources
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Client Portal

July 30, 2021 by Jamie English Leave a Comment

Ocean Waves

Have you ever heard the idea of seeing emotions as waves that wash over you? Depending on how deep in the water you are, sometimes the waves hit your feet, and sometimes you think the waves are going to knock you over. And generally, even if you get knocked over, you can get back up.

I recently went to a water park with my husband. Two things I like to do at a water park are the lazy river and the wave pool. When we were doing the wave pool, I was close to the shore a couple of times, and the waves knocked me down. I could not stop laughing. I tried to get up and would fall right back down. This continued over and over, with me laughing real belly laughs the whole time.

My response still amuses me, and I wonder if there is a way to take this metaphor to our emotions. Because don’t our emotions sometimes knock us down? Can we find a way to have fun with it? I’m not sure I know the answer or how to make this happen, but I loved the lived metaphor of the waves knocking me down and tickling my funnybone!

Filed Under: Acceptance Tagged With: acceptance, mental-health, metaphor, mindfulness

July 16, 2021 by Jamie English Leave a Comment

Gratitude Practices

This blog post is about gratitude. If you want to click away, I get it. I feel like most of us know that gratitude is a good idea. Quite a few of us may even see it as a practice that helps us further along the recovery journey. But then, many of us, knowing these things, struggle with practicing gratitude. I have even had gratitude practices over the years that were successful, yet here I am… working on getting one going again.

Maybe one of my most successful gratitude practices was when I listed 3 to 5 things that I was grateful for every day. I shot for 100 days, did that, then kept going…for more than a year. It was nice and became a habit. I would notice things throughout the day that I wanted to add to my gratitude journal.

One year, I made a collage of some of the top things I was grateful for that year. I ordered it from an online photo printer and titled it “Epic Gratitude 2013”. I had intended to make it a yearly ritual but have one done the one year….so far.

Others just have a list of things they are grateful for, and they add to it and see how many things they can add. Or you can have a gratitude jar that you add slips of paper, writing out what you are grateful for. Maybe you take turns with a friend or family member sharing what you are grateful for.

Whatever appeals to you to turn gratitude into a practice, find a way to make this a practice and see how it impacts your life. What ideas do you have? What have you tried that has worked?

Filed Under: Growing, Psychoeducation, Self-Care, Uncategorized Tagged With: acceptance, gratitude, mental-health, mindfulness, self-care

April 16, 2021 by Jamie English Leave a Comment

What’s on Your List?

Thanks to Facebook, I was reminded that in 2009 I posted 25 random facts about myself, except I posted 100. According to my post, I cut and pasted from a personal blog from 2007 (with some updates). Reading this list from over a decade ago, I found it a little bit fun and nostalgic. I was a smidge saddened to see some diet culture showing up, but only a couple of posts related to that. Other things had changed because we are ever-changing beings, learning and growing and evolving, right? That is a good thing!

Back to the list, I think this could be a fun activity to remind ourselves that we are so much more than the size of our bodies. My personal blog had 100, which I then posted (and updated) on Facebook a couple of years later. Let me list a few here from that list (but now with more commentary):

  1. I can make balloon animals. (I think I can still do this, but I haven’t in a really long time. I don’t even think I have the materials anymore.)
  2. I was born in the same hospital that John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead in. (My original claim to fame. I’ve used this one several times when playing two truths and a lie, you know that game?
  3. I have like almost NO hand-eye coordination; When I am at the eye doctor, and he does that test where I am supposed to see double….I NEVER see double….I’ve baffled a few eye doctors over the years; Speaking of eye doctors, when I don’t have any corrective lenses on at all, I can’t see the E. (This was 3 in one, but they seem related.)
  4. I read several books at one time. (This drives my hubby nuts that I do this, but I think he’s accepted it over the years.)
  5. I know how to crochet and cross-stitch, but it doesn’t relax me in the least, so they are chores when I decide to take up a project. (This is still true, and I have tried to find a way to make it relaxing. I want to enjoy these activities more.)
  6. As a kid, I had several guinea pigs as pets. (I still love them, but I have graduated to a cat lady now. A video sometimes goes around of two guinea pigs, one eating and the other staring off into space, having an existential crisis. I so love that video.)
  7. I generally eat all of one food on my plate before going on to the next….I mess with people and say I eat in alphabetical order, but I don’t. (I haven’t paid attention to this, but I am gonna guess I still do this.)
  8. I was a breastfeeding peer counselor for a short while when my youngest was a baby. (I love being able to come alongside anyone who needs a little support.)
  9. I cannot curl my tongue, although the rest of my family can. (This was referring to my husband and kids. I am not sure about my family of origin. I still cannot. I had another one on the list for trilling my R’s, which I cannot, but my husband and kids can. I wonder if these are related?)
  10. I have a strange ability to identify voices in cartoons and commercials. (Not always, not 100%, but it is there and can be fun. There’s a commercial or two that I keep hearing Bryan Cranston voice over. Have you heard it?)

I think it is fun to notice things about yourself. What would be on your list?

Filed Under: Acceptance, Self Awareness Tagged With: fun, list, mental-health

April 9, 2021 by Jamie English Leave a Comment

There Is No Ladder

Fifteen or so years ago, I heard a speaker say that we spend so much of our time evaluating the people around us, putting them on a ladder, placing value on them, and comparing our worth and where we belong on this ladder. I was listening and recognized myself and my thoughts in what he was saying. This was in a group where I definitely felt like an imposter and that I somehow squeaked in, and as soon as they figured out that I wasn’t supposed to be there, the facade was over….and I’d be booted out.

Do you recognize this? Since then, I have been in a group of friends here and there and discussed this ladder. If put on the spot, with a group of folks, rank them on that ladder. While it feels awkward at first, everyone usually agrees that they could rank a group on a ladder. In fact, we often have already done this subconsciously. You may be thinking, ‘what are the criteria for ranking on this ladder?’ and I am here to tell you there are so many things. None of that actually matters because the speaker talking about the ladder didn’t stop at discussing how we put everyone on a ladder.

The truth is, there is no ladder. We have made the ladder up. It does not exist. We spend so much time putting others on a ladder and seeing if we can do something to move up on this imaginary ladder. Because of this, we miss out on being present in the circles and groups, enjoying the connection. Sometimes it steals the joy from our everyday. What would you do with all the energy you spent figuring out where you are on a ladder? Take a deep breath and see the ladder disappear into thin air. Everyone on the ladder floats to equal ground. That includes you. What will you differently now?

Filed Under: Self Awareness Tagged With: acceptance, mental-health, philosophy

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 43
  • Next Page »

Jamie English



(903) 399-5131
jamie@innerrevolution.org

2080 N. Hwy 360, Suite 430
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

Contact
Request Appointment

Send A Message

By submitting this form via this web portal, you acknowledge and accept the risks of communicating your health information via this unencrypted email and electronic messaging and wish to continue despite those risks. By clicking "Yes, I want to submit this form" you agree to hold Brighter Vision harmless for unauthorized use, disclosure, or access of your protected health information sent via this electronic means.

Office Hours

Office Hours are Available by Request
Request An Appointment
Office near: Arlington, Bedford, Hurst, Euless,Irving, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Kennedale, Mansfield
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Find Our Office

Contact Information

2080 N. Hwy 360, Suite 430
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

(903) 399-5131
jamie@innerrevolution.org
Request Appointment

A Therapist Website by Brighter Vision | Privacy Policy