Gaslighting: To manipulate someone by psychological means into questioning their own sanity. Gaslighting is real, it is dangerous, and it is a very powerful tactic. I should know. I was preyed upon by a narcissist for four years. It was the most horrific, dreadful, frightening relationship I had ever been in. Most people who use this

I have been through many a break up in my long life. I have been both the instigator and the one left behind. I have occasionally been part of a mutual decision to part ways. In my younger day’s most of the “dating” was done within the pack. We would pair up, be “the couple”,

With all the Hollywood buzz about the upcoming Oscars, I began to wonder what if our lives had annual awards. Would we notice our epic wins, our memorable and noteworthy dramas and comedies? Would there be a category for most valuable contribution to humanity? What would our original score be or mean? But what if

Read part I of Ricks Story here Read part II of Ricks Story here Read part III of Ricks Story here       Each time that I left Portland, thinking that was the last time being with Joseph alive, something would happen were he would be just fine and go out to Burger King

“You might as well face it you’re addicted to Love”   I really love that song. But it also kinda makes me cringe because it reminds me of how I used to think about love. I wasn’t addicted to love. I was addicted to being owned, admired, shown off. Plastic love with no depth. I’ll

“Should I worry my son can’t say things like other children?” a mother asked me. Pretty much all I heard was “Should I worry?” I knew what she meant, but her question was “SHOULD I WORRY?” We think worry is passive, but the truth is worry is like a brush fire with one thought igniting

Review written by Scott Brassart In the addiction/recovery world, infidelity is more common than most of us would like to admit. Many of us cheated while we were active in our addiction. Sometimes we managed to fuse our substance abuse with sexual activity, so our addiction and our cheating traveled hand in hand. Others of

I popped open the lid of the shower gel and breathed in the scent. Paris, 2004, The George V hotel. It was the scent of money and luxury, definitely pre-2008. It was a shower gel I’d taken as a souvenir from the hotel and now 12 years later, I was instantly teleported to smelling, seeing, hearing,

  I remember the first time that my father looked at me—really looked at me. I was in his car when my eyes caught a ray of sunlight pouring in through the windshield. He said something like, “Oh! Wow, baby girl. You really have light brown eyes!”  For the first time in my life, I

Raising a teenager can be challenging enough on a good day, let alone when they suffer from mental health and or addiction struggles. We long for our “little girl or boy”, the sweet and compliant child in awe of their parents. But, every parent who has lived through the teen years can tell you about