Happy summer, everyone! I can't believe the year is half over. It seems like just yesterday we were making resolutions/setting intentions for the year to come. Some of us were making vision boards and others were taking it to the next level with action plans. 

Now, here we are just a couple of days shy of the summer solstice - one of my favorite days of the year - and it's an auspicious time to pause and take inventory. 
 
For those that aren’t familiar with the celestial event, summer solstice is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year, and from then on out the daylight hours grow incrementally shorter. 

I think it's the perfect time to reflect, celebrate and make changes as needed.
 
Here are some questions to think about as you begin reflection:

• Are you living a life in alignment with your own values? If not, how can you make small changes to increase alignment. 
• Are you making time to care for yourself in all your complexity? Again, is there a way to schedule more self-care into your schedule. 
• Have you celebrated your successes in all their forms? This is a big one! We often overlook or downplay achievements when celebration fuels us and keeps us motivated. 
• Have you noted lessons and areas of growth from challenging experiences? Also important! No matter how much we plan and live pro-actively, hard times are inevitable. However, the more we are able to identify lessons and own our experience, the more meaningful these experiences become and the more resilient we become.
• Is there something that you hoped to be working on this year, but somehow that project has been side tracked? If you've noted this, no need to shame or blame. It happens to everyone. It may be this project fell off the radar for good reason. Is it still important to you? If so, how can you start making incremental progress toward your goal?

 
After you've taken inventory, think about taking simple steps to reprioritize where needed. Schedule time for the things and people who matter; as well as assessing what supports you need to show up for the life you want to live. That support may look like therapy and coaching or may be rooted in spiritual practice, a support group, relationships, community or ideally a mixture of some of the above.

In my own life, I've just decided to work with a personal trainer because they will have the expertise I need to take my health goals to the next level. The right support is everything.
 
Most of all, it’s important to remember this process does not need to be shame-inducing or stressful. It can be creative and joyful as we pause, assess and re-plan accordingly. I'm here to help!
 
Till next time,
Jessika

 Anyone who is familiar with my work as a therapist knows that I am a fan of interventions that (a)  focus on client strengths and (b) are creative and often outside the box. I tend to pull from a variety of modalities and approaches in my work from well-researched practices such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, to emerging therapies (i.e. those that have been around for a long while, but have only recently been accepted by the mainstream mental health community) including nature-based and expressive arts interventions. I even utilize - wait for it - tarot cards.

Yes, it's true. I'm a licensed clinician and I utilize tarot with clients when they are interested and when the intervention is clinically indicated.

But before I share how I use the elusive tarot in session, let me backtrack a bit because I want to share that I first stumbled upon what would become my first tarot deck  when I was just thirteen years old, wandering around the back of a bookstore with my mom. She had no idea then the seed she was planting!

I was immediately smitten with the imagery of the cards; the universal experiences and personality types represented; and the feeling of entering another world filled with symbol and metaphor. Although, my long-term draw to the practice of tarot was the honing of and reliance on intuition. This is to say that by using the cards, reading the traditional meanings and drawing my own associations, I would gain insight into questions and situation that had me feeling stuck. As it turned out, I didn't need someone else to tell me what I already knew deep down, I just needed a way to access it. 

In my therapy practice, I offer clients the opportunity to do the same with my support and guidance. This is especially relevant to women and girls I work with who are often learning to trust themselves as well as explore identity and cultivate self-esteem. 

If you're intrigued and wanting to explore the world of tarot its easy enough to pick a deck based on which imagery you are drawn to. Most bookstores carry tarot decks, but there are also a host of unique small-batch decks sold on Etsy.com and other online sites.

Once you've picked your deck, an easy way to start practicing is to pick a card a day and let yourself engage with the card. Take a deep breath. What symbols do you see? What is the wisdom or the lesson of the card? Do you feel resistant or open?

Have fun with it! I'll be curious to hear how it goes ...

Till Next Time,
Jessika









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