Wildflower's Movement
Mindful Peer Support, Self-Awareness, And Radical Wellness
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WILDFLOWERS’ MOVEMENT is a collaboration of giving and receiving mindful peer support, self-awareness, and radical wellness.Philosophy: Eco-Consciousness
Being eco-conscious of our own body, mind, and spirit is at the heart of being eco-conscious of our environment… And being eco-conscious of our environment is being eco-conscious of our body, mind, and spirit… for they are ONE in the same…
All are welcome. We believe a true community that embraces diversity is the solution.
The Wildflowers’ Movement is a collaborative space that utilizes the process of giving and receiving mindful support to practice self-awareness, cultivate radical wellness, and celebrate diversity.In vast meadows thriving with life, flowers bloom as a natural consequence of the environment. While perhaps of the same species, each blossom retains its own nature, and opens its colors to the sky as though in offering to the great cycle of existence.In the Wildflowers’ Movement, it is our philosophy that as individuals, we resemble the meadow flower. Though we are distinct as people we are not separate, that though our expressions of life fluctuate we can still become a part of the lustrous whole by recognizing our interconnectedness and inner beauty through self-awareness and community building.The Wildflowers’ Movement accepts and welcomes people with diverse histories and backgrounds, especially those who have experienced health issues firsthand. It is our contention that experience should not be formulated as a pathology of symptoms, but rather as a wide array of wealth and knowledge to be gleaned from our first hand encounters with life that have informed us in unique ways. It is through sharing our insights and understandings that we come to strengthen our community amid potentially alienating environments and circumstances, that we positively build on the self in the manner of spiritual alchemists who turn the lead of experience into the gold of realization and awareness.You are welcome to the group for whichever reason you feel you should be. No matter how alienated you are by the world around you, no matter how out of step or disconnected you might feel, you are not alone. We believe that true community which embraces diversity is the solution.
Self-acceptance is the key to recognizing who we truly are.Self-awareness is having a clear perception of our personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Self-awareness allows us to understand other people, how they perceive us, our attitude and our responses to them in the moment.Self-consciousness, including super-consciousness, is the mental activity through which we feel a sense of being or existing as a unique and total individual. This notion comes out of reflexive philosophy and its derivatives that hold that the human faculty of consciousness, apparent to itself and having itself as its object, marks the primacy of consciousness in the definition of the human psyche. This sense of identity, this initial subjective stance, is established gradually, being linked with the general development of the human mind in its relationship to itself and the outside world.Self-awareness and self-consciousness, and super-consciousness are to be cultivated daily in order to maintain our self-acceptance.
Wildflowers' Movement
next meeting:
Friday June 9, 2023
Noon to 1pm Pacific Time
There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation than for bread.
– Mother Teresa
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
– William James
The key to all problems is the problem of consciousness.
-Inscription inside an Egyptian temple
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
-Helen Keller
The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything. Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
-Albert Einstein
Wildflowers’ Movement
About
Wildflowers' Movement is the soulchild of Denise Maratos, who also describes "radical wellness", as in cultivating wellness from the roots up. She began the group in 2010, with a few loyal attendees who understood the importance of peer support. She has been the support group facilitator for many diverse groups of people. She had been working in the healthcare field before experiencing her own extraordinary experiences over 25 years ago. After being diagnosed with an array of psychiatric “disorders”, she survived the entanglement of the psychiatric system, and embarked upon a journey of healing and self-discovery. She identifies as a psychiatric survivor. She does not identify with any psychiatric label given to her. She identifies as a Wildflower.
Denise is a registered psychological associate in Beverly Hills, CA and conducts online therapy. She is a PhD candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute, conducting research on extraordinary experiences, otherwise known as numinous experiences, often called “psychosis”, “schizophrenia”, “schizo-affective”, “dissociative”, etc. by the biomedical model. She is an Educator with a Ed.M. from Harvard University, and hopes her research informs the public about the fictional book called the DSM. She is on the executive committee of ISPS-US and she has been a speaker for several mental health advocacy conferences. If you wish to get in touch with her, please email her at: [email protected]. You may also view her website at Depth Emergence and see her profile at Psychology Today, Denise Maratos.
"I spent years and years trying to find a word or term to define myself with an occupation, profession, or job title until one day I looked at the way a flower grew, it had no notion it was a flower, all it needed to know was that it could keep growing towards the light. Grow towards the Light"
-unknownlightofjewels.com
Sandra Cheng, Co-Leader & Website designer of Wildflowers' Movement
Sandra Cheng is a primary support group facilitator who was working at Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Services with National Alliance of Mental Illness when she met Denise, who at the time was one of the trainers for UCLA Mindful Self-directed Recovery. Her lived experience with schizo-affective disorder as rediagnosed in 2002 and schizophrenia disorganized type (2000) after two psychiatric hospitalizations gives her invaluable insight to the work. She is also an artist who graduated with an MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts in the animation department in 2005. "PedantPhilia", an award-winning short film was based on real life circumstances related to symptoms of her first psychotic break. She designs and maintains the websites for the Wildflowers' Movement and other organizations. If you wish to get in touch with Sandra, please email her at [email protected]
Peer Support & Mentoring
Peer support is a collaboration of giving and receiving help founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of what is helpful.Peer mentoring or coaching is a service offered by an experienced peer to a peer that needs support and coaching through a difficult period, day or moment.Peer support is not based on psychiatric models and diagnostic criteria. It is about understanding an other’s situation emphatically through shared experiences and perspectives. When people find affiliation with others they feel are ”like” them, they feel a connection. This connection, or affiliation, is a deep, holistic understanding based on mutual experience where people are able to “be” with each other without the constraints of traditional (therapist/client) relationships.
Peer to peer support is offered through the group as a whole. If you are interested in individual peer mentoring services, we do have peer mentors & coaches who are experienced and available to offer their services. The rates are negotiated between you and your peer mentor. For information, please email Peer Mentor.
Be sure to include your email, phone number, day and time preferences and your needs, so that we are able to recommend the appropriate peer mentor to you.
The Los Angeles Times (12/18/96) reported that an eight year study showed that peer-support alcoholism treatment was as effective as professional treatment. Many peers say it is even more effective than professional treatment.
There is hard evidence which establishes a link between participation in peer support groups and improvement in symptoms of physical and mental issues. Dr. Louis J. Medvene, UCLA
A study reported in Behavior Therapy (1985) compared a professional weight loss program with peer support groups and found those in the peer support groups lost equal amounts of weight for a fraction of the cost.
Creative Arts - Specializing in Peer led activities for therapeutic artistic expression of self
We are ALL WILDFLOWERS in this Meadow Called "Life"
Photography Endorsed by Wildflowers Movement
SLIDE 1 - Untitled Beauty, by Member Photo close up of Flower buds
SLIDE 2 - In the Midst by Member Photo Landscape of Hilltop with mist
SLIDE 3 - Sky Line Dotted by Member Photo Cloudy Sky with Building & Tree
SLIDE 4 - Out of the Blue by Sandra Cheng Photoshop
SLIDE 5 - Star Clusters by Sandra Cheng Photoshop
SLIDE 6 - Space Flowers by Sandra Cheng Photoshop
Art Endorsed by Wildflowers Movement
Vision boards are a way to discover the hidden symbols that are buried within our psyche. Exploring new territories and opening the pathways of the unconscious, areas that have been blurred by guilt, shame, anger, and fear, often thought to be too foreign or forbidden to enter, reveal themselves, uncovering the mysterious abyss in each of us.
Vision boards include images representing symbols that appear in our unconcious, unveiling trauma, but also dreams and may embrace various themes. This one includes elements from my extraordinary states of consciousness including my near death experiences.
Vision Board by Member
Vision Board by Member
To Die Before you Die, Vision Board, by Member
#art-therapy #healing #near-death #numinous-experiences
#psyche #symbols #transpersonal-states #unconscious
#vision-board #visions
Vision Board by N.R.
Vision Board/ Wheel of Gratitude by SC (Happy Anniversary, Thank you, Rock & Roll, Grapes, Love you, Puppy Dogs, Congratulations, and Joy are drawn around a round shape, mostly with stickers and zen doodles, including some hearts at the core.)
Film & Drama Endorsed by Wildflowers Movement
Healing through the arts
“We heal by entertaining our psyche.” – Denise Maratos
CRAZYWISE, Consciousness and CultureWhy Crazywise? Why Now?Most of us know someone affected by mental issues, whether through a family member, friend or our own personal experience. According to The National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 5 Americans will suffer from a mental health crisis in their lifetime. Most will occur before the age of 24. It’s no secret that the vast majority of these friends, neighbors and relatives will never find effective, lasting treatment. It’s a sobering fact that more than half of U.S. prisoners and a quarter of America’s homeless suffer from mental health issues.To counter this trend, survivor-led activists and advocates are emerging to challenge the current system. These movements include successful treatment approaches like Open Dialogue in Northern Finland. In addition to Open Dialogue, the film explores new organizations and programs including: Peer-to Peer counseling, the National Empowerment Center, Stand Up for Mental Health, the Hearing Voices Network, Patients Like Me and Mad Pride. These programs emphasize hope for recovery, acceptance, mentorship and relationships.It struck Phil that this was the same model of mentor-based relationships he’d witnessed and photographed in Africa, Asia and South America among indigenous cultures. He found some of these insights buried deep in the timeless shamanic traditions of remote indigenous cultures around the world.Few people are aware that alternative treatments exist due to a lack of mainstream media coverage. This film will present successful options that show how the mentally ill can recover without lifelong medication and stigmatization.
Cutting OutAD4E (A Disorder for Everyone) presents a play by Viv Gordan Company, Cutting Out, which is also an act of rebellion and resistance.Part performance, part installation, part collective act of resistance, 'Cutting Out' tells the story of Viv's journey from abuse to activism in a co-created installation of paper dolls. Holding hands in solidarity, they bear witness to 11 million adult UK survivors of child sexual abuse.Following 'Cutting Out's hugely successful tour in Autumn 2021, AD4E, supported by Onlinevents, is proud to host an online showing and a Q&A session with Viv Gordon and her team.A panel discussion will take place following the play. Panel contributors confirmed so far are Dr Jacqui Dillon, Dr Akima Thomas OBE, Sophie Olson and Viv GordonWe hope to see you on May 12th, 2022 for this unmissable evening.
Register
Stopping TrafficJoin us on April 13th, 2006 at 6.30 p.m. for a tour of Leigh McCloskey’s art discovering the Hieroglyph of the Human Soul and a performance by Mary Pat Gleason, as she explores her journey with health in STOPPING TRAFFIC$20/ticket, use Pay Pal at 310.457.5398, call Carla McCloskey to RSVP, or the Wildflowers’ Movement at 951.638.WELLat the OLANDAR FOUNDATION in Malibu, click here for directions
Humor Endorsed by Wildflowers Movement
When Life Just Blows, by Robin Williams
Transcript:
But there's all these drugs... zoloft...
prozac...
I want to have one drug
encompassing it all,
call it
I don't want to do anything
the closest thing to a coma you'll ever be
I'm sitting here in my own dung
But the scary thing about drugs like that
is they always have some horrible side effect
like may cause artificial insemination
what do you mean
like there's a product called olestra
which is a very strange thing olestra
what is that girl what's said on the
little side of the chips it said may
cause anal leakage that's not a side
effect if my
I think that's an effect really I think
in a triangle
bad day is it going
hi doing Bob oh justa little anal leakage Tedoh you want to get out of the pool right now you you
Dorothy Parker- "Of Course I talk to myself.
I like a good speaker, and I appreciate an intelligent audience."
A Parenting ClassA psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with four young mothers and their small children. “You all have obsessions,” he observed.To the first mother he said, “You are obsessed with eating. You even named your daughter Candy.”He turned to the second mom. “Your obsession is money. Again, it manifests itself in your child’s name, Penny.”He turned to the third mom. “Your obsession is alcohol and your child’s name is Brandy.”At this point, the fourth mother got up, took her little boy by the hand and whispered, “‘Come on, Dick, this guy has no idea what he’s talking about. Let’s go pick up Peter and Willy from school and go get dinner.”
Click Here to Listen to the Audio Version- Psychiatric Office Answering Machine
| Psychiatric | Office | Answering | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| If you are | obsessive- | compulsive | press 1 repeatedly |
| If you are | Co-dependent, | please ask someone | to press 2 for you |
| If you have | multiple | personalities | press 3, 4, 5 and 6 |
| If you have | dissociative | identity disorder | pull yourself together and press on |
| If you are paranoid | we know who you are | and what you want | Stay on the line so we can trace your call |
| If you are | delusional | press 7 | your call will be transferred to the mother ship |
| If you are | schizophrenic, | listen carefully | a small voice will tell you which number to press |
| If you are | manic-depressive, | it doesn’t matter which number you press – | no one will answer |
| If you are | dyƧlexic | press | 96969696969696 |
| If you have | a nervous disorder | please fidget with the hash key | until a representative comes on line |
| If you have | amnesia | press 8 | state your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number and your mother’s maiden name. |
| If you have | post-traumatic stress disorder | slowly and carefully | press 000 |
| If you have | bi-polar disorder, | please leave a message after the beep or before the beep. | Or after the beep. Please wait for the beep |
| If you have | short-term memory loss, | press 9. | If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. |
| If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. | If you have short-term | memory loss, | press 9. |
| If you have | low self esteem, | please hang up. | All our operators are too busy to talk to you. |
DEPRESSED?
OVER WORKED?
JOB SUCK?
UNAPPRECIATED?
FAMILY PROBLEMS?
MONEY WORRIES?
Well here is a pill for you!
FUKITOL®
1000mg
When Life Just Blows....FUKITOL® !
STAND-UP COMEDY FOR OUR WELL-BEING
POSTED APRIL 30, 2014, AT CRAZYWISE BY PHIL BORGES, POST BY CRAZYWISE CO-DIRECTOR, KEVIN TOMLINSONOne of the most audacious and exciting forms of treatment for our health is laughter. David Granirer of Vancouver B.C. who lives with depression, is a counselor, stand up comic, keynote speaker on mental health and author (The Happy Neurotic, How Fear and Angst Can Lead to Happiness and Success). David founded “Stand Up for Mental Health“, an 8 week stand-up comedy program to people with mental illness as a way of building self-esteem and fighting public stigma.
Stand Up for Health
POSTED AT TED.COM, JUNE 2011, JOSHUA WALTERS
Just Crazy Enough
Joshua Walters is a comedian, poet, educator and performer. He incorporates elements of spoken word and beatbox into his shows in a mash-up of comedy, intimate reflection and unpredictable antics. In the last two years, Walters has performed at theaters and universities throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East.At TED's Full Spectrum Auditions, comedian Joshua Walters, walks the line between mental health and mental "stealth." In this funny, thought-provoking talk, he asks: What's the right balance between medicating craziness away and riding the manic edge of creativity and drive?
Joshua Walters is a comedian whose work explores language, creativity, beatboxing and madness ...
Why you should listenHis eclectic combination of performance disciplines and activity as an educator in mental health has given Walters a national platform and audience. In 2002, Walters co-founded the DBSA Young Adults Chapter in San Francisco, one of the few support groups specifically for young adults in the country. As a facilitator, Walters developed humor to address the subject of mental health, reframing it as a positive. Walters speaks as a mental health educator and has engaged in mental health advocacy at conventions and in classrooms nationwide.
THE 12 WARNING SIGNS OF GOOD HEALTH(If several or more appear, you may rarely need to visit a doctor.)1. Regular flare-ups of a supportive network of friends and family.
2. Chronic positive expectations.
3. Repeated episodes of gratitude and generosity.
4. Increased appetite for physical activity.
5. Marked tendency to identify and express feelings.
6. Compulsion to contribute to society.
7. Lingering sensitivity to the feelings of others.
8. Habitual behavior related to seeking new challenges.
9. Craving for peak experiences.
10. Tendency to adapt to changing conditions.
11. Feelings of spiritual involvement.
12. Persistent sense of humor.Adapted from a posting on a computer bulletin board in Waldport, Oregon, author unidentified. Reprinted in Whole Earth Review (Winter 1994), a compendium of brash thinking and lofty ideas.
"I hope we're friends until we die.
And then I hope we stay ghost friends
and walk through walls
and scare the
Poetry Endorsed by Wildflowers Movement
SPIRITUAL WARRIORLife offers us the opportunity to become a Spiritual Warrior.
A warrior is one who bravely goes into those dark areas within
themselves to ferret out the Truth of their being.
It takes great courage, stamina and endurance to
become a Spiritual Warrior.
The path is narrow, the terrain rough and rocky.
You will walk alone: through the dark caves,
up those steep climbs and through the dense thick forest.
You will meet your dark side. The faces of fear, deceit, and
sadness all await your arrival
No one can take this journey but you.
There comes a time, in each of our lives,
when we are given the choice to follow this path.
Should we decide to embark on this journey,
we can never turn back…. Our lives are changed forever
On this journey, there are many different places we can
choose to slip into and hide. But the path goes on.
The Spiritual Warrior stays the course, wounded at times,
exhausted and out of energy. Many times, the Warrior will
struggle back to their feet to take only a few steps before
falling again.
Rested, they forge on,
continuing the treacherous path.
The journey continues. The Spiritual Warrior
stays the course. Weakened, but never broken.
One day, the battle, loneliness and desperate fights are over.
The sun breaks through the clouds; the birds begin to sing
their sweet melodies. There is a change in the energy.
A deep change within the self.
The warrior has fought the courageous fight.
The battle of the dark night of the soul is won.
New energy now fills the Warrior.
A new path is now laid before them.
A gentler path filled with the inner-knowing
of one who has personal empowerment.
With their personal battle won, they are filled with joy.
A new awareness that they are one with the Spirit beams
as they go forth to show others the way.
They are not permitted to walk the path for others.
They can only love, guide and be a living example
of the Truth of their being.-Anonymous– See more at: https://makeheaven.com
During this holiday season, many of us struggle with feelings of sadness and despair. We often feel left out of our families and emotions of loneliness or abandonment may be penetrating our minds. We may feel very alone. These feelings will pass.This poem is dedicated to those struggling with depression, grief, and/or sadness during this holiday season. May brighter days come and light your way…
WaitWait, for now.
Distrust everything, if you have to.
But trust the hours. Haven’t they
carried you everywhere, up to now?
Personal events will become interesting again.
Hair will become interesting.
Pain will become interesting.
Buds that open out of season will become lovely again.
Second-hand gloves will become lovely again,
their memories are what give them
the need for other hands. And the desolation
of lovers is the same: that enormous emptiness
carved out of such tiny beings as we are
asks to be filled; the need
for the new love is faithfulness to the old.Wait.
Don’t go too early.
You’re tired. But everyone’s tired.
But no one is tired enough.
Only wait a while and listen.
Music of hair,
Music of pain,
music of looms weaving all our loves again.
Be there to hear it, it will be the only time,
most of all to hear,
the flute of your whole existence,
rehearsed by the sorrows, play itself into total exhaustion.By Galway Kinnell
The Dry SalvagesTo communicate with Mars, converse with spirits,
To report the behaviour of the sea monster,
Describe the horoscope, haruspicate or scry,
Observe disease in signatures, evoke
Biography from the wrinkles of the palm
And tragedy from fingers; release omens
By sortilege, or tea leaves, riddle the inevitable
With playing cards, fiddle with pentagramsOr barbituric acids, or dissect
The recurrent image into pre-conscious terrors—
To explore the womb, or tomb, or dreams; all these are usual
Pastimes and drugs, and features of the press:
And always will be, some of them especially
When there is distress of nations and perplexity
Whether on the shores of Asia, or in the Edgware Road.
Men’s curiosity searches past and future
And clings to that dimension. But to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint—
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetime’s death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.
For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts. These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.
Here the impossible union
Of spheres of existence is actual,
Here the past and future
Are conquered, and reconciled,
Where action were otherwise movement
Of that which is only moved
And has in it no source of movement—
Driven by daemonic, chthonic
Powers. And right action is freedom
From past and future also.
For most of us, this is the aim
Never here to be realised;
Who are only undefeated
Because we have gone on trying;
We, content at the last
If our temporal reversion nourish
(Not too far from the yew-tree)
The life of significant soil.-T.S. Eliot said of Metaphysics
The Questions came again...
"Who am I?"
"What am I?"
"Do I have a self?"As I listened, I began to write...
This poem was written during a numinous state of consciousness. My psyche was wrestling with the words to describe it, as the words just flowed out onto the paper from my hand, as if they were coming through me, as if I were a medium or a channel for those parts of me to be expressed.
Channeling PoetryThis poem was written during one of my numinous states of consciousness. I was trying to find words to express myself once again, as my psyche was in distress and wrestling with language. I knew that my experiences could not be described with literal words. A sudden urge to pick up a pen and some paper came to me. This was not the first time this had happened. Since I was very young, the hand knew to write to transform my suffering. It is often a calling, a calling to write something... and then the words just flow out onto the paper from my hand, as if they are coming through me, as if I am a channel for those parts of me to be expressed. Those are parts that my intellect cannot really comprehend. Those parts are a part of me, as I am part of the whole, but they are often not seen with the common eye. They are beyond my body in the collective unconscious.
WHO IS SHE
Who is this woman next to me?
Who is she I ask, answer me!
Is she mad or is she sad?
Is she sane or is she insane?
shall I let her be or kill her pain?
Who is this woman next to me?
Who is this paranoid bitch full of envy?
Is she a Goddess or a Muse?
Is she Aphrodite or is she Zeus?
Will she destroy me or will she lift me up
to the clouds, so I will drop
into the abyss, into the chaos
to feel at home at last
a place where my heart can rest
forget about what has past
and not be troubled by these fires
which burn my psyche to ashes with desires
Who is this woman next to me?
Is she Artemis or Antigone?
Will she fight until the bitter end?
Or will she give up and let her spirit bend?
Again, I ask the Gods for harmony and again
I ask not to be put up to this test
I asked to see and hear all there is...
Now I see... there’s too much grief
and too much loss
too much melancholia
too much shit to get through
and too many bridges to cross
Between you and me, is it really worth it?
This underworld journey
Between you and me, will you guide me?
Tell me
Between you and me, is there really an affinity?
You say there is and I have faith...
You say that’s how it is and how it will forever be...
in order to have these gifts bestowed upon me...
and so I say to Thee and to this woman beside me,
“We are One. Together we stand for all to see,
whether we are in Hades, Paradise or soaring in the galaxies,
it’s clear to me that I am all three:
You, me and this woman next to me.”
By Denise Maratos, October 2013
Dedicated to the Love of My Life, Panayota Maratos,
My Mother, who is the Kindest Soul I have ever encountered.
Poetry TherapyIf there are supernatural powers, it is through the cracked self that they enter. - William James Exceptional Mental States: The 1896 Lowell LecturesI have written many poems but after writing this one, I began to have an interest in poetry therapy. It is the use of language, symbol, and story in therapeutic, education, and community-building capacities. It relies on the use of poems, stories, song lyrics, imagery, and metaphor, to facilitate personal growth, healing and greater self-awareness. It also includes: bibliotherapy, narrative, journal writing, metaphor, storytelling, and ritual.
National Association for Poetry Therapy
(NAPT) https://poetrytherapy.org/
About Denise, the Poet of "Who is She"While going through my own healing, and especially in moments of distress, poetry found me from a young age. I have used poetry therapy while working with UCLArts and Healing in community clinics to conduct art therapy with service users and while working with youth at the LA LGBT Youth Center and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In 2010, I founded Wildflowers' Movement which promotes mindful peer support, self-awareness, and radical wellness. It focuses on healing through expressive arts including poetry and mindfulness modalities. I have found that even individuals who do not talk can write the most profound poems. I believe that poetry heals our souls.
My interests include playing with my wonderful toddler, walking my dog, going to the beach and hiking in nature, yoga, writing, and poetry. If you are interested in my art and research, please view my interactive posters entitled "TO DIE BEFORE YOU DIE" (art) and "Extreme States: Breakthroughs or Breakdowns" (Research)If you wish to get in touch with me, please email me at [email protected]
You may also view my website at depthemergence.com or see my profile on Psychology Today.
Thank you very much for taking the time to view my projects.
Resources - Wildflowers’ Movement
Videos - Wildflowers’ Movement
Relating to Voices using Compassion Focused Therapy
with Dr Charlie Heriot-Maitland
May 23, 2023 ISPS-US webinar
Compassion for Voicesa 5-minute animated film which outlines a compassion-focused approach for relating to voices. The film was made by Charlie at King’s College London in 2015, with input from Dr Eleanor Longden, who provided the narration.
Literary sources (Books & other Publications) - Wildflowers’ Movement
Gatherings & Contact Us - Wildflowers’ Movement