When you start up therapy, one of the first things the therapist will do is warn you that things may get intense and they may get worse before they get better. This is part of the ‘informed consent’ medical practitioners need to provide to patients or clients prior to providing services. In my experience, it’s…… Continue reading When your healing becomes a threat
Back in the day when I used to say, “I’m an activist,” there were always a number of people who interpreted that to mean: confrontational. A lot of people would expect me to be really harsh towards people who don’t share my beliefs. They would react with surprise when I wasn’t spoiling for a fight,…… Continue reading Blame the System
I started engaging with the disability community when Atti was a toddler. It was starting to become clear that he was going to be significantly impacted by Cerebral Palsy and my work as a community organizer showed me that if you need to meet some needs you should talk to the people directly affected. So…… Continue reading Lessons from the disability community
I tried everything. Isn’t that how every testimonial starts? “I tried everything until I found this one solution that I just happen to be selling to you now for the low price of…” But you cannot buy self love. You can buy pleasure. Or luxury. You can buy access to medical care. You can buy…… Continue reading New values to fight for us all
The values I was raised with got me here: so ashamed of my body that the thought of someone seeing it filled me with actual terror. Convinced that my body did not deserve rest, or food, or kindness; that it was base and crass and needed to be overcome. Desperately trying to master its needs…… Continue reading New Values for a New Relationship