By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

Spring is the time of the real new year. In the mainstream world, we label the new year as Jan. 1, but that “new year” is really a just a matter of turning the calendar page.

In the season of spring, however, we actually experience the new year in our bodies. It is feast for all of our senses.  The weather lightens. The dawn arrives earlier, and the days grow longer. New green sprouts push their way through the soil, claiming their place in our lawns, gardens and forests. Soft buds begin to make their presence known, ready to unfurl into a new season. We feel the warming breeze, and our eyes adjust to the deeper greening of the land.

In this season, we can feel new energies rising within us, much like the sap that is rising in our sister and brother trees. The indigenous people, as well as people in other lands, find ways to celebrate and welcome this new cycle and new life.  So do we -- watching for the first rust-chested robin, the arrival of the white snowdrops and the multi-color crocus.

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

Welcome to my new practice space!

Experiential psychotherapy and coaching  are different than your typical talk therapy and brainstorming coaching with markers and easels. We practitioners who use action methods and experiential psychotherapies use floor space, props, pillows and other "supplies" in our work with people and groups.

The props -- which may include chairs, stools,  mats, scarves and cloths, small figures, simple musical and sound instruments, and other items -- assist in stepping directly into  the problem or situation rather than just talking about it. People invariably find that the experiential approach helps them develop fresh insights and feel dramatic and useful shifts that never come with analysis, list making and the usual ways we tend to think about things. In other words, stepping into our experience has transformative power.

 (By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

Stephan Hausner is the author of an amazing book Even If It Costs Me My Life: Systemic Constellations and Serious Illness.

As a master facilitator and teacher of Family and Systemic Constellations, Hausner has become internationally renowned for specializing in illness and health, particularly working with illnesses that seem resistant to conventional medical treatment.

I haven’t yet had the chance to study with Stephan, although I have read his book (twice!) and include it on my reading list for my trainees. And now I’m in the middle of watching a wonderful-wow five-part documentary produced by Ali Mezey about his profound work.

In the documentary series, Stephan shows how transgenerational trauma influences illness and how hidden loyalties and entanglements to the ancestral system hinder physical healing. It is designed for people who want greater insight about their own illness or the illnesses of people in their lives. It is also an excellent resource for professionals of all kinds who want to work more effectively with people who are ill.

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP
 
Words have power.
 
(So be careful about what you think about your spouse, your friends, your enemies, yourself and everyone else.) In other words, notice what you're thinking.
 
Masaru Emoto, the late Japanese scientist, demonstrated the power of words with his experiments years ago when he pasted labels of "love" and "gratitude" on some jars of water and "hate" and "blasphemy" on others.
 
He chilled the water, then took pictures of the freezing water crystals with a high-powered microscope. The water with the uplifting words made beautiful snowflake-like crystals; the others with the words like "hate" were blotchy, discolored and malformed.
 
I've been fascinated by these reports for years and recently was inspired to start my personal experiment with a take-out box of leftover white rice from a local Chinese restaurant. The experiment seems especially pertinent now, as we struggle as people and as a country with these feelings in our personal lives and in the larger collective.

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

Here we are, looking at the end of 2017. It has been a tumultuous year for many people -- personally, politically and socially. Depending on where we live and who we are, the happenings of 2017 may still be stirring within our minds, bodies, hearts and spirits.

However, there is still time to make a good end to 2017:
 
Remember all of the painful and difficult experiences that took place this year. There may have been shock, distress and feelings of disbelief. Or perhaps there was great chaos, and feelings of deep disappointment, worry or fear. Write these feelings and experiences in your journal (or on a piece of paper if you don't keep a journal) and say one by one, “I acknowledge and agree that this happened.”

If you wish, light a candle to recognize and acknowledge all of these events.

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

Every year, I notice that people confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day. This confusion extends not only to the general public, but also to newspaper and media reporters — and even some politicians, who tend to talk a lot about veterans on Memorial Day.

I'm noticing this confusion as I open this morning's newspaper and see a multitude of advertisements thanking veterans for their service.

Although it is always good to thank veterans for their service to their country -- and I say that as the wife of a Vietnam veteran and a daughter of a father who served honorably in the U.S. Navy -- that is not what Memorial Day is about.

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

It's Spring, so I had fun putting together this gift basket for the silent auction at the upcoming 2017 conference of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama from May 4-7 in Clearwater, Fla.

I call this basket "Warm Up Fun," and it includes an assortment of items, including  masking tape, Tarot cards, small sand tray items, a music CD, a journal and a package of colorful plastic eggs.

Here's the protocol for creating a warm up with your group with the eggs:

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

I have a new name.

Not me – a new name of my website. You may have already seen it – I changed it just the other day to www.realtruekaren.com.

Many people use their first and last name as their website name, which certainly makes their site name unique. But when you have a name that’s hard to spell and hard to pronounce – for some people! – then it makes sense to look for something else. I’ve had a few other web names in the past, all good ones, but this one is better.

Real. True. Karen.

When you sign up to work with me in some way – as a coach, trainer, psychotherapist, mentor or supervisor – you get me. The real me, the actual me, the true me.

By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

Today I would like to tell you a little story about a family of mice. It isn't a pretty story, but I promise that it will be meaningful in your own life, or in the lives of people you know.

Once upon a time, there was a group of male mice living in a science laboratory that were exposed to a beautiful aroma.

It was a pleasing aroma, a smell like a combination of cherries and almonds, that made your eyes dreamy, your body happy and your brain swoon. Then the mice, under the influence of this beautiful aroma, were traumatized with electric shocks.

These mice eventually reproduced to birth the next generation of mice. And, as it happens, this second generation of mice birthed a third generation, which I’ll call the “grandchildren mice.”

Now these grandchildren mice were living happily in the laboratory, without a care in the world, when the scientist allowed them to sniff that lovely aroma of a scent like cherries and almonds.