Assertiveness is… caring about a situation, cause, one’s self, or a relationship enough to speak or take action when needed. preserving one’s integrity, duty, connection, or worth. well-intentioned words or actions for the benefit of truth, justice, fairness, safety, well-being, or connectedness. exercising a human right to set and maintain boundaries, which are the basis of healthy, functional relationships. a respectful exchange of words, ideas, or actions that leads to a productive outcome. validating the feelings of all involved even when there is discord and disagreement. using skillful communication to motivate others to listen and respond appropriately. In short, assertiveness is a way of communicating that allows us to have authentic, connected relationships and a thoughtful, effective response to disagreement, discord, difficulty, and disregard.   Want to learn more about assertiveness? The Women’s Mini-Workshop on Assertiveness is this Thursday     . . . read more

Clear and Kind: Assertiveness for (Nice) Women Mini-Workshop at Hannah’s office 203 Anderson St. Portland, Maine Thursday, July 18th 2:30-4pm Learn to speak in ways that people will listen. Will use real-world examples. Cost is $30 and you can sign up by emailing at [email protected] ****I will run this if I can get 4 participants signed up by Monday the 15th**** I’m going to be trying to run some of these mini-workshops in the next few months on different topics so stay tuned. Let me know if you have any interest or requests for specific topics.

Every time my toddler learns something new, like amazingly-awesome new, she can’t sleep very well. She rolls around for an hour in her crib before falling asleep or gets up in the night and just looks around, sometimes for hours. It happened when she learned to crawl, walk, walk outside, say words, form sentences, talk in paragraphs, and use the potty. Small children provide clues into basic human nature. What my daughter is showing is that life transitions, these big changes, have an impact. They take work and energy to process. We need time and space to make the shift. Adults don’t have to make as many changes as kids. We also don’t seem to be as graceful at growing. Therefore, we may struggle even more under big life changes. It’s easy to forget that even positive changes are stressful.     . . . read more

Freedom is NOT: pushing down real feelings a stubborn refusal to talk about what’s really going on looking to appearances and perfection to give you worth striving for accomplishment to give your life meaning expecting so much of others that they can’t possibly fulfill your needs pretending things are easy and fine trying with everything you do to show you are deserving seeing every attempt that falls short as a failure                 Freedom IS: learning to tolerate the full range of human emotion opening up to cherished loved ones in times of joy and in need believing in the inherent worth of each person (including yourself) using appearances as self expression connecting with others, yourself, and nature to give your life meaning following your passions to fulfill your needs being real about what’s     . . . read more

I’m excited. This has been a very common statement towards the end of sessions lately. I work primarily with people in transition. I’ve gotten a lot of energy and joy in helping people find their way through the big stuff: breakups, new relationships, new jobs, long-distance moves, new babies, marriages, divorces, you name it. People come into session overwhelmed, stressed, and feeling stuck. It’s understandable. In time, and with some expert guidance on new skills and perspectives, we can move through the tough stuff. By the end of the session, new thoughts and feelings emerge. Transition is a time of opportunity. Yes, there is stress, confusion, and even chaos. At the same (hectic) time, there is all kinds of room for new patterns, habits, attitudes, connections. Did you realize that out of struggle comes knowledge, self-confidence, and resilience? Yeah, I     . . . read more