Being a new student in SWC is a rewarding, challenging, and startling experience all around. I clearly remember the expectations I had for myself and the school when I landed in Santa fe, NM.
Before starting my journey in SWC I had been in four different colleges and universities studying biology, chemistry, humanities and genetics.…
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Hey Jim!
Loving the pets and their people blog! What an awesome idea!
This is me with my dog Kenobi (named for a certain Star Wars Jedi played by Alec Guinness).
Kenobi came to me from a shelter, where I was actually searching for a cat due to a mouse problem we had while…
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How Does Therapy Work? One of Three Million Possible Answers, by Jim Nolan
I am reminded of two little stories....(as you probably know, I like these little ways of learning/teaching....) There is a Zen-y kind of thing that goes something like this:
What does the Unenlightened man do? Chops wood, carries water.
What does the Enlightened Man…
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"Ted"
Looking across the yard toward La Capilla de Los Angelitos,
sun bright to my right, slight breeze, mid 50's--
almost too cool for a tee shirt, but not quite--
the heart is warm...
This morning we watched the film "Crossing Bridges"
in which Ted Wiard and a bushel of boys
built that Chapel…
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What is healing? by Andrea Mitchell...
What is healing? I was asked that question on the first morning of my first class. Actually I was asked to make an artwork that represented healing to me. I made a medicine wheel, it was the first thing that came into my conscious, and I have learnt…
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Light Figures and Consciousness:
At the Core of Southwestern College's Curriculum (Santa Fe)
by Katherine Ninos, developer of the
Psychology of Consciousness Sequence
As you all know, Southwestern College’s mission statement reads “Transforming Consciousness through Education.” Consciousness has always been at the center of our curriculum; indeed, our two quarter sequence “Psychology of Consciousness”…
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"The Energy of Your Heart Is Moving You Here"
I moved from out of state to attend graduate school here in Santa Fe and have embarked on a truly life changing journey. Recently, I watched our president, Jim Nolan counting the views on our schools website, www.SWC.edu. There were a few nights where his Facebook…
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Perhaps you can relate to the state in which I found myself a few days ago—heart tight, body tense, mind churning, going over and over events from the far and recent past and in a useless but unyielding manner. I find myself in such a state fairly often, probably due to the fact that I…
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“Why Should I Sign Up for a Certificate Program?”
Southwestern College offers six Professional Certificates, and plenty of other places offer other ones, so this post is not really about SWC, it is about Professional Certificates.
Here are some thoughts on the subject:
First, I don’t need to tell anyone that it…
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My previous blog on the challenges of being an INFP has become one of the most heavily read blogs of the Southwestern College website. I got dozens of personal messages. I clearly struck a chord with many, and evidently gave voice to a quiet group that needed a voice. (Not that the non-INFPs are listening…LOL!)…
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by Amy Hautman Bates
Artist's Block "Who is an artist when she is not making art?"
(This is a doodle, not a painting.)
In September my partner and I packed everything we owned to move from the Southeast to the Southwest. It was very cathartic to consider everything we had and decide if and why…
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Therapists Have Long Lived Where the Business World Just Bought Land...
Recently, in an O’Hare Airport bookstore, I was looking through the Business section, which is also where Social Media books tend to live.
Totally amazing.
The “New Business Sensibility” is emerging—it is an epic change. And Social Media is the cause, the effect, and…
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PSYCHOPATHOLOGY (and seeking Authenticity) IN THE CHAMA RIVER CANYON
About to embark upon a day alone with Mother Earth, my Psychopathology class and I ceremonially share our hopes and thoughts before surrendering to what She has to give (or take from) us. At this point I am well-adjusted to the process of intention-setting, and…
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It is not like we are all close buddies. But there is something about being fellow members of the Board of Trustees at a College, in our case, Southwestern College in Santa Fe, that is a truly bonding experience. I know that sounds kind of schmaltzy, or could. "Bonding Experience." But I will offer you…
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The staff at Southwestern Counseling Center works very hard so, at our last staff meeting we decided to arrange a ceremony to call in some extra support and prayers for ourselves. Luckily Carol Parker, our Director, agreed to facilitate an authentic Peruvian ritual, more accurately, a "Becoming Despacho". Despacho translates into "dispatch", so here we…
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They say “you are what you eat” and I believe this. I believe that I consist of much of what I consume. I consume veggies…gratitude….beans….prayer…bread…self acceptance…chocolate….silence….tofu….turmoil…chips….friendships….rice…and more. I consume what is said on the tv news at night…what I read in books before I sleep…what is said in my office and in business meetings…what I…
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by Dru Phoenix
A common question I receive in the admissions office is "what are the chances of my being accepted?" or "what is your acceptance rate?" I think sometimes we tend to be hungry for data or statistics for reassurance that there is a "good chance" for acceptance. Perhaps a better question to…
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Pinterest is perfectly suited to the sensibilities of the therapist. Dr. Nolan explains why. …
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Five Reasons for Therapists to Love Pinterest
1. When you work in the psychotherapeutic field (whether as Counselor, Art Therapist, Psychologist, Social Worker, whatever) the energy field within which you work is complicated, and shaped around “What is wrong? What is the problem? What hurts so bad that it brings you in today? Tell me…
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Southwestern College, Santa Fe Is Growing Its Social Media Presence and Support Daily!
President Jim Nolan and Trustee/Alumna/Faculty Laura Lansrud-Lopez have been studying, teaching and presenting on Social Media for over two years (in addition to being ACTIVE in Social Media for much longer...)
We have found that, in general, many therapists are woefully unprepared…
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Southwestern College’s (Santa Fe) Social Media Initiative:
What YOU can to do help…
I was given some feedback the other day by a valued colleague at the College, who will go un-named here. She said, more or less: “Jim you have read everything in the world on Social Media, and when you talk about it,…
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Amy Hautman Bates, first year Art Therapy/Counseling student on her transition fro Artist to Art Therapist
http://artforwellness.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/australian-aborigines-and-art-therapy/?preview=true&preview_id=53&preview_nonce=cecf41a352
I started this blog intending to write about the creative art's health and healing potential. Having been around art all my life, I thought I knew a lot about Art Therapy. But the more I read, the…
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It was a vision.
On the rising from sleep one idle morning, the young 25-year-old girl experienced something out of this world; the girl saw clearly before her, her future. At 25, the girl had spent most of her twenties up to that point confused and searching for answers, directions and guidance. It came when…
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