Tag Archives: Therapy

Missing My Mom + Holiday Emotions

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It has been two weeks and one day since my mom died. It has been challenging dealing with all that goes with losing a parent especially this time of year as it is the holiday season. Dealing with my mom’s death is adding to the holiday anxiety I struggle with every year which sucks shit and is something I discussed with my therapist today.

In fact my therapist and I discussed a great deal about my emotions especially anxiety and anger as I struggle with both. I struggle with both anxiety and anger as I tend to stuff both of those emotions that end up leading me emotionally and verbally exploding or sadly self harming. I thankfully haven’t self harmed in over a year which is a good thing but sadly I have emotionally and verbally exploded which is not a good thing. We discussed various ways to let out my anxiety and anger especially my anger. In fact my therapist suggested a couple of things to deal with my anger that are a little silly but I think will be helpful. I am really appreciative of my therapist and I am so grateful for her as well as her help with my mental health recovery.

As much as I am appreciative of and grateful for my therapist, I am also extremely grateful for today’s weather here in Seattle as it was sunny. Granted it was chilly outside but I am so grateful for the sun and that it was not freezing or below freezing outside.

Not only am I grateful for today’s weather here in Seattle, I am also beyond grateful for my precious senior kitty, Billie. I love my cat so very much and I don’t know what my life would be like without my cat. The best part of having a cat or any pet is their unconditional love.

I do not have much more to write about in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Hello World!!! I don’t know how much I am up for blogging my weekly check-in today. I am just so overwhelmed with the election results. I am also overwhelmed by how other people’s behavior is affecting me due to the election. I am also angry and frustrated with myself for reacting the way I did when someone misgendered me again and it is the same person that keeps misgendering me. Sadly, I feel like this particular person gets away with shit but that is how I feel and I know I should not react the way I did.

On that note I went to therapy this past Wednesday and of course we discussed the election results as my last session with my therapist was the Wednesday before the election. I see my therapist every other week. We discussed the fact how I fear for my safety as a disabled non-binary person with a uterus that is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and queer communities due to the fact that America voted in someone who is full of hate. We discussed ways to cope and take a pause as I am having a tough time pausing at the moment.

One of the ways I will be coping is doing art work especially the way Seattle weather is currently with it being stormy and yucky outside which is normalish for this time of year. I have been doing diamond art/painting as it is something I can do inside with the yucky weather. I have also been cuddling with my cat, Billie. I love being able to cuddle with my cat especially when the weather gets yucky here in Seattle. I love my cat so very much.

I do not have much more to write about in my Weekly Check-In. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Breakfast with a good friend
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Clean apartment
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Cuddle w/my cat Billie throughout the day

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Breakfast with my partner, Junior (after he gets off work)
  • Call grandpa to thank him for his military service
  • Work on recovery related workbooks
  • Take and return calls for Alley Cat Project
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Cuddle w/my cat, Billie throughout the day

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Work on recovery related workbooks
  • Take and return calls for Alley Cat Project
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Cuddle w/my cat, Billie throughout the day

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • In person appointment with my therapist
  • Work on recovery related workbooks
  • Dinner w/my partner, Junior and our friends
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Cuddle w/my cat, Billie throughout the day

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • In person appointment with employment specialist
  • Work on recovery related workbooks
  • Take and return calls for Alley Cat Project
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Read
  • Cuddle w/my cat, Billie throughout the day

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Work on recovery related workbooks
  • Take and return calls for Alley Cat Project
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Read
  • Dinner w/a good friend
  • Cuddle w/my cat, Billie throughout the day

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • U-District Farmers Market w/my partner, Junior and one of my good friends and her partner
  • Lunch w/my partner, Junior and one of my good friends w/her partner at Red Robin
  • Art (color and/or diamond painting)
  • Read
  • Cuddle w/my cat, Billie throughout the day

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App.
  • Morning Walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by checking to see if calls need to be returned throughout the day. Call back one to two calls if needed and non urgent. Contact the lead person if urgent and they will contact any urgent calls.
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Read
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project to by checking see if calls need to be returned throughout the day.
  • Read.
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App.
  • Morning Walk
  • Pay Bills
  • Buy art supplies
  • Spend the day doing self care
  • Read
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App.
  • Morning Walk
  • Attend a therapy session with therapist
  • Read
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)
  • Dinner with my longest Seattle friend

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the  Calm App.
  • Morning walk
  • Self care day.
  • Read
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App.
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Read
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through Calm App.
  • Morning walk
  • Attend University of Washington Husky football game with Junior
  • Read
  • Art (Color and/or rock painting)

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! This is not going to be a long weekly check-in as I am not up for writing much at the moment. This has been an up and down week for me and the current weather here in Seattle is not helping my mood much.

I saw my therapist this past week and we discussed how challenging it is to have some intimate moments with my partner, Junior due to PTSD. My therapist gave me some positive feedback regarding intimate moments with Junior and that he loves and respects me to stop intimate moments when I end up in freeze mode due to PTSD. I am so grateful for an awesome therapist and the love of a partner who helps me deal with PTSD. I am hoping that my therapist gets approval from her supervisor to be able to have Junior in one of my sessions with her.

As depressing as the weather has been here in Seattle today and yesterday I am so happy that my cat Billie has been helping with the PTSD and depression. I love my cat so much and I don’t understand why he loves me unconditionally.

I am done with this particular blog post. Thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Do self paced online training for Alley Cat Project
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Do some self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and do some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Do self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Therapy appointment with therapist
  • Lunch at Red Robin with friends
  • Clean apartment
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend two virtual groups
  • Do some self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Do some self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • U-District Farmers Market
  • Spend day with partner

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Overall, this week has been an okay week with some challenges. Challenges that suck at times but I am grateful for the support I have from other people in my life including my therapist. In fact one of the things I did this week was see my therapist for our regular appointment as well as a phone check in. Both of the phone check ins as well as my regular appointment with my therapist went well. My regular appointment is normally an hour but we were able to do an hour and a half due to my therapist’s next appointment cancelling. It was a hard session but I am so grateful for being able to receive mental health treatment as well as have an amazing therapist.

As far as volunteering is going, it is going great. I volunteered my regular shift on Sunday as well as doing two additional shifts. One on Wednesday after my session with my therapist and earlier this evening. The extra shift I did this evening was unexpected and I am grateful that I live near PAWS Cat City and was available to help out. I love volunteering at PAWS Cat City.

Another thing I did this week was hang out with some friends I have not seen in years. They are here in the Seattle area for vacation and it was good to see them. We had some awesome meals at local restaurants here in Seattle that my friends were impressed with. My friends are now camping and I will see them before they head back home to California. I am always happy to see old friends.

I do not have much more to talk about in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Fill out volunteer application for the Alley Cat Project
  • Read

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Grocery shopping
  • Clean apartment with help
  • Read

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Go to Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Read

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Therapy
  • Lunch with friends
  • Attend a virtual group
  • Read

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Attend two virtual groups
  • Dinner with a friend from California
  • Read

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Go to Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Dinner with friends
  • Read

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation with the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Breakfast with a friend from California
  • Read

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Visit mom for Mother’s Day and take her out to dinner

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Make mom breakfast in bed
  • Help mom with chores before going home
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie after getting home from mom’s house

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Kickball practice

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • In person therapy with therapist
  • In person group therapy
  • Kickball practice

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Lunch with grandpa
  • Kickball practice

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Dinner with grandpa

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Kickball game
  • Hang out with kickball team after kickball team

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It is Saturday evening which means it is that time of the week to do my weekly check-in. I guess I will start from the beginning of the week. I started the week by volunteering at PAWS Cat City. It was a typical opening shift for a Sunday. The best part was helping with getting a very shy cat to get adopted. I love it when any cat gets adopted but even that much special when a shy or spicy cat gets adopted.

The other major thing is that I attended both group therapy and individual therapy this past week. Group therapy is okay and I am enjoying one of the groups I am in. As far as individual therapy goes, I had a tough session with my therapist but it was a good session. Therapy is tough but well worth it.

Now on to earlier today as I played kickball. Sadly, my team lost but at least we didn’t lose to the mercy rule which is great for my team. I love playing kickball and enjoy it greatly. Kickball gives me a sense of community as well as some much needed exercise.

I do not have much more to discuss in this particular weekly check-in. I want to thank you the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!