family – The Self-Help Whisperer®

Reviving Ophelia – Be everything, be nothing

3 Jul 20213 Jul 2021

July 3, 2021 Up for reblog today is a necessary and poignant book that broke my heart a little when I read it. Why? That would take longer to answer...…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Is it about wine… or cats?

11 May 202111 May 2021

May 11, 2021 No explanation or update needed for this re-blog. Well, except this... At the end, I pose a question. I'm still wondering about the answer.

Self-Help Whispering

Mother’s Day 2021 – Amethyst Caves

9 May 20219 May 2021

If I could write a poem for you It wouldn’t rhyme... It would instead dance merrily Through amethyst caves. Lights would twinkle around it And through it And there you…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – Finding solid ground

5 May 20215 May 2021

May 5, 2021 Up for reblogging today is yet another foray into the history of Sheryl. With all the work I've been doing on trauma, it's good to delve back…

From My Bookshelf

What Happened to You? – That is the question

4 May 2021

Many books claim to be life-changers but few live up to the promise. Let me give you a head's up about What Happened to You? by Bruce D. Perry, MD,…

From My Bookshelf…

A Triad: On Inherited Trauma

17 Apr 202115 Jul 2021

This post will be a little different from others. I have chosen several excellent methods / modalities to convey this message: Ancestral and inherited family dysfunction and trauma MATTERS but…

Interviews

Interview – Patricia Call: Renaissance Woman

28 Mar 202128 Mar 2021

We first met Patricia Call in my shameless teaser about this interview HERE. I'm going to begin this interview by telling you that this one will be a little different than all…

Self-Help Whispering

Grief 101: Recover from Grief Website

23 Mar 202123 Mar 2021

I miss my dad. I find myself trying not to think about him because whenever I do, I'm sobbing. I know how very lucky and blessed I was to have…

Self-Help Whispering

The Gift – I knew who I was in his presence

27 Feb 2021

Death in the age of Covid - especially when you live in another country, even if it is a friendly, once-open-border - adds a few surprising obstacles. Then there's the…

Self-Help Whispering

Until We Meet Again, Dad

26 Feb 202128 Mar 2021

Those of you who have been here since the beginning know that my dad fell a little over three years ago. Until that time, I thought he'd live forever. At…

From My Bookshelf

The Last Taboo – Mental Illness, thy name is Stigma

10 Feb 202113 Apr 2021

TW: Discussion of mental health disorders, suicide ideation and a deep dive into stigma. It seems only fitting that I link Canadian Amazon on a book about Mental Health in…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – When a Parent is Depressed

5 Feb 20216 Feb 2021

In the interest of honesty, I almost didn’t write today. I did a “Remember this one?” post yesterday and skipped the day before. Here I go again… into the spiral…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Who do you think you’re fooling?

4 Feb 20214 Feb 2021

Last night, in that space between awake and asleep, I thought of this phrase... Who do you think you're fooling? And I heard a voice... You're not special. You never…

Self-Help Whispering

The Gratitude Zone II – The “People Posts”

28 Jan 202130 Jan 2021

On July 13, 2019, I mentioned (not for the first time) my first blog, The Gratitude Zone. At that time, I wasn't aware that I'd saved what I called my…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – How to Win Friends & Influence People

28 Jan 2021

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie was published in 1936. The title back then was, “How to Wineth Friends and Infulenceth People”… just kidding. All I’m saying is that…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Not a barn burner

26 Jan 202111 Feb 2021

I woke up in the middle of the night. Again!! Why? Well... I have a reason! Listen to this! Forgive the blur but it was 1:26 am. Half-asleep, I felt…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Boundaries (Where You End and I Begin)

20 Jan 202124 Jan 2021

**Trigger Warning: Mention (without details) of childhood sexual abuse** There are many, many books on Boundaries. Most are very good. Just to give you an idea of how many there…

From My Bookshelf

Bradshaw On: The Family – Best of the best!

12 Jan 2021

“We have no alternative. We must break the sacred rule and question these rules because unless we talk about them, there is no way out. We must evaluate them in…

Self-Help Whispering

And a Merry, Happy, Joyful, Loving, Sparkling, Healthy, Healing Christmas Eve to YOU!

24 Dec 202024 Dec 2020

Snow's-a-comin' this way!! Can I get a whoop-whoop? The holidays have been difficult for me since moving to Canada (read: stomach-tugging, family-missing-difficult). I've never been able to spend it with…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – The Smith’s

30 Nov 202017 Mar 2021

When my first husband and I married, back in 1980, we were both very lucky to have many of our grandparents except my dad's father, who'd passed away the previous…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – 34 Days

27 Nov 202027 Nov 2020

How is it that this year has moved at a snail's pace and also sped by? It *almost* doesn't feel real at all. Last year, in 2019, my daughter suggested…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – Stormy Daze

15 Nov 202016 Nov 2020

It's a VERY stormy day today! The winds are so strong it feels as if the house will blow down. We've been so lucky over the last two weeks with…

Photography…

A poem -“Naked”

13 Nov 2020

Draw me Here, amongst my rumpled clothes Arms outstretched Grasping Though my soul knows It's time to let go. Grab my satin robe The red one, hanging on the door…

Photography

Picture of the Day -“A girl can dream…”

6 Nov 2020

I would love a home just like this, picket fence and all!

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Resilience

5 Nov 2020

In her final words, she said that “in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – A long story & A bonus musing at the end

29 Oct 20207 Dec 2020

Facebook is so kind to bring up memories from past years. Sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, always a peek into what was going on in my head that same day last…

From My Bookshelf

Hillbilly Elegy – The American Dream

26 Oct 202026 Oct 2020

Today's offering is not a self-help book but in typical Sheryl-fashion, I found threads that connect. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance is a deeply authentic, heartbreaking book... even though our…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Dog people

23 Oct 202023 Oct 2020

I am a animal person. Some, who have read here and/or know me, might have thought I'd say "cat person" given our furry feline family (say that fast three times!).…

Self-Help Whispering

Once Upon a Tess -Five Years Ago

21 Aug 202023 Feb 2021

Once upon a time there was the most perfect cat in the whole wide world. As all sentient beings live, so must they die. It is The Way. The Rainbow…

Self-Help Whispering

Stairway- A Haiku

12 Aug 202012 Aug 2020

Everyone I love Is somewhere along the way Bright light on both sides.

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Earthy Language

25 Jul 202012 Aug 2020

Back about fifteen years ago, my mom told me that her housekeeper had called me, "Earthy" because I said someone was - and I quote - "an ass". She considered…

Interviews

Interview – Marcella Burgess: Grabbing onto life with both hands!

27 Jun 2020

You will remember Marcella from my shameless teaser from last week, linked HERE. You know how you meet people along your life's path and sometimes, they end up walking with…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – New Normal, Except Not

15 Mar 202011 Aug 2020

We went to the grocery store today. We normally go once a week and this visit was no different. Except it was. Welcome to the new normal, where toilet paper…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Act Like a Lady (Think Like a Man)

11 Mar 2020

I dislike the title of this book. There. I said it. When I picked it up, I thought… what the heck does a comedian and game show host know about…

Photography

Picture of the Day -“Driving fun!”

27 Feb 2020

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband? He drives me in to work on days like today. Phew!

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Will I Ever Be Good Enough?

12 Feb 202012 Feb 2020

Do I notice the irony of the subtitle on this blog post? Why yes, yes I do. It's taken me a long time to write about Will I Ever Be Good…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – How to Live Between Office Visits

8 Feb 20208 Feb 2020

Faith is the health's requisite - John Updike, from "Ode to Healing" It was an act of faith that led me to buy this book... because... as a person with…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Keep it Simple, Stupid

3 Feb 20202 Feb 2020

You know her, you love her (or hate her)… it’s Judge Judy Sheindlin. My copy is a formerly-loved library book and looks pretty thrashed. I picked it up anyway. I’d read it…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – Nana & Bappa’s Legacy

2 Feb 202012 Aug 2020

My friends and readers, Thanks so much for being patient with me during the transition from laze-about blogger to full-time employee with a blog side-hustle. Sixty may be the new…

From My Bookshelf

How to Be Well – Buy it & Keep it!

6 Jan 202022 Feb 2021

How to Be Well by Frank Lipman, MD was a Christmas gift from my mother... and we all know by now that my mom is my own personal wise woman.…

Self-Help Whispering

From me, to you! ❤️💥🌼

2 Jan 20202 Jul 2020

Once upon a time, there was a woman who had a million trillion thoughts, hopes, stories and dreams floating around inside her head. They sometimes fell out of her eyes…

Self-Help Whispering

2018: Year of Nurture 2019: Year of Water 2020: Year of Clarity

23 Dec 201923 Dec 2019

My yearly words don't take the place of each other... they're more like train cars, attaching to the last one in line as they go. I will continue to nurture…

If you have a medical or mental health emergency, call your doctor or 911.

Nothing contained in this blog (The Self-Help Whisperer®) is intended to establish or replace a physician-patient relationship or services.

If you are IN CRISIS and NEED TO TALK but don’t know who to call…

In USA: Mental Health America In Crisis? Call 1-800-273-TALK

Or elsewhere in the world – By Country, as compiled by Wikipedia

Suicide hotline numbers

Someone dies from suicide every 40 seconds

United States 1 800 273 8255

Canada 1 800 456 4566