10 results for tag: Trauma and Recovery

Social Impact Authors Helping To Change Our World

As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Swerdloff. Yitzi Weiner A “Positive” Influencer, Founder & Editor of Authority Magazine, CEO of Thought Leader Incubator ·Published in Authority Magazine. Feb 26, 2025 Social Impact Authors - How & Why Michael Swerdloff Is Helping To Change Our World Michael Swerdloff has been a Counselor, Coach, Social Worker, Community Organizer, Educator, Writer, DJ, and Reiki Master for over twenty-five years. He laughs often, hugs deeply, and practices meditation, ...

Author Michael Swerdloff On How to Begin, Navigate, & Sustain Sobriety

In a world where the journey towards sobriety is often challenging and deeply personal, understanding the pathways and strategies for achieving and maintaining sobriety is crucial. This series aims to provide insight, encouragement, and practical advice for those who are on the road to recovery, as well as for their loved ones and support networks. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Michael Swerdloff. "Create a recovery team/support system. For me early on, having friends in AA, a sponsor, and a therapist was a lifesaver. Knowing I was not alone and others were going through or had already gone through similar messes felt supportive and comforting, as well as helping me not contact people who were not good for me to be around."...

Help Someone Going Through A Crisis, Use These 7 Words

When somebody is going through a crisis, many people respond by trying to fix their problem and solve it without considering the person and their current experience. Typically, the person in crisis is not ready to "fix" the situation. First, they need some attention. A crisis can activate the nervous system, which makes it hard to self-regulate. Co-regulation can be a wonderful gift to anyone experiencing a crisis. In the article below from NPR, Kelly Corrigan maps out an excellent and incredibly simple method of offering support to anyone in crisis....

Accepting New Reiki Counseling Clients!

Reiki counseling is a system my teacher designed for working with people through challenging and deep-seated issues. What makes it so effective is the combination of the loving and supportive energy of Reiki, helping somebody move to a slow enough brain rhythm that their inner resistance becomes less of an obstacle. Reiki also creates a safe enough container for us to work on issues that traditional therapy/counseling, bodywork, and many other modalities are not able to access in just a few sessions....

You Can’t Change Anyone — You Can Only Make Them Think

We can't change anyone who doesn't want or isn't ready to change. While I was still doing drugs and drinking alcohol, many people wanted me to change. They needed me to change. When I got sober in 1989, I often heard a woman named Claire share, "I didn't see the light. My ass was dragging, and I felt the heat"! This was me. The walls were closing in, and I felt like I had no options. I know that I am not alone in this experience of people wanting or needing someone to change, but they weren't ready or willing. My more than twenty-five years as a social worker, counselor, and coach have demonstrated that we can't change anyone who isn't invested in change. But we can inspire them, offer them a new perspective, and provide safety, support, and love....

Why I Keep My Car & Desk Messy

Why I Keep My Car & Desk Messy. I have another article published in the Elephant Journal. Here is an excerpt. The full article can be accessed through the link below. "When I used to consume alcohol and drugs, everything in my life was messy. My bedroom was messy. My refrigerator was messy. My bathroom was messy. My laundry was messy. My car was messy. My relationships were messy. My legal situation was messy. My finances were messy. My friendships were messy. My mind was messy. My body was messy. If I got involved, it would be messy." Please read the full article here Why I Keep My Car & Desk Messy.   I look forward to ...

How I Got Sober and What I Now Know About the Impacts of Alcohol

How I got sober in September of 1989 was incredibly anti-climactic. Nothing was particularly awful or special about when or how I got sober. It was a Monday night, three days before I went for an alcohol assessment. I wanted to "beat the test," so I stopped drinking in advance to prove that I was n0t an alcoholic. I know; it's pretty funny, actually. Even though I have been clean and sober since September 11, 1989 (Yes. September 11th, but twelve years before THAT September 11th), my recovery has four separate phases.

How I Got Sober - Phase One

The first phase was short-lived. I was going to an outpatient program four nights per week and AA/NA meetings the other days. I hated all of it, was not interested in what they had to offer, and was only complying to prove to my girlfriend at the time and her therapist that I was not an alcoholic. I still chuckle when I think about it. That phase came to an end when I freaked out, drove my car over 100mph, passed a cop, had that cop pull me over and approach my car with his rifle pointed at me, and a whole lot of drama during the following twenty-four hours that lead to me being locked up in an in-patient mental hospital while "sober"....