ValerieJohnsAshes

▶️ Lisa Tickel and I had a rich conversation on her podcast, Healing and Growing, Hand in Hand. Listen to our deep dive into healing trauma through writing a... Lisa Tickel Podcast

▶️ Lisa Tickel and I had a rich conversation on her podcast, Healing and Growing, Hand in Hand. Listen to our deep dive into healing trauma through writing and Dreamtending. 📘 Get your copy of Ashes in the Milk now: https://a.co/d/g5fmZsY

“Valerie Johns combines her expertise as a psychotherapist with her own early childhood trauma in a way that gently invites us to examine and start to sort out our own inner workings... easy to read and not annoyingly clinical or New Age-y.”

📚✨ Cyber Monday Reminder: Books Make Beautiful Gifts

This year, give something that lingers. That resonates. 

🛒 Grab a copy today on Amazon:
👉 https://f.mtr.cool/kbwmoepfyb

#CyberMonday

In this #flashbackfriday clip from a podcast I did this summer, we talk about how you can unlock the hidden messages in your dreams. 🌙 Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel so you don't miss any new videos. 

https://f.mtr.cool/skplsbdpos

🚗🍂 Traveling for Thanksgiving?

I invite you to bring a story that feeds your soul.

Part self-reflection, part poetic memoir, Ashes in the Milk invites you to listen deeply. I'd love to share my story with you. 😊

🎧 Available as an audiobook for easy travel. 

https://f.mtr.cool/ggpsfembjc

🌟 Dive into the World of Storytelling with Us! 🌟 This year, I am thrilled to share my journey through "Ashes in the Milk," and my coming book, "Night Flights."

📅 Date: Sunday, Nov 23
⏰ Time: 4 pm PST / 7 pm EST

🔗 https://f.mtr.cool/zemqyxsbtd

Thank you so much to my dear friend Jim, and all of you, for your praise of Ashes. I am so honored. If you've read the book, please take a minute to review the book on Amazon or Goodreads. 🌟 Those reviews are so helpful in spreading the word. 🫶

📘 READ NOW: https://f.mtr.cool/qzysrqwxem

✨ This is what it feels like to come home to yourself.

Whole. Present. Animal. River.
In this clip from my upcoming book, Night Flights, I step into the wild, sacred experience.

She is the she-wolf.
She is milk.
She is more than hunger.
She is mine.

🌊 Press play, and let something remember.

My podcasts Share your videos with friends, family and the world

🔁 #FlashbackFriday: Conversations on Dreams & Healing 🌙

Over the past year, I’ve had the honor of being a guest on several wonderful podcasts. Each conversation offered something different.

🎧 Watch on YouTube:

more shameless self promotion. #storytelling #poetry

☁️ Dreams don’t always speak in straight lines.

In this clip from Night Flights, the language is layered—part memory, part metaphor, part soul.

Let it wash over you.

Valerie Johns | Substack Valerie Johns is a veteran psychotherapist whose book Ashes in the Milk tells her own healing story — including memories going back to infancy. She is a dream tender who knows grief and trauma from the inside out.

This is a prayer..

May you find the wrecking ball

of whatever addiction you are currently captured by

and land at a spectacular bottom

where everything you thought you knew was

wrong

wrong

oh, so stunningly wrong…

telling a story on Nov 23
come and listen!? #storytelling #poetry

✨ I'm so honored to be part of this powerful storytelling tradition.

Join me for Gorgeous Stories. 

🎟 https://f.mtr.cool/hmdcgymxpu

💡 If you can’t attend live, you have the option to get a ticket and request the recording from the organizer.

⭐️🌙 In the dreamspace of Night Flights, pain becomes poetry, and memory becomes a map.
This clip from my coming book invites you to pause, listen, and breathe in something deeper.
What might rise to the surface for you if you let it? 🌊

1️⃣2️⃣ 🌙 Small rituals can have a big impact on your dream life.  Try placing a meaningful object on your nightstand—a crystal, a candle, a photo, or a simple notebook. Let it serve as a signal: “This space is sacred. My dreams matter.”

I’d love to hear what’s helped you over these past 12 weeks.

Step into a world where pain transforms into laughter and dreams are honored with reverence. In this audio clip from 'Night Flights,' join a journey of healing and connection as four women dance through their collective trauma, finding joy in the shared experience. 🌌✨ Stay tuned for more glimpses.

1️⃣1️⃣ Bedside Voice Memos
Try this:
🎙 When you wake up, whisper the dream into your phone while you’re still half-asleep.
It doesn’t have to make sense. Let it be messy. Capture it before it slips away.

Sometimes the sleepy version of you remembers the details.

💭 Let me know how it goes.

This dream:
a big, great, huge, seminal dream
came bearing the gift of redress, of repair
...
Such a magical grace!!
I’m the witness!
I receive it as it becomes clear to me:
I have discovered Red Dress Medicine!......

This painting emerged from a dream, recounted in Night Flights. (Coming soon.)

What if your dreams weren’t random at all—but meaningful messages from the deepest parts of you?In this two-part episode of Pay Attention, Holly McNeill sits... 24: What Your Dreams Are Trying to Tell You w/Valerie Johns (Part 1)

Some dreams feel too big to keep to ourselves.

🔟 Try a Dream Buddy Check-In

If you haven't watched the podcast yet where I tended a dream with Holly McNeill, be sure to watch now. There are two fascinating episodes. 

Feeling so much gratitude for this wonderful review of "Ashes in the Milk" from the amazing comic, Kevin Nealon! His words truly capture the essence of what I hoped to convey in my memoir. To have a friend like Kevin rooting for me on every page means everything. Thank you! #flashbackfriday

Imagine walking through a deep, verdant forest, surrounded by hundreds of shades of green. As you wander down a dirt path under ancient trees, healing strands of liquid begin to fall from above. These... Imagine walking through a deep, verdant forest, surrounded by hundreds of shades of green. As you wander down a dirt path under ancient trees, healing strands of liquid begin to fall from above....

I've been working on my second manuscript with a dramaturge, Terrie Silverman, and re-editing for spoken word as I go. Dream Poetry, unpacked. Say hello to the Self, the unconscious, that higher force some folks call god who makes movies for us all night long www.facebook.com/reel/2302074...

Imagine walking through a deep, verdant forest, surrounded by hundreds of shades of green. 🌿✨ This journey through nature's magic is a reminder of the precious moments we can find in the simplest of places. 

This video is a sneak peek of my coming book. Keep following here for more details.

9️⃣ Draw Your Dream
🎨 A quick sketch can unlock insights you didn’t catch while writing. 
Try drawing a scene from your next dream, even if it’s just lines and shapes. You might be surprised by what shows up.
✏️ Do you ever doodle your dreams?  I'd love to hear about it.

Age is just a number when your spirit stays timeless. 🌟 #sneakpeek #nightflights

Close-up of a thank you note with a heart and pen on colored paper.

⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ So descriptive of a very interesting woman’s battle with emotions and deciding what is consistent with her priorities and goals. A fascinating life.
~ Denise via goodreads

Thank you, Denise, for this thoughtful review. 

#PoeticMemoir #Grateful #Author #Goodreads #Review

8️⃣ Revisit Recurring Dreams

🌙 Recurring dreams aren’t just mental reruns—they’re invitations. Your subconscious is waving a flag, asking you to pay attention. In this 8th tip, we revisit those recurring dreams. 

Instead of brushing it off, try gently asking:
➡️ What are you trying to show me?

my heart breaks for you
for our country
for the post-pandemic
dysphoria
that looks more and more
psychotic
with each passing day.
may we hit a bottom
may we all awaken
back to kindness!
may your husband be returned to you
safely! ❤️‍🩹

Please enjoy this sneak peek of my work-in-progress, Night Flights. 
Running free along the coast, where dreams are strung like gems. 🌊✨

A Prayer from an Elder Here, listen now:

If you are a creative
Read me
If not, read me anyway. #poetry #addiction #recovery
open.substack.com/pub/johnsv/p...