Sherry L.M. Merriam, MA, LPCC-S

Nobody who is judging your CPTSD symptoms or recovery from the outside could possibly conceive of the commitment & courage you need to muster every day to face this.

Their opinions are not valid & their judgments are not relevant.

Recovery focus. All day.

Iridescent Care is *excited* to bring the shiny mental health joy back to Pagan Pride! Our providers have decades of experience serving the TC Pagan community. Please come by Booth 24 (near the Fountain) and get one of our new stickers and receive a glitter blessing to wear around Pagan Pride!

You’d think they’d learn by now.

@lincolnproject.us

Immediately after posting this, I took a 3-hour nap, but YMMV.

HEY YOU.
YOU GOT THIS.
I believe in you.
You didn't fuck it up. You just gotta pivot. You can do that.
LET'S PIVOT.
Let's do this.
Nap first if you need to.

REMINDER: ONE WEEK AWAY!
Case Consultation
Business Coaching
Networking

Want to learn about our membership model or our new 1099 openings? Got a clinical case that you'd love an open-minded take on? Have questions about your practice dreams? Just wanna meet some other cool therapists?

Case Consultation
Business Coaching
Networking

Want to learn about our membership model or our new 1099 openings? Got a clinical case that you'd love an open-minded take on? Have questions about your solo or group practice dreams? Just wanna meet some other cool therapists and chill for an hour?

For my money we don't talk enough about the aftermath of setting a boundary, in which we overthink & second guess it for days or more.

It's real important during that time we keep reminding ourselves why we set it-- & that we have both the right & responsibly to set boundaries.

It was a huge hit! We had standing room only!

CONvergence Convention | Minneapolis, MN Sci Fi & Fantasy Con CONvergence is an annual convention for fans of Science Fiction and Fantasy in all media: a 4-day event with thousands of attendees, and the premier event of our kind in the upper Midwest. Join us Jul...

Looking forward to serving as a panelist on "The Heroine's Journey" with some other inspiring heroines at @convergencecon.bsky.social this weekend. I *loved* @gailcarriger.bsky.social 's book on this topic, which inspired this panel! www.convergence-con.org

I'm excited and honored to present at this event! Join us as we raise the bar for counseling supervision in Minnesota. www.mnca.org

Needed this today.

A square graphic with a purple gradient background and a faint chalice symbol in the center. The text reads: "I believe that we are in an imagination battle, and almost everything about how we orient toward our bodies is shaped by fearful imaginations. Imaginations that fear Blackness, brownness, fatness, queerness, disability, difference. Our radical imagination is a tool for decolonization, for reclaiming our right to shape our lived reality." — Adrienne Maree Brown, “Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good” At the bottom of the graphic is the website: UUA.org . A dotted white border outlines the image.

What if we imagined from love, not fear? As UUs, we believe every body is sacred. Reclaiming our imagination is spiritual work—and justice work. What stories about bodies are we ready to unlearn together?
#EveryBodyIsSacred #LoveNotFear #UU #Decolonize

Trump administration to resume collections on student loan borrowers in default The Education Department says millions of borrowers in default will have a chance to make a payment or sign up for a repayment plan. But on May 5, those who don't will be referred for collection.

The Education Department says millions of borrowers in default will have a chance to make a payment or sign up for a repayment plan. But on May 5, those who don't will be referred for collection.

Talk therapy is up, and use of psych meds without therapy is down, a study finds A study from the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that psychotherapy is becoming more accessible to people. The study looks at trends in mental health treatment from 2018 to 2021.

A study from the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that psychotherapy is becoming more accessible to people. The study looks at trends in mental health treatment from 2018 to 2021.

Iridescent Care Collaborative (the group mental health practice I own) is hosting a free virtual business brainstorming and networking session tomorrow! Bring your half-baked ideas, and we'll help you develop them. www.eventbrite.com/e/1281157981...

There was a trans woman in my small rural hometown while I was growing up. I was aware that she didn't get the same respect as other people, and I didn't understand why. I was bullied growing up for my own reasons, so I really don't like bullying.

Our worst year can become our best year-- if it's the year we commit to trauma or addiction recovery.

We don't have to love what we endured this year-- but we can turn it into the year we got realistic & consistent about relating to ourselves w/ compassion, patience, & respect.

Trauma Brain will always give us "good" reasons to do self-harmful or self-neglectful things-- and it'll always find "good" reasons to put off recovery habits & self-nurturing things.

Remember that Trauma Brain has an agenda-- that does NOT include your happiness or longevity.

Shit.

There was only one unfortunate reaction, which I will not dwell on here. In the end, polyfolk are feeling more seen and coming together in my spiritual community, which was my goal.

Afterward, dozens of folks praised my courage, thanked me for speaking up for for poly folks, and called my reflections "amazing." People were moved and made curious, enabled to think outside the box about their own relationships.

Sunday, April 6th Worship with First Universalist Church YouTube video by First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

1/ Below, you'll find the YouTube link to a segment of a recent service at my church, First Universalist Church of Minneapolis, where I micropreached about polyamory.

www.youtube.com/live/UNg_O09...

A Spring Morning A Spring Morning [Merriam, Michael] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A Spring Morning

Oh yeah, amidst all the ongoing chaos that is (waves hands) everything, I had a new poetry collection released.

www.amazon.com/Spring-Morni...

Signal's a great app to keep your communications secure, but make sure you know the identities of the users in your group chats.

Our SSD guide on how to use Signal includes guidance on managing your group chat preferences.

Just a reminder: having a functional moral compass right now is going to make you feel bad all the time; don’t mistakenly hate yourself for that.

Focusing on our own physical health, our economic stability, & our emotional safety in trauma recovery is the opposite of "selfish."

In fighting for ourselves we are fighting for everyone & everything we care about-- for our ability to show up & be there for them.

Don't try to buy sex from teenage girls. Especially if you're in office in MN and just tried to pass a "Trump Derangement Bill."

#WhyDoWeStillCallItTheGOP

My feed is increasingly looking like the pre-credit montage of headlines in a post apocalyptic action movie.

I guess we have a new definition for "Trump Derangement Syndrome" now.