Articles

Originally I heard the term, ‘going to pieces without falling apart’ on reading the book of the same name by Buddhist Psychologist Mark Epstein in early 2000. Combining western psychology with buddhist philosophy he highlighted that Western psychology has promised fulfilment through engaging and strengthening...

20 Jun

Going to Pieces without Falling Apart

Brenda Sutherland

|

Going to pieces

|

|

Originally I heard the term, ‘going to pieces without falling apart’ on reading the book of the same name by Buddhist Psychologist Mark Epstein in early 2000. Combining western psychology with buddhist philosophy he highlighted that Western psychology has promised fulfilment through engaging and strengthening...

…every evolution starts and ends with your lips….. – rupi kaur Valentines Day is an invitation to celebrate love in its many forms; eros (romantic), pragma (enduring), platonic, familial (familiar, storge), collegial, agape (selfless love), philia (affectionate), ludus (playful), philautia (self love)….modern love takes...

14 Feb

Celebrating Love In All Its Forms

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

…every evolution starts and ends with your lips….. – rupi kaur Valentines Day is an invitation to celebrate love in its many forms; eros (romantic), pragma (enduring), platonic, familial (familiar, storge), collegial, agape (selfless love), philia (affectionate), ludus (playful), philautia (self love)….modern love takes...

‘Wild Woman’. As I tentatively tried these two words on for the first time I heard them echo through my soul. Like a new outfit, unsure whether if she would have a home in me. Each word, although a faint call, as my voice...

08 Feb

Reclaiming the Wild Woman

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

‘Wild Woman’. As I tentatively tried these two words on for the first time I heard them echo through my soul. Like a new outfit, unsure whether if she would have a home in me. Each word, although a faint call, as my voice...

Every behaviour has a need behind it. Our most fundamental needs in relationship are that we matter, that we are safe and stay connected. We all have needs, there is no conflict. Needs are needs. The problem is the solutions we want others to...

05 Feb

We are all trying to get a Need met

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

Every behaviour has a need behind it. Our most fundamental needs in relationship are that we matter, that we are safe and stay connected. We all have needs, there is no conflict. Needs are needs. The problem is the solutions we want others to...

Life Never Gives Up On Hearing Our Yearning What would it take for you to believe in magic again?Late last year I had an experience whilst travelling interstate for a very brief time, where I met someone, it was an unusual experience, one that...

02 Feb

Life Never Gives Up On You

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

Life Never Gives Up On Hearing Our Yearning What would it take for you to believe in magic again?Late last year I had an experience whilst travelling interstate for a very brief time, where I met someone, it was an unusual experience, one that...

Mental health has become a major casualty of the Covid pandemic that has swept across the globe and been responsible for rolling lockdowns throughout Australia restricting personal freedoms, social contact and the ability to prosper financially. No one is exempt from this unprecedented event...

06 Oct

Mental Health in a time of Covid (and the Polyvagal Ladder) Podcast

Brenda Sutherland

|

Polyvagal Ladder

|

|

Mental health has become a major casualty of the Covid pandemic that has swept across the globe and been responsible for rolling lockdowns throughout Australia restricting personal freedoms, social contact and the ability to prosper financially. No one is exempt from this unprecedented event...

Ventral Vibes Project Due to the enormous challenges and changes we are currently facing on a daily basis, our nervous system is overwhelmed, as we move from brain automation of daily tasks to refocusing on adjusting to new changes in our everyday lives. One...

24 Aug

Ventral Vibes Project

Brenda Sutherland

|

Art Map, Polyvagal Ladder, Polyvagal Theory

|

|

Ventral Vibes Project Due to the enormous challenges and changes we are currently facing on a daily basis, our nervous system is overwhelmed, as we move from brain automation of daily tasks to refocusing on adjusting to new changes in our everyday lives. One...

Feelings! We don’t like to think about them, feel them, acknowledge them, and yet they remain, and at times completely take over our experience of ourself. Some people go so far as to completely try to avoid them, resulting in high anxiety. Some default...

30 Nov

The ‘F’ Word

Brenda Sutherland

|

direct experience, Emotions, Feelings

|

News, Uncategorized

|

Feelings! We don’t like to think about them, feel them, acknowledge them, and yet they remain, and at times completely take over our experience of ourself. Some people go so far as to completely try to avoid them, resulting in high anxiety. Some default...

Over the last months we have seen and for many experienced devastation to homes, the loss of loved ones, wildlife, habitats and beloved communities. Such deep and overwhelming loss is difficult to fathom, let alone address on a daily basis. No one teaches us...

14 Jan

Meeting Grief: How to Support Someone & Oneself Overwhelmed by Loss

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

|

Over the last months we have seen and for many experienced devastation to homes, the loss of loved ones, wildlife, habitats and beloved communities. Such deep and overwhelming loss is difficult to fathom, let alone address on a daily basis. No one teaches us...

“I can only be your story about me!” One thing I have learned, as a therapist over 30 years, is that people change, but often our stories about them don’t. We freeze the other into a certain way of behaving, often detrimental, with our...

22 Dec

Frozen: Unfreeze Each Other

Brenda Sutherland

|

Frozen, The Work of Byron Katie

|

|

“I can only be your story about me!” One thing I have learned, as a therapist over 30 years, is that people change, but often our stories about them don’t. We freeze the other into a certain way of behaving, often detrimental, with our...

Who Owns the Problem? Understanding who owns the problem is key in choosing how we address issues, concerns and conflicts arising. There are four basic areas of problem ownership: Other Owns a Problem No Problem Area I Own a Problem We Own a...

28 Nov

Who Owns the Problem?

Brenda Sutherland

|

Behaviour Window, Dr Thomas Gordon, Effective Communication

|

|

Who Owns the Problem? Understanding who owns the problem is key in choosing how we address issues, concerns and conflicts arising. There are four basic areas of problem ownership: Other Owns a Problem No Problem Area I Own a Problem We Own a...

Well here we are now We are all together All gathered here Like birds of a feather We sit in a circle and call it sacred Where we wait for the time To hear our names read Our emotions will rise As we...

22 Jul

Sacred Circle by Robin Truman

Brenda Sutherland

|

Family Constellation Student Presentations

|

|

Well here we are now We are all together All gathered here Like birds of a feather We sit in a circle and call it sacred Where we wait for the time To hear our names read Our emotions will rise As we...

Each member of the family Each part of the puzzle All look and seem so different, so separate There is an order to the chaos. There is a reason we exist within the system Crossing webs, all over the world — An invisible...

22 Jul

We Belong By Sanya Minocha

Brenda Sutherland

|

Family Constellation Student Presentations

|

|

Each member of the family Each part of the puzzle All look and seem so different, so separate There is an order to the chaos. There is a reason we exist within the system Crossing webs, all over the world — An invisible...

“To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.” E. E. Cummings As life tumbles us with a myriad of...

26 Apr

Taking Your Place

Brenda Sutherland

|

Presence, Spirituality, Truth

|

|

“To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.” E. E. Cummings As life tumbles us with a myriad of...

New Support Page

Recently, I added a support system to this website. The new support page is here: https://awakening.com.au/apps/support/ This new system will allow us to monitor tickets & respond to them in order. If you have any issues with the site or just general inquires feel...

01 Mar

New Support Page

Domenic Michael D'Accardo

|

|

Recently, I added a support system to this website. The new support page is here: https://awakening.com.au/apps/support/ This new system will allow us to monitor tickets & respond to them in order. If you have any issues with the site or just general inquires feel...

This is an all too familiar picture nowadays, one that affects the way we communicate, try to be understood, heard, and connect as well as feel as though we matter. Our disjointed communication lacks the interpersonal facial cues. It also means that we filter...

08 Jan

There is Never a Conflict of Needs, Only Conflict of Solutions!

Brenda Sutherland

|

Effective Communication, Needs, Non-Violent communication

|

|

This is an all too familiar picture nowadays, one that affects the way we communicate, try to be understood, heard, and connect as well as feel as though we matter. Our disjointed communication lacks the interpersonal facial cues. It also means that we filter...

Relationships are like breathing – inhaling and exhaling, closeness and disconnected, receiving and giving, connection and autonomy. “We must be open enough to receive each other” Terry Real Often in couple counselling I witness couples who have simply lost touch with how to...

17 Dec

Bring the Spark Back Challenge

Brenda Sutherland

|

Couple bubble, Emily Nagoski, Relationships, Secure Functioning, Stan Tatkin, Terry Real

|

|

Relationships are like breathing – inhaling and exhaling, closeness and disconnected, receiving and giving, connection and autonomy. “We must be open enough to receive each other” Terry Real Often in couple counselling I witness couples who have simply lost touch with how to...

Soothing Each Others Nervous System in Relationship by Brenda Sutherland Winter is a time of regrouping, revisioning, renewing as we are asked to go inwards and assess what is working and what is not, at the same time rest. Over the last weeks...

24 Jul

Are You an Island or a Wave?

Brenda Sutherland

|

Attachment Styles, Relationships

|

|

Soothing Each Others Nervous System in Relationship by Brenda Sutherland Winter is a time of regrouping, revisioning, renewing as we are asked to go inwards and assess what is working and what is not, at the same time rest. Over the last weeks...

An insight into Family Constellations By Brenda Sutherland Maria was distraught. For two weeks now she had been having panic attacks and didn’t know why. She was desperate for them to stop, as they were worsening. This was the reason she h ad found...

17 Feb

I’ll do it for you, even if it costs me my happiness

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

An insight into Family Constellations By Brenda Sutherland Maria was distraught. For two weeks now she had been having panic attacks and didn’t know why. She was desperate for them to stop, as they were worsening. This was the reason she h ad found...

A Return to Innocence by Brenda Sutherland Take a moment and think of your intimate partner. Become aware of the feelings present. If your experience is wholehearted joy or a quiet stillness then your connection with each other is of deep intimacy. If you...

17 Feb

Meeting in Love

Brenda Sutherland

|

|

A Return to Innocence by Brenda Sutherland Take a moment and think of your intimate partner. Become aware of the feelings present. If your experience is wholehearted joy or a quiet stillness then your connection with each other is of deep intimacy. If you...

Let’s talk about pleasure, sexual pleasure, your sexual pleasure. Let’s explore sexual arousal, passion, erotic desire, fantasies, attraction, sexual impulses and the untamed sexual drive. “No bill of sexual rights can hold its own against the lawless untameable landscape of the erotic imagination.” Daphne Merkin...

17 Feb

My Sexual Self and I

Brenda Sutherland

|

News, Uncategorized

|

Let’s talk about pleasure, sexual pleasure, your sexual pleasure. Let’s explore sexual arousal, passion, erotic desire, fantasies, attraction, sexual impulses and the untamed sexual drive. “No bill of sexual rights can hold its own against the lawless untameable landscape of the erotic imagination.” Daphne Merkin...

We’re glad to have you here.

10 Jan

Welcome to our new website!

|

2018, Awakening, New, Website

|

Announcements, Website

|

We’re glad to have you here.