Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay You may have seen or heard this acronym before - it was first coined by the psychologist Jennifer Joy Freyd. It stands for Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender - a method sometimes used by abusers to defend themselves against accountability. DARVO was much in the news a … Continue reading What is DARVO?

Image by Elias from Pixabay It’s that time of year again, when Jewish people have just celebrated Passover, called “the time of our liberation”. This spring holiday, while incorporating the usual celebrations of new life (such as eggs and green vegetables), is also a commemoration of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were … Continue reading What is Freedom?

Image by 15299 from Pixabay I think you will agree that the last few years have been stressful. I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people who tends to medicate all stress, fatigue or sorrow with sugar- and there have been plenty of all three lately. I suppose there are worse … Continue reading Setting Goals

Image by InspiredImages from Pixabay Happy spring! Despite the complaints on Twitter, there’s nothing wrong, in my opinion, in talking about the March holidays, just like we talk about the December holidays. Many cultures hold celebrations around the equinoxes, just like they do around the solstices. We just had Purim, Easter, Nowruz and Holi, and … Continue reading New Beginnings

Image by Tania Van den Berghen from Pixabay Sometimes I think that listening is one of the hardest skills in the world. We all have opinions on things, and it is easy to share them, especially with people who agree with us. If we are talking with people who don’t agree with us, it’s tempting … Continue reading Are You Listening?

Image by Vicki Nunn from Pixabay As the final assignment for one of the classes I’m taking at rabbinical school, I am creating an adult education program on a topic that reflects my own life experience. I don’t yet know when (or indeed whether) I would offer it to real people, but it got me … Continue reading Are You Getting the Support You Need?

Image by Annette from Pixabay I’m still celebrating my birthday … my Hebrew birthday! I was born in a leap year in the Hebrew calendar, which is an extremely complicated combined lunar and solar calendar. This means that in every cycle of 19 years, 7 of them have an extra month intercalated, to keep all … Continue reading If Not Now, When?

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay Happy Valentine's Day! Today is my birthday - 62 times around the sun. There are many disadvantages to having  been born on February 14th, but the easy availability of sappy birthday cards and chocolate is definitely not one of them. The other day I realised, with some sadness, that … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Chocolate

Image by Richard Brown from Pixabay I was recently privileged to learn from an American Black Jewish community leader, Shahanna McKinney Baldon. One of the concepts she mentioned was Sankofa - a Ghanaian term meaning “Return and get it”. The word enjoins its hearers to respect the past, while building for the future. You can … Continue reading Return and Get It

Lifting is fun! If you follow me on social media, you know that I like to post little videos of myself lifting weights in the gym (this is a screenshot from one of those videos, sorry it's a little blurry). It’s a great form of exercise, especially for those of us who are getting up … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Bone Density (Again)