In my early years as a coach and therapist I, like many other helpers, often looked for the more complicated, more dramatic or exotic reasons for a person’s unhappiness or distress. Now that I’m ‘older, battle tested/scarred and wiser’ (hehehe), I know to initially ask my clients about those simple, but not-so-obvious issues, such as sleep, that might underlie one’s ‘presenting’ problem!
Sleep? Sleep, you ask? What’s sleep got to do with your stress levels or your partner’s insensitivity?
Well, it turns out that your sleep habits have A LOT to do with the quality of your daytime, i.e.: awake life! (more…)
I happened to catch a piece on The Today Show this morning on ‘Gray Divorce’. Gray divorce is defined as marriages that end ‘later in life’. Older persons face some unique stresses when their relationship ends, such as worrying about growing old alone, negative financial changes, feeling less ‘attractive’ and figuring out how to enter a ‘less viable’ singles market. Younger divorcees tend to have more options and more time to rebuild their love lives.
The ‘Gray Divorce’ discussion got me thinking about the topic of gay divorce, and more specifically, lesbian breakups and lesbian divorce. I remember a few years back reading an article in a professional magazine about the ‘disenfranchisement’ lesbians go through when their relationship ends.
According to dictionary.com disenfranchise is defined as:
As gay pride month draws to a close, I came across a really amazing story this morning:
The story of the rainbow flag. Have you ever sat back and wondered:
Where did the rainbow flag come from?
Who created the rainbow flag?
I know I never really thought about it, but, there is a really cool, TRUE story about the rainbow flag’s birth, it’s creator, the events surrounding it’s creation, etc.
The rainbow flag’s creator is a man named Gilbert Baker and you’re going to love this seven minute video explaining it all. Do yourself a favor and watch the gay ‘Betsy Ross’ as he tells the story…
Bill Daley of The Chicago Tribune reports a celebrity gay couple has spoken out publicly in response to recent homophobic comments made at a college talk by 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
During the talk, Huckabee said he believes gays shouldn’t be allowed to adopt. He dissed gays as parents by complaining that when it comes to parenting children, ‘we aren’t dealing with puppies’.
Well now, there is much I can say about that comment, but, suffice it to say (more…)
I’m pleased to announce that Donna and I will be interviewing Lara Zielinsky, bisexual author of mature adult content lesbian and bi-women’s fiction, romance and erotica Thursday, April 29, 2010 from 7-8p ET on Coach Sappho’s Podcast.
Lara resides in the Orlando, Florida area. Who knew we had such an interesting and accomplished author right in our midst!?!
Lara has been on a speaking tour promoting her new book
Today, in recognition of current holidays such as Passover and Easter, Donna Tara Lee and I covered the topic of dealing with anti-gay relatives during the holidays.
We agree today’s show was one of our best (so far)! Please feel free to listen and forward the link to anyone you wish.
We talked about the varieties of disapproval GLBT’s face, why people become anti-gay (it’s not them it’s their beliefs) and we talked a great deal about how to address this issue if it presents itself in your life.
We also touched on the serious issue of suicide and the holidays. I offered a great resource called the Suicide Prevention Hot Line at 1-800-723-TALK.
In my early years as a coach and therapist I, like many other helpers, often looked for the more complicated, more dramatic or exotic reasons for a person’s unhappiness or distress. Now that I’m ‘older, battle tested/scarred and wiser’ (hehehe), I know to initially ask my clients about those simple, but not-so-obvious issues, such as sleep, that might underlie one’s ‘presenting’ problem!
Barb Elgin, MSW, LCSW, Certified Singles Coach, is a lesbian dating and relationship expert and matchmaker.
