PODCAST: Into The Deep with J Costa Features Jessica Raistrick, LCSW

Jessica was recently interviewed on the podcast, Into the Deep with J. Costa, to discuss therapy, healing, intuition and reiki, as well as Jessica’s book, The Gut Check. Learn more about J. Costa by visiting https://linktr.ee/itd.jcosta and find The Gut Check at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jessica...

Curious about getting in touch with your intuition? Wondering how to access deeper learnings about yourself? Or, perhaps you just need some support finding relaxation and calm. We are here to help.

To learn more about Jessica Raistrick and her work, visit the Center for Natural Medicine.

PODCAST: FitForJoy Features Jessica Raistrick, LCSW

Fit for Joy Podcast host, Valeria Teles, interviews Jessica Raistrick — the Founder Of Inner Truth Consulting, LCSW, Teacher, Psychotherapist, Certified Reiki Master, Writer And Speaker

The Evolution of our Intuition

Intuition can be a tough topic to grasp for many of us. In a culture so dominated by the linear mind, logic, and intellect, listening to the gut can seem abstract or hard to practice. However, the intuition is a very important part of evolving and healing. The reconnection with our gut instinct and our intuition is paramount. So how do we reconnect with our intuition? Tapping into our intuition requires us to care for ourselves, listen to our bodies, and find ways to meet our needs. Read that line again. This is one of the most important things we learn as we heal emotionally and spiritually. It all begins within. Self-care is the key. Accessing intuition means we must learn to trust ourselves on a deep level. Many of us need to learn this depth of trust, especially if we grew up in challenging environments where substance use, trauma, or codependence, play a part. If we don’t know how to meet our own needs how are we going to find ways to meet the needs of our children?

Self-Care as the Guide

We often want to access the mysterious gut instinct or intuition right away. But, it’s a process to get to this place of listening and inner knowing. The key is understanding that we can’t just wave a wand, we have to do our part in holding ourselves and our awareness. This term, self-care, is used a lot these days but what does it really mean? Sometimes, it means quieting our inner critic. In addition, it may mean setting boundaries with people who are unhealthy or destructive. As we apply the awareness, change starts to happen. The inner voice gets louder and clearer.

For each of us, the path may vary but ultimately it is about getting comfortable in our own skin, trusting our inner compass, and feeling empowered and joyful.

”When I see clients, the idea is to empower them to learn the skills they need to access their own inner wisdom and peace. There are simple tools that we can access to truly apply self-care to our daily lives. Once we use these skills and start to fill the well, we can show up more fully for ourselves and others. It’s from this place of self-love that we can give love to others. This is the real power of the practice.”—Jessica Raistrick, LCSW

As a licensed clinician for more than 20 years, Jessica Raistrick, LCSW, shares that her inspiration comes from the adolescents and adults that she treats who overcome the struggles of addiction, eating disorders, and family conflict. Effective change happens when the underlying problems are addressed in ways that are individualized and creative. The safe space Jessica offers in therapy allows her clients to explore their feelings, their choices, and challenge patterns of behavior. Jess works extensively with teens struggling at school, at home, and with the legal system. Her work with parents includes finding effective strategies to reach their teen while opening the lines of communication within the family system. In addition, Jessica’s work with substance abuse treatment and prevention has spanned her career while working in the school system, alternatives to incarceration, residential treatment facilities, and in her private practice. She has also worked with individuals coping with eating disorders for over 10 years in a residential setting. Jessica’s work with clients is grounded in empathy and connection. Furthermore, her style of direct feedback, in a compassionate manner, helps individuals gain insight and envision and enact new modes of behavior. She finds it rewarding to help people make connections between their feelings and their behaviors—to find healthier ways to express their emotions.

Curious about getting in touch with your intuition? Wondering how to access deeper learnings about yourself? Or, perhaps you just need some support finding relaxation and calm. We are here to help.

To learn more about Jessica Raistrick and her work, visit the Center for Natural Medicine.

Photo by Ravi Pinisetti via Unsplash

New Eating Disorder Support Group

New Eating Disorder Support Group in New Milford, Connecticut

Inner Truth Consulting is excited to announce a new Eating Disorder Support Group in New Milford, Connecticut. The holidays can be hard for any of us. And when we’re struggling with an eating disorder, it can trigger us emotionally. Furthermore, it is ideal to have support when going through such times. Our new disordered eating process group creates a safe space for us to process.

Jessica Raistrick, LCSW, offers expertise in eating disorder treatment and support. In addition, her background includes an executive leadership role at one of the top eating disorder facilities in the US, Renfrew. She oversaw the treatment team and ensured clients received exceptional care. Also, she served as Executive Director for adolescent substance abuse and mental health facility where she led a team, encouraging open lines of communication and therapy.

The holiday season, in particular, brings new challenges with social gatherings, food-oriented events, and various emotional triggers. When we come together to explore the issues and share our experiences, we allow for healing. Please join us!

Inner Truth Consulting with Jessica Raistrick, (formerly Jessica Adams), LCSW

RSVP jessica@innertruthconsulting.com

Kindness Through Divorce: Compassionate Co-Parenting

By Jessica Raistrick, LCSW

Why is it hard to maintain kindness through the divorce process?  When we find ourselves in the midst of a divorce, whether we are the one that asked for the divorce or we are the recipient of divorce papers, it can be emotionally challenging. We may forget why we loved this person in the first place. In addition, we find ourselves riddled with anger, sadness, grief, and the despair of loss. We planned our lives to be one way and now we are faced with a completely new reality.  During a divorce, past hurt and pain can surface and some hold on to that pain in order to get through the process. It’s a way to detach. instead of looking at the person with compassion, we may get stuck in anger. This is natural. But it is the love that we first had when we met our partner that is essential to tap when we are in the throes of divorce.

Maintaining Kindness During Divorce

Why is tapping into that love essential?  Because if we choose to come from a place of pain and anger, the people that suffer are ourselves and our children.  Children learn how to interact with the world around them by the examples set by their parents.  They learn how to treat those of the opposite sex when they look at how they parents treat each other.  When we come from a place of anger—the result of hurt or sadness—we are deceiving ourselves by thinking this will be a helpful way to drudge through the divorce process.  We also allow our children to see the “ugly” sides of our pain instead of the healthy way to work through something so difficult and challenging.  Our children need both parents in their lives. There is no question about this.  We, as parents, provide a balance to our children’s lives that can’t be replaced by a single parent, regardless of how amazing of a parent we may think we are.  Originally, we thought our ex-spouse was going to be a great parent. This is why we chose to have children with them.  Why is it that people forget that fact during and after a divorce?  It doesn’t have to be this way.

During a divorce, key factors to remember are what traits your soon to be ex-spouse has that align with yours.  What are the morals and values you both share that you want to pass onto your children? Children learn by action, not words. Your words mean nothing if they see your actions towards their other parent contradict themselves on a daily basis. Your ability to rise above your anger and truly tune into your pain is what will get you through the process in a more humanistic and compassionate way. Many family systems are disrupted by divorce; you are not the only one suffering. It’s important to figure out how to manage in a healthy way rather than a reactionary, “what the hell am I supposed to do now?” manner. 

How to Embrace Kindness

Take a minute each day and reflect on what you have learned from your marriage and the divorce process.  As the saying goes, “it takes two to tango.”  Each partner plays a role in why the marriage ended up where it is.  It is key to be able to take a step back and acknowledge the role you played in why you are where you are and how you can do things differently moving forward.  No one goes into a marriage thinking “I really want to get divorced in a few years.” We are all doing the best we can with what we know at each stage of our lives.  No one is perfect and we need to remember this when we are trying to work with our ex-spouse in order to make sure we provide the best possible life we can for our children.  If you don’t access your pain, you are denying yourself the ability to heal and showing your children what it means to adapt to change in a healthy way.  When you hold your co-parenting partner with compassion, you are also serving your own well-being. And this will inevitably create a more harmonious family dynamic for all.

Be kind. It’s worth it.

An innovative Approach to Therapy

by Jessica Raistrick, LCSW

My approach to therapy is based on compassion, awareness, and positivity. I have no desire to keep people dependent on therapy. In fact, the opposite is true. As a professional licensed clinician, it is my obligation to educate, inform, and empower my clients to live their best possible lives. Hence, this is done by sharing the practices and tools that allow individuals to self-regulate, manage anxiety and stress, and achieve their dreams. This is truly possible.

Some of the ways I do this are through varied services:

• Individual therapy: help people to effectively work through their anxieties and fears of making changes in different areas of their life.

• Positive Modeling: through directed queries and dialogue, steer clients toward their ideals and objectives.

• CBT: I use tried and true practices to understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors.

• Inspirational Coaching: ignite inspiration and positivity in clients by helping them to see the good.

Helping parents of divorce like to co-parent in a compassionate and caring way.

Getting along after your divorce to parent as a unit is a very difficult task. Very often people in this situation face:

•       Feeling confusion regarding what your relationship with your ex-spouse “should” look like

•       Feeling disconnected from your child when you no longer see them everyday

•       Feeling a loss of control over how your child is raised when you are not present

•       Finding a way to come to a healthy compromise with your ex spouse

•       Dealing with new partners entering your child’s life

•       Arguing with your ex-spouse over matters that you didn’t argue over before

•       Feeling judged on the way you live your life or manage the lives of your child/children

Even though you may feel frustrated and discouraged, know that many people in your situation are facing similar challenges and have been able to find hope and work together in the best interest of their children.

Here Are Some Specific Ways I Help:

I can provide the support you need to help find your way towards a healthier relationship. Even if you’re feeling lost now, I can help guide you in making lasting, positive changes in your life. Some of the ways in which I can support you through this process is by:

•  Working on healthy and effective communication skills

•  Supporting you in looking at the core values you and your ex share

•  How to support each other to instill your core values in your children

•  Work to leave the past in the past and start fresh

•  How to focus on the positive traits that your ex encompasses

•  How to stop putting your child in the middle of adult disagreements

•  How to establish healthy boundaries

Practical tools

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PAUSE

We often react without pausing. What does it look like when you allow yourself the space to breathe, take a moment, then respond.

BREATHE

The breath is key for emotional self-regulation and allows our nervous system to slow down. Take a deep breath. Notice how you feel.

SMILE

Studies show that the act of smiling itself (even when perhaps not inspired to do so!) can alter one’s mood and perception. Give it a try!

Couples Therapy Explained

Couples Therapy

We all hear the phrase “Relationships take work….” But until we are in a long-term relationship we don’t always fully know what that entails.  Very often it means learning a new level of acceptance, compromise, and intimacy.  It means finding the balance between living in our truth and honoring our partner and theirs.  We question… how much work should we be putting in and is it healthy? How do we get through to our partner when we feel like our relationship is struggling?  How do we communicate topics that are difficult and scary? 

Being vulnerable with your partner can be hard and scary on many levels.  Being in a healthy relationship requires feeling emotionally safe in order to express your feelings.  When you feel emotionally safe your partner is able to be curious and respectful in listening what you are struggling with, even when it involves him/her.  Being able to communicate with your partner about something they are doing that bothers you can be challenging, as we all have emotional triggers.  When we come from a place of being triggered, we are unable to truly listen and show compassion for our partner. 

I am here to support you on your journey to a healthier relationship with your partner.  This journey involves looking at how you communicate, what are each person’s triggers and how are they getting in the way, and what is blocking you from moving forward.  Through exploring these different areas, I will be able to support you in practicing specific techniques to:

-communicate clearly

-create and maintain an emotionally safe environment to express yourself

-learn how to disagree and move forward in a constructive and respectful manner