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Linda Diaz-Murphy
Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Grief & Trauma CBT Specialist, Registered Play & Certified Sand Play Therapist
Who Am I * Safe Place * The Healing Journey
Linda Diaz-Murphy, LPC, RPT, CTS, TF-CBTS, LCADC, DRCC
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Registered Play Therapist, specializing in Trauma Focused Play Therapy and Sand Play Therapy for children, teens and adults. I have my own counseling practice and offer effective outpatient, individualized, psychological care. I treat a number of mental health issues, and provide a neutral perspective to children, teens and adults. I provide individual, family, and couples therapy.
I am a certified grief counselor for the Victim Witness Assistance Program Office of Military Commissions assisting 9/11 victim family members (VFM) and others who have experienced loss.
I have visited Puerto Rico where my family is from and shared my book, The Wounded Yellow Butterfly and La Mariposa Amarilla Herida with the children affected by Hurricane Maria. I provided grief counseling to children harmed by Hurricane Maria.
I have donated copies of my Books,The Wounded Yellow Butterfly and La Mariposa Amarillo Herida, to victims of natural disasters in Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina and New Jersey. I have donated books to families of police officers killed in the line of duty and children who lost a family member due to a police shooting. I have donated toys and copies of my book in English and in Spanish to organizations helping children who have crossed the American Borders and children who have witnessed community violence.
I have been married for over 40 years to Brian, my wonderful husband. I am a mother, grandmother, and have two wonderful grandchildren who helped me write the book, The Wounded Yellow Butterfly, a story of a wounded butterfly that rebuilds with other insects and garden animals their peaceful garden after a terrible storm. I was inspired to write The Wounded Yellow Butterfly by a real wounded yellow butterfly, the children and families who have allowed me to come along on their healing journeys and my family who immigrated to the USA from Fascist Spain and Communist Cuba seeking political freedom.
Socialism and Fascism are rooted in Communism, a totalitarian system ruled by one person and an indiscriminate military that is in opposition to democracy, free speech, private property, financial independence and artistic expression. Communism is marked by massive surveillance while imposing state terrorism, personality cultism, anti-LGBT, state control of reproduction, anti-parents, anti- motherhood, pro-abortion, pro-genocide, pro-euthanasia, pro-infanticide, anti-family, state control of medical and psychological decisions, anti-feeling, pro-dysfunctional thinking, anti-religion, sexists, racists, political repression, kidnapping of children, mass incarceration, torture, violence, enslavement and death. It also includes an all-encompassing propaganda campaign broadcasted by the state-owned controlled mass media that turns friends against friends, neighbors against neighbors, children against parents, non-religious persons against religious persons, students against professors, Blacks against Whites, women against men and you against yourself. It is a system that destroys the past, controls the present, and denies you a future. Counseling is available to those suffering from post political trauma. I am offering 10 free
counseling sessions to those without insurance or any means to pay who have experienced political repression.
Therapy is about finding your own voice. Therapy is democratic. Therapy is liberating. Therapy is free speech. Therapy helps you discover your authentic self. Therapy is caring. Therapy is about visiting the past in order to free us to move forward. Therapy allows us "...the freedom to experience spontaneous feelings.” ― Alice Miller, The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self
I am providing free downloads of my books and audio/videos in Spanish and in English with captions of The Wounded Yellow Butterfly and La Mariposa Amarilla Herida on this website and on u-tube.
Full Circle is when something "comes full circle"; it completes a cycle, returns to its beginnings. "We can go from optimism to pessimism and back to optimism again in our lives". It is also an “expression of the moment”. You may find these and other definitions on the Web and Webster's Dictionary
Wishing you all the best, Linda
Safe Place: The Waiting Room
The focus of therapy is to help children, teens and adults become aware of their inner strengths to help each individual grow from their struggles, heal from their pain, and move forward to where each person wants to be in his or her life. To achieve this, each person is provided a neutral safe space from the start in the safe space waiting room where trust can develop and healing can begin.
The Healing Journey
I will be there for you every step of your healing journey. Your journey may include feeling safe, expressing your feelings, learning to cope with strong feelings, telling your personal story and making closer connections with others.
Grief is a strong emotional response to loss and trauma.
Initial Response to a Loss and/or a Traumatic Event
Initial Response to a Loss and/or a Traumatic Event
Initial Response to a Loss and/or a Traumatic Event
Initially children, teens and adults may feel shock. It may seem unreal. You may experience denial, as if nothing happened.
Symptoms
Initial Response to a Loss and/or a Traumatic Event
Initial Response to a Loss and/or a Traumatic Event
After a tragic event or loss, children, teens and adults may have trouble functioning at home, work and/or school. We may feel and/or experience fear, anxiety, or depression. We may have an inability to form or keep relationships, withdrawing from others. We may experience terrifying memories, nightmares and/or flashbacks, and may avoid
After a tragic event or loss, children, teens and adults may have trouble functioning at home, work and/or school. We may feel and/or experience fear, anxiety, or depression. We may have an inability to form or keep relationships, withdrawing from others. We may experience terrifying memories, nightmares and/or flashbacks, and may avoid things or triggers that remind us of the traumatic event. We may also regress and act out uncharacteristically. We may experience physical problems including fatigue, being startled easily, poor concentrating, racing heartbeat, edginess and agitation, aches and pains, muscle tension, nausea, and headaches.
A loss or traumatic event may cause a feeling of hopelessness or meaninglessness of life. We may ask, "Why did this happen to me?".
We all need consistency in our lives. We want to feel in control and make sense of our lives and the world around us. When something tragic happens we want to know “Why?”.
Healing may take weeks, months and even years. Each person is different and his or her healing time should be respected.
Therapy Helps with Rebuilding and Restoring Hope
Initial Response to a Loss and/or a Traumatic Event
Therapy Helps with Rebuilding and Restoring Hope
Counseling helps you feel safe again, to express and cope with feelings, to tell your personal stories and reconnect with others.
You may experience grief due to the loss of a spouse, a betrayal, divorce, human or natural disaster, environmental contamination, war, rioting, bullying, loss of your home, rape, abortion, discrimination, raci
Counseling helps you feel safe again, to express and cope with feelings, to tell your personal stories and reconnect with others.
You may experience grief due to the loss of a spouse, a betrayal, divorce, human or natural disaster, environmental contamination, war, rioting, bullying, loss of your home, rape, abortion, discrimination, racism, assault, kidnapping, human trafficking and other traumatic losses.
It has been my experience and those of the men, women, and children who have or are healing from loss to report the following stages and symptoms:
Stage 1 and possible symptoms
- Shock, denial, fear, not feeling safe, confusion
Stage 2 and possible symptoms
- Sorrow
- Anger
- Hopelessness
- Rage
- Anxiety
- Guilt
- Shame
- Feeling disconnected
- Self-blame
- Mood swings
- Confusion
- Poor concentration
Stage 3 and possible associated symptoms
•Struggling to make sense of trauma event
Stage 4 and possible trauma symptoms
- Memories of trauma event
- Sweating, pounding heart
- Avoiding people, places and things that remind you of traumatic event
- Panic attacks
- Losing interest in life and activities you once liked
- Don't feel normal
- Physical pain and/ or disability
Stage 5
- Acceptance
- Better coping
- Finding courage
- Forgiveness
- Acknowledgement of the loss, feeling empathy for others and self
- Feeling Hopeful
- Rebuilding
- Resilience, feeling courageous
- Having a different point of view about the loss
- Remembrance of the past
- Acceptance, a return to living again in the present with uncertainty and a sense of safety
- Connecting with others
- Looking to the future
Stage 6
Finding Meaning
Somatic Symptoms
To help understand somatic symptoms please read, "The Body Never Lies", by Alice Miller, a world-renowned psychoanalyst who examined the long-ranged consequences of childhood abuse on the body. She shows how physical and psychological abuse or trauma manifests in adult illnesses.
The Wounded Yellow Butterfly is a perfect story book for children to help understand the process of grief.
There are several points of view on the grieving process and the number of stages of grief. It is believed that there are 6 stages of grief. The first 5 grief stages were introduced to us by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. The 6th stage, "Finding Meaning" is offered to us by David Kessler.
Life’s Issues
Parenthood
Counseling will help define your role, find comfort, support and confidence with the choices you make.
Reproductive choices, Pregnancy Loss, Abortion Traumatic Loss and Grief
Counseling helps you make reproductive choices.
Counseling provides a safe place to share the loss of a pregnancy or infant and to gain a better understanding of the normal grieving and healing process. Counseling is available by community agencies for those without insurance or other means to pay. Please call 201-320-9907 for a referral.
Counseling provides a safe place for sharing your loss after an abortion and to gain a better understanding of the normal grieving and healing process. 10 free post abortion trauma counseling sessions are being offered to those without insurance or other means to pay.
Safety
Counseling can provide you and your loved ones a safe place to explore what being safe is, who are the safe and unsafe people, and how to keep yourself and others you love safe.
Empowerment
Counseling is beneficial to everyone seeking to empower themselves and strengthen their commitment in facing injustices i.e., domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment/being told to perform sex to keep your job or to advance in your career (safer to look for another job and/or file a complaint against perpetrators), hate crimes, violence against you for your political affiliation, accusations of sexual assault w/out due process, forced abortion, etc.
You may need to explore enabling behavior and find the courage to correct injustices, not tolerating, enabling or excusing them. You can learn to feel empowered and not "look the other way."
Victims of crimes are strongly advised to seek medical, psychological and spiritual support as well as filing a police report. You may call this office for assistance to the police department to file sexual assault charges and accompaniment to the hospital for a rape kit exam.
Walking away or removing yourself from unsafe people or a dangerous situation is empowering yourself!
Therapy for Children, Teens, Adults and Families
Sand Play Therapy
Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that children, teens and adults may experience at some point in their lives. Through sand play therapy, children, teens and adults may recover motivation, perspective, and joy that they once had in their lives.
Trauma Focused Play Therapy For Children
Many children and teens can experience symptoms associated with painful and traumatic circumstances. Anxiety, fear, and hopelessness are a few emotions that can linger after traumatic events. Children and teens can overcome these symptoms and helped with caring guidance through the process of grief and healing.
Family and Couples Counseling
Family counseling can be beneficial to all members in the family looking to strengthen their emotional connections. Therapy sessions are held with family members in a supportive environment to discuss issues and solutions to better relate to one another.
Couples Counseling helps to understand the process of grief and reconciliation after a betrayal. The elements of reconciliation includes a sincere examination of conscience, honesty, reparations and forgiveness.
The Five Themes of Trauma Focused Play Therapy
Understanding Therapy
Therapy helps you find hope and balance in your life!
#1 Safety
Therapy can help you feel safe again.
#2 Coping
Therapy can help you cope with your loss.
#3 Expressing Your Feelings
Therapy can help you express your feelings.
#4 Connecting With Others
Therapy can help you feel closer to others.
#5 Telling Your Story
Therapy provides a safe place to tell your story.
Testimonials
School Bullying
School Bullying
School Bullying
Mother and child said, "Attending therapy helped us feel as if we had built a kaleidoscope as the animals and insects in the story had done after the storm. We have picked up the pieces of broken glass, built our kaleidoscope and saw a new way to care for ourselves by attending another school which helped us move on with our lives." -Karen and Fran
Sexual Abuse
School Bullying
School Bullying
I realized in therapy, "I may be wounded like the wounded yellow butterfly, but I too can still fly even after the abuse.
I found that once I redefined the language that kept me stuck in the a Self Blame/Guilt and Shame Cycle after Abuse, I was able to heal. I stopped believing I was "guilty" for a crime I did not commit. I learned to redefine the term "guilt" as a legal term reserved for the perpetrator of abuse or a crime and not about me at all. - Anne
Divorce
School Bullying
Loss of a Pet
"Therapy helped me find peace living in two homes just like the butterfly, the animals and insects rebuilt and found peace in their garden." -Joanna
Loss of a Pet
Stockholm Syndrome
Loss of a Pet
"Losing my pet was like going through the terrible storm like in the story. But I feel better today. Therapy helped me through the sad days and to remember the happy days just like the garden insects and animals remembered things in the past." - Frank
Adoption
Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm Syndrome
"In therapy I learned I am lovable and have value even if both of my parents neglected and abused me. I am with a new family now and it is a new day just like the new day in the peaceful garden where the the wounded yellow butterfly, the
rainbow butterflies and bird family live.
I got a second chance just like
the wounded yellow butterfly." - Pedro
Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm Syndrome
"I thought I was loved by my abusers because after beating me and sexually abusing me, they fed me, cuddled with me to watch my favorite movie and tucked me in at bedtime. They bought me nice clothes so I would look nice for school and bought me ice cream with colorful sprinkles. But I learned that I needed to build relationships with healthy people just like the animals and insects in the story when they built loving friendships. Therapy helped me understand the effects of my abuse when I was a child growing up. I am older now and learning to think for myself and make my own healthy decisions. I am like the wounded yellow butterfly, rebuilding my life after profound confusion, abuse and loss. " - Jennifer
The Wounded Yellow Butterfly Book
$12.00
La Mariposa Amarillo Herido
$12.00