Newsletter October 2012. Why People Don’t Change & How They Can

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Flourishing Lives For S.M.A.R.T.* Women and the Men Who Love Them

Dear Friend,

I’d like to share 3 stories with you that will inspire you to keep going, even when you are filled with self-doubt. They are all written by clients who are thrilled to share their success with you.

Retreat Breathwork Stories.  We had another powerful Beach Retreat in September where participants had the delight of discovering what I mean by Peak Experiences. Abraham Maslow coined this term for those rare “a-ha” moments that change our lives forever. For those of you who have attended previous Retreats, you know how exquisite this is. To read these two women’s beautiful transformational journeys, click here.
 
Marriage Counseling Story: A True Resurrection.
“We started our journey with Benita just over eight months ago. Our 15 year old marriage was hanging on by a shredded string and I personally didn’t see any real good outcome from any attempt to try and repair it.”  Click here to read the whole story.

I love working with people who are excited about creating a flourishing life. I don’t just want you to survive. I want you to thrive! To help you move towards that goal, I’ve created a  Mini-Retreat called  “Your Authentic Life.”  Even if you don’t attend, you will learn a lot by reading about the philosophy of this retreat. Please take a minute to read this.   

“Your Authentic Life” Fall Mini-Retreat
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Early Bird Discount by 10/15/12. Couples receive an additional discount.

You’ll learn practical skills to:
1. Communicate adeptly from your heart, your Authentic Self.
2. Empathize. Develop emotional intimacy skills to deeply connect with significant others.
3. Feel your emotions, contain them, and develop the courage to be transparent.
4. Know that you are worthy to receive what you ask for.
5. Access the Wisdom stored in your body, mind and spirit.
6. Nurture yourself to create optimal health and balance.

Location: Young Harris, GA.  (2 hours north of Atlanta)
Enjoy the beautiful Fall colors in the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking Lake Chatuge.

Early Bird Discount Date:  Monday, October 15, 2012.
Click here for complete details.

To learn about how deep transformation occurs, read this article: Why People Don’t Change and How They Can.”

Look What’s New!  2013 Schedule
Intensive Retreats offer you the most powerful format to create the life of your dreams, so I scheduled four in 2013. Save the dates for the 2013 Retreats that interest you. Click here for the 2013 schedule.

Looking for a Holiday Gift?
“Journey into Wholeness” CD is a powerful tool to help you get answers to your most important life questions. You’ll develop spiritual intimacy, reduce stress, breathe deeply, process your emotions, and build self-worth.

Get one free CD when you buy 5 CDs. To order 1 or more CDs, click here or email: Benita@EspositoInstitute.com. Indicate how many CDs you would like.
Click here  to listen to the CD audio sample.

Attention: Highly Sensitive People
I am a highly sensitive person and many of my clients are, too. We have beautiful gifts to offer our families and communities, but we have our share of challenges because we are wired differently than 80% of the population.  Check out this fascinating information in the newsletter by my colleague, Dr. Elaine Aron, the author of The Highly Sensitive Person.

  • Psychology Today Article/Why We Are Sometimes SO Emotional
  • Recent Genetic Findings (Where there were none, there are now two studies linking sensitivity to specific genes.)
  • Our Spiritual Life: The Priestly Part of Our Being “Priestly Advisors.” Part3: The Lens of Personal Experience
  • To determine if you are a highly sensitive person, take the free quiz.

Click here for The Highly Sensitive Person newsletters.
__________________________________________________________

High-achievers, like Olympic athletes, continually catapult themselves beyond their current level of success. Visit my Life Coaching blog and Psychotherapy website.
Life Coaching: www.YourAuthenticLife.com
Psychotherapy: www.EspositoInstitute.com

____________________________________________________
Counseling and Life Coaching for S.M.A.R.T.  Women

and the Men Who Love Them

S.M.A.R.T. = Spiritual+Mature+Authentic+Responsible+Trustworthy

Specialties  
Marriage Counseling, Individuals, Groups, Retreats
(I use Gottman Method Couples Therapy by Drs. John and Julie Gottman,  the most researched marriage counseling method in the world.)

2 Offices
1) 48 Haralson Place, Suite 3, Blairsville, Georgia 30512
2) Atlanta Behavioral Care. 3188 Atlanta Road SE, Smyrna, GA 30080
*** Life and Relationship Coaching worldwide via telephone and Skype ***

To Schedule an Appointment, please use the Contact page on this site.

Want to use your insurance?  I am on several insurance panels.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Tricare, Coventry/MHNet, United Healthcare out-of-network, EAP Affinity, Medicaid via Magellan/Wellcare and Amerigroup. If you have out-of-network benefits from another company, I can process that for you.  ____________________________________________________
Benita A. Esposito, MA, Licensed Professional Counselor
With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology, I’m a psychotherapist, life coach, educator and an ordained minister.  One of my gifts is to translate people’s thoughts and feelings into words to help them understand themselves and others at depth. I  build bridges between people so they can meet each other in sacred spaces where they enjoy a quality of fulfillment they have rarely known. I especially enjoy helping people improve their relationships. Mind-body-spirit techniques combined with empathic intuition and logic facilitate deep, long-lasting change.

“Your Authentic Life, Anything Else is a Compromise.”

* S.M.A.R.T. = Spiritual + Mature + Authentic + Responsible + Trustworthy
The Esposito Institute | P.O. Box 1074 | Young Harris | GA | 30582

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Newsletter August 2012: Stress Management

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Increase Your Health & Well-being.

Are you a conscientious worker but you’re tired because there aren’t enough hours in the day to get your work done? Do you have trouble balancing the demands of your job with caring for your loved ones? Is stress taking a toll on your health and coping ability?  Are you scared to ask for what you need for fear you’ll lose your job? Do conflicts wear you down?

Stress and Productivity Statistics
Approximately 40% to 50% of all adult workers experience the negative effects of stress (American Psychological Association, 1997).
Consequences of Workplace Stress
1. Absenteeism, turnover and diminished productivity
2. Substance abuse
3. Anxiety, depression and accidents

Stress Management at Work Checklist

Anxiety Disorders – Definitions

You’re Invited to our Stress Management Workshop

Learn 4 Tools to Immediately Reduce your Stress.

(1) Examine your beliefs. (2) Breathe deeply. (3) Create balance. (4) Take breaks.

Where: Clay County Chamber of Commerce, Hayesville, NC
When: Monday, August 13, 2012. 6:00-8:00pm.
Tuition: $15.00.  Scholarships available. Please inquire.

Facilitator: Chamber member Benita A. Esposito, MA is a Licensed Professional Counselor. Office: 48 Haralson Place, Suite, Blairsville, GA 30512. For details about Benita’s work, visit www.Flourishing-Lives.com.

Call Now for Reservations.  Clay County Chamber (828) 389-3704. Space is limited to 12 seats. Or use the Contact form, and say you’d like to attend the Stress Management workshop. I will get back to you shortly.
* * *
Benita A. Esposito has 2 Offices: Atlanta and Blairsville, Georgia. Life coaching is available worldwide via the phone and skype.

Psychotherapy: www.Flourishing-Lives.com
Life Coaching: www.YourAuthenticLife.com
Specialties: Marriage and Couples Counseling, Pre-marital Counseling, Divorce Adjustment, Success Skills, Eliminating Self-defeating Patterns, Stress Management, Anxiety, Healing the Emotional Roots of Disease, Depression, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorder.
Services: Corporate Training, Psychotherapy, Life Coaching, Speaking Engagements, Intensive Retreats

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Why People Don’t Change and How They Can.

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Do you know the #1 reason why people don’t make and sustain the changes they desire in their lives? Whether we’re talking about relationships, money, weight, health or career … No matter how smart we are, no matter how well-intentioned we are, if we don’t address this one thing, we’ll keep ourselves playing small, much smaller than we need to. Read more

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Marriage Story: From Cold War to Resurrection

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“Our Journey Together With Benita A. Esposito”

 In the following story, you’ll see how a distressed couple on the verge of divorce transformed their marriage in six months. The story is told by the wife. If you want to skip the details, scroll to the end to read about the breakthroughs and what worked in therapy.

The Wife’s Side of the Story

We started our journey with Benita just over eight months ago. Our 15-year-old marriage was hanging on by a shredded string.  Read more

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Retreat Breathwork – 2 Client Stories

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(1) Breathwork Story: Breathing into Joy.

I arrived at Benita’s Beach Retreat at the Florida Gulf Coast filled with unknowing.  Trepidation, nervousness, worry, hope and fear flowed through me as I anticipated the days ahead.

“This will be profound,” Benita said, “Life changing.”

I kept telling myself “No matter what, this will be an adventure. No matter what, I will be OK.”  Yet I was really, really scared.  Read more

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“Exploring Healing Prayer Ministry” Workshop 10/27/12.

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A Workshop: Saturday, October 27, 2012.John Rice 2012

If you are interested in learning how to do spiritual healing rooted in the Christian tradition, please join me for this workshop.

It will be facilitated by my friends John Rice (my beloved former priest) and Bryan Johnson, MD.  Bryan and I were in the same class of Order of St. Luke where we studied the healing miracles of Jesus. Another wonderful friend, Dr. Cindy Libert, is hosting the workshop at the Life Wellness Center.

This is going to be a very special day. Won’t you join me?

Life Wellness Center is pleased to host Rev. John Rice and Dr. Bryan Johnson for a full day of Prayer and Healing. 

This event will educate and empower those who wish to claim and share the gift of wholeness in body, mind, spirit, and emotion that God offers and desires for us.

What to Expect

A relaxed workshop format for teaching and discussion

  • Ways we encounter healing
  • Biblical foundations for healing
  • Methods for individual and congregational healing prayer
  • Encouragement and fellowship
  • Opportunities to experience giving and re­ceiving healing prayer

Who Should Attend

  • Physicians, nurses, mental health professionals and other healthcare providers
  • Persons who wish to claim the gift of whole­ness for themselves
  • Persons who wish to share the gift of whole­ness with others
  • Persons who wish to enrich their participation in healing services & prayer ministries
  • Persons who are curious about healing prayer
  • Clergy, Chaplains, Stephen ministers, and those who wish to support these persons in their journey to wholeness. All are welcome! 

One Saturday, October 27, 2012

8:45am   Registration

9:15  Welcome & Opening Prayers

9:30   “Deepening Our Understanding of Healing Prayer”  –Rev. John Rice

10:15 Break

10:30 “The Prayer of Faith & Praying for Physical Healing” –Dr. Bryan Johnson

11:15 Break

11:30 “The Importance of Listening During Healing Prayer”  –Rev. John Rice

12:15 Lunch

1:00   “Combining Healing Prayer & Medicine” –Dr. Bryan Johnson

1:45   Break

2:00   “Soaking Prayer: The Blending of Holy Spirit & Holy Silence”   –Rev. John Rice

2:30   Discussion: “Where Is The Holy Spirit Leading Us?”

3:00   Closing Prayer

Facilitators

Rev. John Rice serves as president of the North American Board of the Order of St. Luke (OSL) and Director of Region 3 OSL (southeastern states). His vision is to encourage, equip and empower God’s people for healing ministry.  After 24 years as pastor of Episcopal churches in Vermont and western North Carolina, he recently retired from parish ministry to devote more time to healing ministry. He leads workshops about healing prayer in churches across the south.  In 2009 and 2010, John led OSL healing mission teams to India, equipping clergy and lay leaders to start an active healing ministry there. His passion is to nurture the growth of the body of Christ through healing prayer, both in India and at home.

Dr. Bryan Johnson has been a highly respected and beloved family practitioner in the Hiawassee, Georgia area for over 10 years. He brings amazing wisdom and knowledge plus a deep faith to his medical practice, often concluding his patient appointments with words of prayer. Last year, Dr. Johnson invited prayer ministers from the River of Healing OSL Chapter (located in the Hayesville, NC area) to come to his medical office and pray with certain patients on Friday afternoons. It was amazing to see the depth and breadth of healing that patients began to experience through the blending of medicine and prayer.

Dr. Johnson writes, “Though I have had many patients tell me the expected words of gratitude, I have seen the effect more fully in their lives. Issues like insomnia, irritable stomach, headaches have gone away. For some, their blood pressure and sugar levels have come down. Another, after Jesus redeemed some deep anger during a prayer session, has had complete healing of his long standing back pain and has had his cancer go into remission.” Healing the hurts in our past is good for our health!

Tuition: Love Offering.  Lunch will be provided.

Location: Life Wellness Center, 48 Haralson Place, Suite #1, Blairsville, GA 30512

Please register by October 25, 2012.  

  • Life Wellness Center, 48 Haralson Place   Suite #1, Blairsville, GA 30512
  • Fax (706)745-0889
  • E-mail: cindylibertmd@gmail.com
  • Call (706)745-0200

Return the following information:
Name as you wish it to appear on name tag,
Address, Email, Phone number

“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED”      Luke 4:18 (NASB)

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Anxiety Disorder Definitions

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beautiful womanAnxiety can be a healthy response to stress management, and can help people cope according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health. When anxious fearful feelings interrupt daily actives and become excessive and unwarranted, anxiety becomes a problem. Anxiety disorders can take several forms, from fears of social interactions to obsession and panic attacks. Read more

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