Friends, A young nurse and I spoke recently about her experience of secondary trauma. She indicated how she’s worried about her small patients and the tiniest of errors she might make that could have life-altering results. She admitted to ruminating about drawing blood from PICC-lines, moisture in ventilators, and uninvolved parents in patient care. She […]

Hey Friends, Happy Summer – I feel like it’s in full swing with endless days of sunshine. I’m not complaining because this Midwest girl often misses endless days of sunshine between November and March in the Pacific Northwest. I want to talk to you today about a pretty simple, but not easy, concept. “What vs. […]

Well, hello friends & colleagues, I thought I might take a moment to reflect on the past few weeks by reaching out to all of you with updates specifically for providers and those in the healthcare field. If you’re subscribed to my regular newsletter, then you likely hear from me weekly about parenting woes, showing […]

Hello Friends, So last week, I talked a great deal about vulnerability risks. If you missed it, here it is. I heard from several of you who said things like, “I forwarded this to ‘my Alyson’ and thanked her,” or “I need to find ‘an Alyson’.” I love hearing from you and always love to read your […]

  Hey Friends, This blog is specifically for my friends and colleagues who wear all-the-hats and worry that risks of vulnerability and imperfections may lead to rejection, shame or judgement. Tread lightly friends, this is about to get real. “My brokenness is a better bridge for people than my pretend wholeness ever was.” ~ Sheila […]

Hello Friends, Let me paint a picture for you. It’s a school night. We’ve wrapped up our days of school & work. Homework completed with ease and we’ve finished dinner and cleaned up for the night. Now it’s time to relax. We all cozy in and find a funny show to watch. Doesn’t it sound […]

Hey Friends, Can we talk about a touchy subject? And can you promise to read to the end and not delete this?? OK, here we go, deep breath… Both of my kids have been vaccinated – they’re 16 and 14. My daughter and I stood in line at the Oregon Convention Center for over two […]

Hey Friends, Summer is almost here! I delight in seeing the last-day-of-school photos, graduation celebrations and hot, sweaty faces soaking up sunshine. And without masks! I’m seeing smiles, teeth, new braces and true joy. Summertime means big deep breaths of warmth and sunshine and long exhales as we relax into longer days. What does summer […]

I want to tell you about a conversation I had with my kids last week. But first, let me provide you some context. If you’re like me, your kids have been doing online distance learning until the past month or so of school. If you’re not like me, and your kids have been in school all […]

My heart is a bit heavy as I write this. In the same week, one of my best friends had a beautiful new baby and someone I cared about deeply died. The world gained an angel and lost a beautiful soul. Do you ever find it hard to hold space for two such opposing experiences? Do you […]