“… the journey of personal healing, where it leads, and why it’s worth it.”
Rythea believes that writing creates a pathway into who we are, especially when we are unearthing our own life-giving truths. Writing is an integral part of her work with her own healing and activism and also a tool she uses with her students and clients. Read recent work by Rythea on her blog:
Gutsy Healing: Reflections on Motherhood, Art, and Consciousness.
New Release:
Advice from a Loving Bitch Curriculum
This curriculum is a step-by-step foundation for experiential learning that happens through theatrical experimentation, creative writing, visualization, therapeutic theory and demonstrations, creativity, performance art, storytelling, and connecting with others on a similar path of personal growth.
WHO IS IT FOR?
It can be used individually, in classroom learning, affinity groups, on-line programs, friend circles, mental health programs, holistic health programs, and other group forums related to personal growth and community building.
Share this info (and link below) to friends and educators who would be excited to know about this ground-breaking curriculum!
“Working with the material in Advice from a Loving Bitch in a classroom setting set a powerful, safe and transformative tone for the group. Rythea’s presence in the show models vulnerability, dynamism and permission to be a beautiful and messy human! Using the show in our group inspired us all to take risks and open up in ways that were deeply healing for all of us. Thank you, Rythea, for sharing this material with our students and with the world!”
-Jessica Prodis, Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School, Holyoke, MA.
“I cannot sing enough praises for Rythea Lee’s Advice from a Loving Bitch curriculum, which I used for my upper level graduate class in mental health counseling at Westfield State University. Rythea’s capacity to authentically share her personal experiences around difficult topics (from self-hate to trauma to oppression and social justice) and to pose challenging self-reflective questions is unparalleled. Her curriculum provided a framework for students to access deeper awareness of, and tools to work with, their patterns, emotional landscapes, and “self-hating voices”. Students reported that the curriculum led to both insight into, as well as changes in, their lifelong patterns of relating to self and other, moving towards greater self- compassion, confidence, and deep healing, as well as heightened capacity to hold space for and journey with their own clients. Bravo!”
-Rebecca A. Burwell, Ph.D., Westfield State University
“I used this curriculum with graduate students at Westfield as part of their studies to become Mental Health Counselors. Many students said that watching Advice from a Loving Bitch and answering the reflective questions was one of the most transformational parts of the course. The curriculum supported them in deeply getting to know their inner worlds, resulting in greater acceptance, self-love and self-knowledge. It was essential for them to explore this terrain in order to support others in doing the same in the future. Rythea shares her content with humor, depth and heart. Every student connected to her and her story. Many students said the process changed their lives. The curriculum also supported us in bringing in social change curriculum.”
– Michelle Huber, teacher at Hartsbrook School in Western MA
If you are local to Northampton, MA, you can purchase the curriculum from Rythea, just shoot her an email at rythea@crocker.com
Rythea Lee Uses Humor To Help Us Heal Self-Hatred (podcast)
Click to Listen Rythea Lee appears as a guest on Melissa Dinwiddie’s podcast, Episode 188. Here are some of the discussion points in this episode:
-The catalyst for Rythea starting her show, Advice From a Loving Bitch
-Some of the subjects that she covers in the show
-What the process was like for her to create her show
-Her experience with her own self-hatred as she created the first season
-What enabled Rythea to push through her own thoughts of self-hatred to create Advice From a Loving Bitch
-The importance of self-awareness in combating self-hatred and moving towards self-compassion
-The healing that can come from addressing pain and heartbreak
-Rythea’s approach of un-schooling her daughter
-Her relationship with dance & what first inspired her to merge her writing and movement
Rythea’s Book: Trauma into Truth
Trauma into Truth: Gutsy Healing and Why It’s Worth It is a written and visual illustration of what healing from trauma and abuse can look like. It’s in a question and answer format so that there are slices of personal stories that come into focus in each chapter. What is healing? Who heals? Do you feel at home in your body? Is healing a selfish act? These are some of the questions in the book that are answered through direct and poetic writings. Original paintings accompany the words throughout the book. The writing offers a non-traumatizing template for those on a similar path.
Reviews for Trauma into Truth
I love this little book! Rythea leads you through the pain and joy of the healing journey. Her own incredible passion and creativity are alive on every page, the result of her own healing process. Must reading for anyone healing from childhood abuse.”
— Margaret Paul, Ph.D, author of Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You? and Healing Your Aloneness
Rythea Lee’s Trauma into Truth is a wonderful addition to the healing tools for survivors of childhood trauma. It’s inspiring and hopeful and resilience through Lee’s great writing and illustrations. It does, indeed, offer a full-bodied experience of becoming whole.”
—Dusty Miller, author of Women Who Hurt Themselves:A Book of Hope and Understanding
Resources
The Six Steps of Inner Bonding®
The Basics of Peer Counseling
Peer Counseling- A Counterculture Healing Process
An Interview with Rythea about her book
This is an NCTV interview with Henry White from his program, “Spotlighting Paradise.”
Spotlighting Paradise Episode 6 – Holistic – Part 2 of 2 from Northampton Community Television on Vimeo.