The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

  By: Elizabeth McKeehan, LMHC When the Other Shoe Drops…   Surviving the unthinkable. Extreme loss & hard happen.  When multiple tragedies happen all at once or close together what do you do?   What is shoe dropping, much less the other one? Is it even possible in this life to keep both shoes on? Who does it happen to? When does bad happen?   What if more bad happens when things are already bad? What happens in our brains and body? How can we keep moving forward? How can we support those in it?   If Haley Joel Osment’s famous line (from the 1999 movie The Sixth Sense) “I see dead people” has become your mantra of “I see devastating/doom/danger/dreadful/dark/deplorable things”, this may be a sign you have experienced more than your share of compound loss. You may be experiencing PTSD symptoms and your body may be feeling the weight of carrying too much trauma. Notice and pay attention to what your body is saying.   Trauma = Unexpe...

(commentary on cheating pastors, king David, patriarchal church structures, grace & good care written by a survivor of this tragedy, Elizabeth McKeehan, IMH)     Here we go again… what gives… why betray those you love? Why do religious leaders cheat when they know their family and church will suffer the consequences for days and years to come. How can both grace and healing occur for everyone involved? Spouse betrayal is not a new phenomenon. I do not believe a clear or easy answer exists about why pastors, religious, and governing leaders cheat on their spouses. We could look at King David who loved God but was also filled with lust for Bathsheba, the wife of his friend Uriah. Bathsheba was married, yet he prioritized his craving for her and acted selfishly. In his ultimate power as king, he raped Bathsheba and then had her husband, his friend, killed when he found out she was pregnant. David sinned against God and he along with his substantially large family ...

By: Elizabeth McKeehan, IMH  I’m dedicating this article to my dear swimmer friend Dana.   2014 hit us both with some tragic and unwelcome news and life change.   I lost my pastor husband of 17 1/2 years to suicide and she received a daunting cancer diagnosis.   Neither of these situations made any sort of sense to us.   I was 42 and she was 33 years old.   Both of us had 2 young children to rear amidst the chaos. We both found ourselves confused and lost.   Yes, we have faith in God, but it has been severely tested.   We know He is with us and loves us even when we have, at times, screamed at Him.  Much like Disney’s Dory from the 2003 Finding Nemo. I am a firm believer in Dory’s practical philosophy.   What do you do when life gets you down (submerges you even), all is unclear or confusing, and you feel lost?   Dory says, “you know what you gotta do…just keep swimming…swimming…swimming…” Breathing deeply: “Just keep breathing…...