Category: Parenting

• The F-Word Was Father’s Day: A Poem of Reclamation

  

  A healing poem about reclaiming Father’s Day from trauma through self-love, fatherhood, and inner reparenting. A tribute to self-fathering and growth.

  Forest Benedict, LMFT

  June 14, 2025

  Addiction, Attachment, Change, children, Codependency, Connection, CPTSD, Fun, Grief, IFS, Inspiration, Parenting, Poetry, Recovery, Religious trauma, self-compassion, Self-Connection, Sexual Addiction, Shame, trauma, writing

  breaking generational cycles, compassionate self-love, emotional healing, father wound, father’s day, fatherhood journey, forest benedict, grief and growth, healing, healing from childhood trauma, healing poem, IFS, IFS therapy, inner child healing, Internal Family Systems, LMFT blog, men’s healing, mental health, parenting and trauma, poetry for healing, recovery, Religious trauma, reparenting, self-compassion, self-connection, self-fathering, trauma, trauma recovery

• Oh Mother, My Self! – A Dr. Seuss-Style Poem on Self-Mothering

  

  A heartfelt Dr. Seuss-style poem honoring all forms of motherhood—offering healing, validation, and a powerful reminder that the love we longed for can still be given by the one who knows us best: our Self.

  Forest Benedict, LMFT

  May 11, 2025

  Attachment, Connection, CPTSD, IFS, Inspiration, Parenting, Poetry, self-compassion, Self-Connection, Shame, writing

  Attachment Repair, Dr. Seuss Style Poem, emotional healing, Gentle Parenting Yourself, Healing from Childhood Wounds, Healing Through Poetry, IFS, inner child healing, Inner Nurturing, mental health, Mother’s Day Healing, Motherhood and Self-Compassion, Reparenting Yourself, self-compassion, Self-Compassion Poem, self-connection, Self-Love Practices, Self-Mothering, trauma, trauma recovery

• Healing Through Connection Online Groups for Men

  

  Join a Healing Through Connection online group for men

  Forest Benedict, LMFT

  March 21, 2024

  Addiction, Change, Connection, IFS, Parenting, Recovery, Shame

  connection, friendships, group therapy, IFS, isolation, men, recovery, Sexual shame

• Let’s Heal for Our Children

  

  Join me in doing everything we can to heal anything in us that hinders connection with our children

  Forest Benedict, LMFT

  November 2, 2022

  Addiction, Attachment, children, Connection, IFS, Inspiration, Parenting, Recovery, Religious trauma, Sexual Addiction, Sexual shame, Shame, trauma

  IFS, pain, parenting, psychedelics, recovery, Religious trauma, trauma

• 11 Self-Love Strategies to Transform Your Life (Video Presentation)

  Did you know that self-love can transform your life? It’s true. In my presentation last week through the Center for Healthy Sex, I shared 11 self-love strategies that are potentially life-changing for those who practice them. While my presentation has a recovery focus, I recommend it to everyone because it presents science-based strategies and specific…

  Forest Benedict, LMFT

  March 13, 2019

  Addiction, Attachment, Connection, Inspiration, life after lust, Parenting, partners, pornography, Recovery, Sexual Addiction, Shame, trauma

  center for healthy sex, life after lust, self-connection, self-love

• Running on Empty No More: Transform Your Relationships With Your Partner, Your Parents and Your Children (Book Recommendation)

  I just finished a wonderful book I can’t wait to tell you about called Running on Empty No More: Transform Your Relationships With Your Partner, Your Parents and Your Children, by Dr Jonice Webb. Running on Empty No More is an excellent book for anyone seeking healing in their most important relationships. The book is…

  Forest Benedict, LMFT

  January 9, 2018

  children, Connection, Parenting, partners, writing

  running on empty