The Benefactor Of Forgiveness

Apr 4, 2018 | divorce, faith-based living, forgiveness, grace, Uncategorized

I just settled in with my favorite…Wild Mountain Blueberry coffee…and it’s time to chat with you all again today, about forgiveness. I want to talk about the true benefactor of forgiveness. Who really benefits when we go about the business of forgiving someone?

It is widely thought that forgiveness is for the offender. If I’ve wronged you, I need you to forgive me in order for me to feel OK again. While receiving forgiveness from someone can go a long way toward repairing damage in a relationship, it is not necessary for healing in either direction, because each person has the ability within themselves to heal with or without it. The relationship may not be able to heal, but each person can.

What about the other side of that coin? How does forgiveness heal the forgiver? I think of it like having one of those huge grappling hooks that climbers use stuck into the middle of my chest. The end of the hook is piercing my heart. Forgiveness is the process of removing the hook, and it involves a lot of grieving. If I refuse to undergo this process, if I refuse to forgive the person who wronged me, I am agreeing to let the painful hook stay put in my heart. Then all anyone has to do to hurt me again and again is give a little tug on the rope and I’m instantly screaming in pain.

If I undergo the process of forgiving, and remove the hook from my heart, I am no longer attached to the pain or trauma that caused the hook to be there in the first place. I have released it, or let it go. Sounds wonderful, and like a much better way to live, but yet it is very hard to do. Why? Why do we want to hold on to these painful hooks in our heart?

I believe that the answer many times is because we equate saying “I forgive you” with saying “What you did was OK.” We learn that when we’re kids, don’t we? And if the offense is truly minor, like spilled milk, the effects of the offense really aren’t that dire. We can honestly say, “It’s OK.” But what if the effects of the offense ARE dire? In fact, what if they are so devastating that we will never be able to say to the person who hurt us, “That’s OK.” If we equate saying “I forgive you” to saying “It’s OK” and what happened means we will never be OK ever again, (for example perhaps the offense meant the death of a loved one) then we can’t forgive.

The truth is, you can unhook your heart from the pain without saying “It’s OK.” Those two phrases aren’t equal at all. In fact, you can say, “I forgive you, what you did is not OK, and I still want you to have the natural consequences for your actions.” All of that can be true at the same time. Grace in this way has the opportunity to stop a cycle of revenge and wrongdoing, and correct a humble heart. It may not save a relationship, but it can save a soul, or two, from all kinds of suffering.

Step Three, Check!

Sep 9, 2013 | anxiety, Blog, dreams, faith-based living, goals, Uncategorized

It’s time for another update on my road to becoming an MSW, LSW, LCSW….

I have now just begun my final year of graduate school. I have finished 36 hours (of 60) and I’m currently engaged in completing 13 more. In the spring of 2014 I will have 11 left, and then…GRADUATION. I have 245 days left to the big day, to be exact. (Yes, I have a countdown app on my phone.) Right now I am taking 3 classes and 20 hours per week of practicum. Whew! If you’re thinking that this sounds like a lot, you would be correct. I have cut down my administrative work to approximately 1 day per week, and the rest of the time you can find me creating lots of new neuropathways in the classroom, reading books and articles, and learning at my practicum site.

I was thinking of writing about balance, and how important that is in life. The truth is, when you are a single mom and graduate student and office manager and friend and family member and….all the other hats I’m wearing right now…balance is a very elusive thing. I think it is pretty much impossible to really be balanced when that much is going on. So I’m trying to remember to take care of my golf balls. Yes, I said golf balls. You’re intrigued now, aren’t you?

Golf balls are quite important, you see. I think about this demonstration I saw once where the speaker held up an empty quart jar. He filled the jar with golf balls. Then he asked if the jar was full. Yes, the audience agreed that it was indeed full of golf balls. Then he poured into the jar a couple of handfuls of pebbles. Now is the jar full, he asked? Yes, the audience agreed that it was full. Next he dumped in some sand. He shook and tapped the jar on the table until the spaces between the pebbles had filled with sand. Now, he said, surely the jar is full. Yes, the audience laughed, now it is full. Then he poured in two cups of coffee. They fit into the remaining space with ease.

The moral of this story? The contents of the jar are analogous to our lives. The golf balls are the big things in life. The most important things like family and friends. We can have a full life with only these things. The pebbles are things that are less important, but still take up time. The sand is all the little things, like errands and such. The speaker encouraged us to make sure we knew which things in our lives were most important, and to make sure to put those into our lives first. If you were to add the sand and pebbles first, the golf balls would not fit. When asked about the coffee, he stated that even if you’re busy with all of these things in your life, you still have time to have a cup of coffee with a friend once in awhile. Great analogy, don’t you think?

So I want to take this opportunity to say Thank You to my golf balls….the people in my life who are most important to me. You have encouraged me, helped me, held me up when I was too tired to go on, cheered for me, and supported me like crazy in this difficult journey. To my sons Evan and Jake. You cheer me on and keep me grounded with driveway basketball, movie nights, and all our other QT, and can’t wait for me to graduate 19th grade and become a “feelings doctor”. To my FOO (that’s Family Of Origin)…Dad and Mom, Dan, Jane, Lar, Sal, Gail, and Anne and your families. You pray for and encourage me and help me to remember why I’m on this crazy journey! After all…you guys started it! : ) To the best friends and mat carriers a girl could ever ask for…Kathy and Nicole. You pick me up off the turf, keep me in line, and nurture me when I need it. To Phil, Kim, Eddie, the extended care ladies, and everyone at my church. How can I ever thank and repay you for your kindnesses to me? You are the hands and feet of Christ. And of course to the Family Tree staff who has taught me so much…Mark, Jerry, Andy, Jenn, Christy, Angie, Javan, Steve, Karen, and Jeff…and my Thursday night groupies. You have helped me heal, and shown me how to help others heal. Thank you all for your support and helping me make it this far. I could not have done it without you guys. We’re almost there!!!

Thank you most of all to my Heavenly Father. He takes my breath away and absolutely spoils me. My gratitude for His grace overflows.

Now, one day at a time. One hour at a time. One minute at a time…however far I have to break it down to make it to the next. The next time I check in, it will be to tell you I have graduated! Keep stopping back in the mean time, I will post more stuff that I’m learning whenever I can. Thanks to you, too, for reading my work. I really appreciate it.

Nancy Eisenman, MSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.



Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone: 317.605.7015

Email:

nancy@peacecounselinggroup.com

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

Death By Comparison

Sep 3, 2012 | Blog, faith-based living, goals, making changes, Uncategorized

I’ve been thinking lately about things that are capable of stealing and killing joy in our lives. Everyone wants more joy in their life, right? I know I do. Life is pretty darn hard, and joy breathes a welcome respite into the difficult journey. I wanted to talk today about one persistent, internal, covert, and completely changeable behavior that can rob you of all kinds of joy. Comparison.

I was thinking about something as simple as one’s salary, for example. Perhaps someone has an income that is sufficient for their basic life necessities, they can make ends meet, and they have “enough.” They feel rather content, feeling blessed that they have a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and food to eat. Then what happens? They find out that Joe who works down the hall doing the exact same job makes $2000 more/yr. All of a sudden, they’re no longer happy with their job or salary, and anger and resentment builds. Immediately gone is the joy, the outlook of blessing, the gratitude of having enough. All of a sudden, what they make is $2000/yr not enough. Likewise, someone who makes $200,000/yr can feel they are having a hard time financially, while someone who makes $20,000/yr feels blessed because they have enough to eat and a place to sleep. Comparison to the norms of the world, and what you think you should have, can steal your joy in a heartbeat.

What about relationships? The same thing is true when people look at the lives of others and say “I wish I had…” or “at least you have…” What happens when we compare what others have to what we have? Usually one of two things: 1) our joy is gone because we don’t have as much as someone else, and we pine for more; or 2) we become judgmental or condescending, finding ourselves “better than” because we have more. Both are joy destroyers.

There are more options than just 1) and 2) however. For example 3) we can look at someone else who has more, and be joyful with them in their blessings, 4) not worry about comparing, and still feel thankful for what we have, 5) see that someone else has less than we do and share, etc. If we chose these options, how might our joy increase?

The adverb that comes to mind is “exponentially.” What joy there is in gratitude! A heart filled with gratitude has no room for anger and depression. Endlessly comparing what we have to what others have is a recipe for despair and a life driven by hunger and greed and feelings of wanting.

You’ve heard the sayings: “the grass is greener,” and ”keeping up with the Joneses,” for example. You never really know what is going on in the lives of others, the hardships and obstacles and pains they face. When it comes down to it, they are on a different path, a journey to grow them in the places they need growing. It is not your journey. Learn what you can exactly where you are. The Bible goes so far as to encourage us to “Consider it pure joy…when you have troubles of many kinds.” (James 1:2) Say what? Yep. Embrace the truth. You are not a victim. Your troubles are there to teach you. Your circumstances are a classroom to learn, and you can change how you feel without changing any circumstance. Accept the challenge with joy!

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.



Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone: 317.605.7015

Email:

nancy@peacecounselinggroup.com

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

What’s So Amazing About Grace?

May 5, 2012 | anxiety, Blog, boundaries, codependency, cut-off, divorce, enmeshment, faith-based living, forgiveness, grace, shame, Uncategorized

What’s So Amazing About Grace? is actually the name of a book authored by Philip Yancey. Back when I was going through my divorce a few years ago, it was extremely important to me to be able to leave it without any leftover resentment or anger. I didn’t want any residual bitterness or unforgiveness to continue hurting my heart. To that end, I did an intensive study on grace and forgiveness, including reading Yancey’s book, among several others. I think that grace and forgiveness are important concepts to understand when working on presenting concerns in therapy practices such as anger management, codependency, and anxiety. One of the things I liked best in Yancey’s book was this list of qualities of forgiveness. He states that forgiveness:

Halts the cycle of blame and pain.
Loosens the stronghold of guilt in the perpetrator.
Allows the possibility of transformation in the guilty party.
Is not the same as pardon…you may forgive the one that wronged you and still insist on a just punishment for that wrong. If you can bring yourself to the point of forgiveness, though, you will release its healing power both in you and in the person who wronged you.
Has it’s own extraordinary power which reaches beyond law and beyond justice.
Places the forgiver on the same side as the party who did the wrong. p. 103

The simplest way I can think of to define grace is ”forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it.” Forgiving someone who deserves it is easy; they are sorry, repentent, their heart has turned, and you can sincerely believe them when they say that they will not do it again. Forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it is extremely difficult. They are not asking for forgiveness, they may not care that they hurt you or may be straight-up oblivious, or they may be justifying their hurtful actions. You may even know quite well that, given the chance, they would make the same decision to hurt you again.

The difficulty in forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it comes with the message we think we’re sending to the other person if we forgive them. We think we’re saying “it’s OK what you did” and even further, “go ahead and do it again.” Um, NO! What they did was absolutely NOT OK, and it is absolutely NOT OK for them to do it again! Continuing in this mindset that forgiveness equals saying it’s OK will keep anyone from forgiving. The truth is: Grace is a paradox. It requires that I get on the side of my enemy, not by defending their actions, but by defending their humanity. The attitude we have sometimes is “Forgive and the atrocities will repeat themselves.” But the opposite is true. Don’t forgive, and they will repeat themselves.

Other things that may keep us from forgiving is the notion that we are giving up our right to “get even.” If we forgive, we don’t get to pass judgment or inflict retribution. This is a black and white over-reaction where we see the other person as “all bad.” That’s cut-off (a.k.a. negative enmeshment). We may think that if we seek just consequences for someone who has hurt us that we haven’t truly forgiven.

As Yancey says though, this is a myth. Forgiveness does not equal pardon. We can still have rock solid boundaries with someone who has hurt us. That may even include a “geographical boundary” as Cloud and Townsend would say in their book Boundaries, because that person who hurt you is unsafe. We can say “what you have done is not OK, I will have a different relationship with you from now on with good boundaries, but I can forgive you in my heart so that I do not keep the negative connection with you alive in me.” Can I respond to this event by not accepting the painful behavior, perhaps even requiring just consequences; but also by not denying the humanity of the other person?

In any relationship…in a couple, between friends, with co-workers, in families…anywhere, hurts are inevitable. We are imperfect folks, and we will hurt others and they will hurt us. What we do with those hurts is what counts. When you hurt someone, can you humble yourself and apologize, or do you need to justify what you did? Deep shame feelings may cause people to be unable to admit they’ve hurt someone. Do you care for others’ feelings, or trample them to your own end? When someone hurts you, can you forgive them? Do you need to have a good boundary with them…meaning, can you protect and insulate yourself from them without attacking their worth has a human being? If you can’t bring yourself to forgive, ask yourself what the payoff is. What do I think I have to give up in order to forgive?

Check out Phillip Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?. It really helped me let go of resentment and bitterness years ago, and is still doing so today. The world has recently given me several huge opportunities to forgive people who’ve hurt me badly and not asked for forgiveness. I will be having strong boundaries with them, but I’ve also chosen to see them through the eyes of grace, because I want to be forgiven when I screw up too…and oh, honey…I do, holy cow. I try very hard to give what I want to receive, and treat others the way I want to be treated. The peace in my heart that comes from letting the negative connection go (lack of anger and anxiety) and developing good boundaries (no more codependency) is always worth the effort.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll close up with a quote from What’s So Amazing About Grace…

“The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it.” ~Philip Yancey

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.



Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone: 317.605.7015

Email:

nancy@peacecounselinggroup.com

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

To Forgive or Not to Forgive

Nov 18, 2010 | abandonment, Blog, boundaries, codependency, cut-off, faith-based living, forgiveness, grace, grief, inner voice, self-care

I need to have a little chat with myself today, so I thought I’d invite you in to join me. It’s a little less strange….right? OK, maybe not, but humor me…maybe you’ve had this same struggle.

So most of us out here, regardless of faith or spiritual beliefs, know that forgiveness is a totally necessary part of having a peaceful life. Am I right? Am I assuming too much? Holding a grudge hurts the one who’s holding it way more than the one it’s being held against, I think many would agree.

So what happens when it is SO difficult to forgive someone? There is not a question as to whether or not they hurt you, it’s a done deal. Now what? Whether they are sorry or not, whether they intend to do it again or not….completely independent of the other person and what they are doing or not doing…can you forgive them, inside of you?

I want to give you a bit of a different perspective on this situation, to see if it can help you put your focus on the only person you can change, control, or have any real say-so over in this situation….you. It’s kind of a bummer to always have to focus on your own issues, isn’t it? I hear that! This is the time, though, when it’s totally appropriate to be “selfish.” See, I know the secret: changing yourself and what you do will actually change the people around you too, (sometimes you have to give it time.) When people have hurt us, that’s exactly what we want, right?…to change them. The paradox is that you can’t change them, but the only chance you have to influence them to change is to change yourself and how you handle the situation. (When it comes down to it, the ultimate goal is to be OK in your own skin, and not try to change anyone. Just live your life in a way that is balanced and peaceful.)

So what about this new perspective I have for you? I’d like to propose this question: You’re having difficulty forgiving, but what if your lack of forgiveness isn’t really about a fear that it will “give them permission to hurt you again” as most people think forgiveness does? (not true, btw.) OR, about not wanting to convey the message to them that what they did was “forgivable?” What if it is nothing more than a defense mechanism to avoid something else? What are you avoiding? Do you feel like forgiving the other person is like telling them that what they did wasn’t so bad after all or that they can do it again because you’ll just forgive them again? This is also a paradox. NOT forgiving them will ensure it will happen again, and not finding your own healthy boundaries with them is really the problem. Grace is the only real chance there is for changing the heart of the other person. Your hatred or unforgiveness will keep their walls intact.

But my point today is, what if it’s something else? Do you use unforgiveness as an excuse to avoid finding a better way to have boundaries with the other person? Forgiveness doesn’t include an invitation to do the same thing again. Forgiveness says “I know you hurt me, and I forgive you. If you intend to treat me this way, we can no longer have a relationship, but if you can treat me with respect, we’re OK.” That is a healthy boundary. We are not called to abandon our own feelings or open ourselves up to abuse. That is a lack of self-control. But there is a difference between that, and not forgiving.

Do you use unforgiveness as an excuse for not insisting upon yourself that you maintain good boundaries and respectful relationships? Do you hide behind unforgiveness so you don’t have to have difficult conversations? Are you trapped by the fear that forgiveness gives others permission to hurt you more? These are all illusions. It’s up to you to control your boundaries in a respectful, loving way. Not forgiving is focusing on the other person too much, being enmeshed with them, and it keeps you tied to them in an unhealthy way, even if you’re miles apart. It is also a form of judging them, and looking down on them. Instead, look in the mirror and the unforgiveness will melt away like warm butter.

More than anything, in the deepest recesses, I think being unwilling to forgive allows us to hold on to our pain. You may wonder why anyone would want to hold on to their pain, but most people do to some extent. Pain serves a purpose, too. It can be a protective wall. It can be an attempt to control another person. It can be a way to avoid dealing with it inside ourselves. It can even be an excuse. Or, have you ever heard of the idea that the opposite of love is not hate, but undifference? I think many who refuse to forgive fear indifference, or having NO connection to that person at all. Letting it go means finding new ways to cope, letting go of control, finding a new relationship with that person or not having a relationship with them at all (maybe even more painful), and leaves us feeling vulnerable and exposed. It happens anytime we allow our walls down. Finding a new, more balanced way to cope is difficult, but isn’t purging the pain of it worth the journey?

One last thing. A Litmus test. This is how you know you’ve got it; you know you have really forgiven. Can you think of the person who hurt you without disliking them or calling them a derogatory name in your head? What about if that person came to you and wanted to apologize, would you accept it lovingly? (Remember, that doesn’t mean you have to let them back into your life. Take that slow, and only if you want to, trust takes time, and only YOU know if you’re willing to give them another chance.)

There’s my two cents for today. I hope I listened to myself….I needed to hear it. Thanks for sitting in on the chat!

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.



Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone: 317.605.7015

Email:

nancy@peacecounselinggroup.com

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

The Meaning of Life

May 18, 2010 | Blog, faith-based living

Whoa! Pretty deep, huh? The meaning of life, really? We’re talking no small potatoes for a blog topic. We’re going to go deep today, guys. Would you believe a 36-year-old wannabe therapist who works as an assistant in a waiting room would think she knows anything whatsoever about the meaning of life? Probably not. I find it hard to believe myself. (And who knows, maybe after reading you’ll think that I don’t know squat!) I’ll never claim to know even .01% of what there is to know…but since I can, I’m going to put out there what I think is food for thought, and let you decide what you believe. This is what’s on my mind this week.

I get my inspirations for my blogs from everyday life… passing thoughts, things I see or hear, etc. Today I was sitting in my boss’s office waiting for a color copy to come out of his printer, and looking at his artwork. He has a picture on the wall in his office that says, “Perhaps strength doesn’t reside in having never been broken,…but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places.” I am also doing another Beth Moore Bible study. Something she said also spoke to me in the same way…she said something like (not a direct quote…I’m paraphrasing) ”a story of a life unbroken does not make a very good story.”

Think about that for a minute. If you’ll indulge me, there are two more things that have caught my eye this week, so let me share those with you as well, and you’ll be able to see where I’m coming from and why I’m blogging about it. My co-worker Kathy Henry posted on her blog this week (entitled “Hitting Rock Bottom” see the link to her blog at the bottom of the page) about how sometimes it seems like quite a paradox when you realize that you are the most thankful for what you have when you are laying in the gutter looking up (sometimes after having lost everything you cared for.) Also, I watched a movie the other day called “The Case For Faith” and there’s a portion of it in which the story of Charles Templeton is shown. Templeton eventually lost his faith in God after having been such a remarkable televangelist early on in his life, with Billy Graham. One of his biggest questions that caused his faith to waiver was “If there is a God, how can there be so much evil in the world?”

All of these things are tied together by a common theme: brokenness. I think it is part of the human condition that all of us will be broken at one time or another. It’s not a matter of if. The universe (and in my belief system, that means God), is supposed to want the very best for us right? So how can He allow bad things to happen to His people? Now think about it this way…how many people do you know that would have their love for God grow exponentially, or even seek Him at all, if they had everything they wanted and needed in this life the whole time? Would we really be thankful for all our blessings, realize and remember how God takes care of us, or need Him at all for that matter, if our lives were always roses? (This same mentality also carries into our lives with our spouses, families, and friends…by the way.)

I think God allows (different than initiating) bad things to happen not to punish us or abandon us, but to lovingly help us when we need it the most…when we turn our eyes from Him and think we can do everything on our own and when we get caught in the traps of this world…when we are not on the path that leads to Him. God knows that if our focus is not in the right place (on Him and those closest to us…in that order), a “trip to the gutter” has the best (and if He’s allowing it, the only) chance of working to wake us up. And if we are open to waking up and learning from it, it’ll do exactly what it’s supposed to do. There’s only one place to look when you’re that low. I believe allowing bad things to happen to us is actually a loving thing for Him to do! It teaches us what we need to know and where we need to go! What do you think about that?

Now, if we take this down deeper another level…here we find the purpose of our lives! Think for a moment what you believe our earthly experience is all about. Why are we here? I believe life is all about making a choice. THE choice. The only choice that matters for eternity. He created us to love Him and for Him to love us…but love is not love if it’s not a choice. Just like I blogged about not that long ago about respect. It’s not true respect if it’s not given freely…by our choice. Neither is love for God (or anyone else.) He gives us the choice to love and choose Him because He’s not controlling. He’s not a dictator. He invites us to love Him.

We can apply this same principle to our relationships by inviting our spouse to love us instead of forcing or manipulating it out of them. I think we are allowed to pass through this lifetime to get a taste of both love and indifference, good and evil, so that we can make an informed choice about whether or not we want to be with God and love Him for eternity. That’s the meaning of life…choosing to love or not. The troubles and heartache are necessary to show us what we’re choosing between. And sometimes they are necessary to refine our focus when we forget or stray.

So, embrace your heartaches and remember that you don’t have a corner on the market. We all have hurts. They take on power and meaning if we learn from our pains. Know better, and do better! Find pure joy in EVERY circumstance! View pain and suffering through the lens of blessing and love. Know that God will not let us suffer for the sake of suffering. He will not allow pain that He can not turn into good for ourselves and others. He will allow brokenness to enter your life to not only teach you, but to help others get to know Him through you, too. He will also give you the strength to heal, and make those places stronger than ever.

I hope you enjoyed dipping your toes with me into the waters of life-meaning. Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.



Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone: 317.605.7015

Email:

nancy@peacecounselinggroup.com