Untamed Journey Insights

There’s the popular joke “I’m so OCD” often tossed around when someone keeps their car spotless or alphabetizes their spice rack. But that joke minimizes the reality of what people with actual Obsessive Compulsive Disorder endure. Yes, OCD can involve cleanliness or organization. But it's rarely that simple, or that tidy. OCD often goes far beyond avoiding handshakes or color-coding your calendar. It can look like hours of mental anguish, intrusive thoughts that won’t stop, and compulsive behaviors that feel impossible to control. Let’s break it down in a way that’s not overly clinical because if you truly understood what it looks and feels like, that “I’m so OCD” joke might not be as funny. So… what is OCD, really? OCD is a debilitating mental health disorder that can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, or lifestyle. How it shows up can be just as diverse. It’s made up of two parts: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or ur...

  Whether you’re knee-deep in your healing journey, guiding others as a helping professional, or just craving deeper meaning in your life, books have a way of walking us home. As a therapist and human walking my own untamed journey, these 22 books have stirred something sacred in me and I have shared many of them with the humans I work with. Each one offers a mirror, a map, or a medicine. Below, you’ll find the author, a brief summary, and why it’s life-changing—from the lens of someone who sits with trauma, grief, hope, and transformation every day. 1. Your Key to Happiness – Harold M. Sherman A classic on self-image psychology and how our inner beliefs shape our outer reality. Written in 1935, it was a book far ahead of its time. 👉 Why it heals: I actually found this book at a yard sale in high school, thinking it was just a self-help book (early signs of where my career would end up, apparently). It turned out to be my first introduction to the power of manifestation—before I ...