Page 10 - voices-2025-04

Advice

WHERE TALK MEETS PSYCH

By Lee Coyne ATMS

Most of our readers know me only as a pensive columnist. However, I have had
another life as a therapist or coping coach. I called that Mental Healing. At this point I’m retired.
Yet the thought crops up that my linkage with psych provides prime fodder for speeches. Be-
tween sessions I often would give my client’s homework to complete.

These are several we deployed:

1. Second Script.
All of us make errors in life. Hopefully we get smarter as a result. What might you do differently
today?

2. Backward Bliss.
If you had hold of a time machine to fly back to the happiest time of your life, where would you
land?

3. Tightrope Rites.
Imagine having a tightrope with two opposite ends. One is called Tradition and the other is Transi-
tion. Which side tends to reflect your personality and why?

4. Eye on the Icon.
Can you admit your major weak point? If you had to find a friend who was just the opposite, who
would that be? How does their history differ?

5. Stones and Groans.
All of us secretly carry invisible backpacks. In them are symbolic stones that represent life’s set-
backs. Do an inventory of contents. Which of the stones is heaviest? What can you do to dump
it Forever? While these aren’t magical they may well be practical. All can also make a peach of a
speech!

NOTE. Lee welcomes feedback by
anyone testing these exercises. Go
email luckycoyne@yahoo.com

10 Voices!