Skip to content

Howard Brockman

Howard Brockman, LCSW is one of the top psychotherapists and counselors in Salem Oregon for over 32 years. Howard has authored two popular books: Dynamic Energetic Healing and Essential Self-Care for Caregivers and Helpers. To learn more about Howard Brockman, please visit the full bio.

The Sandwich Generation: Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others

The following article is from Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance. It describes the challenges boomers have while taking care of aging parents and suggests self-care strategies that while obvious are helpful to be reminded of.

Are you caring for both your children and your parents? Might you find yourself in that situation soon? If so, you’re one of a growing number of people in the “sandwich generation” who find themselves lending financial and other support to generations both above and below. As our country’s population grows and finding work continues to be a challenge for young people, more and more Americans will become part of the sandwich generation and be depended on by both parents and children. To put this into perspective, around the beginning of the 20th century, only 7 percent of people in their sixties had one living parent. Nowadays, that percentage has jumped up to 50 percent. On top of that number, around 52 percent of young adults still live at home with their parents.Read More »The Sandwich Generation: Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others

Being Real at the Old Salmon River Trail

Years ago when I was a college student, I voraciously read and reread the works of Carlos Castaneda. While many of his observations being mentored by his teacher, Don Juan, remain with me, today as I was hiking along the Old Salmon River in Welches, Oregon, I thought about the end of his third book, Journey to Ixtlan. Don Juan and his fellow sorcerer Don Genaro are explaining to Carlos that he has a spiritual challenge: to find and wrestle his “ally” figure. It may destroy him or it may provide some kind of spiritual reward as he “wins his ally.” The ally is veiled and shrouded in mystery. Don Genaro describes to Carlos how many years ago he was spun like a top by his ally and in the end, to his great surprise, triumphed. He went on to describe how he next tried to return to Ixtlan where he had a home, family and friends, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach his destination. He characterized other human beings whom he encountered on his journey home, with the exception of Don Juan, as simply phantoms–people who appeared to be real but had no real essence. Read More »Being Real at the Old Salmon River Trail

Sitting Takes YEARS Off of Your Life

No matter how much you exercise, sitting for more than two hours per day whittles years off of your life. Check out this research: http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/10/get-up-sitting-less-can-add-years-to-your-life/. Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW October 15, 2012

Self-Care Tip #6: Say NO to Cancer

It seems that nearly everyone I know either has had cancer or knows someone who has had cancer. The statistics are shocking and it strikes me as though we are experiencing an epidemic. While no one knows for sure just why, my own suspicions are associated with all the chemical toxins and plastics we are exposed to, as well as the sugar-laden and refined flour products we as a culture are consuming. While the AMA continues to support the theory of genetic susceptibility, Dr. Bruce Lipton has done wonderful research that proves that our environment (i.e., our thinking) actually directly impacts and changes our genes, turning off genes that were expressing themselves potentially as out-of-control cancer cells.

Energetic boundary work is absolutely central to my DEH therapy/healing model and this is just as true for our ongoing relationship to cancer. Read More »Self-Care Tip #6: Say NO to Cancer

Highly Empathic People

As I describe in my book Dynamic Energetic Healing, highly empathic people are characterized as frequently having very poor energetic boundaries. Individuals who are intuitive empaths also have an energetic tendency to somaticize–that is, to unconsciously process all of the… Read More »Highly Empathic People