About James Veltman
Hello, this is Jim. I am very excited to welcome you to “Talking The Blues“, my new Website. Talking in an open, honest way gives us the freedom to be real, and being real brings emotional and relational health. My website touches on a number of different paths allowing you to talk out your blues in a therapeutic way; Individual Therapy, Couples Counseling, and Group Therapy to name a few (see the doors at the bottom of this page). One of the most exciting ways to talk the blues is explored in the portal below called “Dancing in the Lion’s Den”. In The Lion’s Den I explore the art of free association and how it can set us free emotionally. Talking out your journal on your cell phone allows you to do what I call, “the two-step dance of inner dialogue“. Join me for my weekly blog in The Lion’s Den.
Let me tell you a little more about myself. I have an MA in Counseling Psychology and am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC in the state of Illinois. I have been working in the field for 38 years now. I love helping people build effective changes, breaking them out of the negative spirals that pull them down in self-defeating ways.
We need to learn how to lift up on the currents and breezes that make our lives more full, more healthy, and functional. We can become wise in the art of healing and recovery. We can become more honest and free by “Talking The Blues”. Talking out our feelings, without self-criticism, can literally set us free. It also allows us to care for and meet some of our deepest needs. We can overcome the downward spiral of denial by speaking the truth.
I would love to continue the conversation we were having on my YouTube Video. To refresh, we discussed the therapeutic and liberating qualities of “Talking”. If we talk out our feelings, while free-associating, we will discover more and more deeply who we really are. Do you want to know the “real” you? Do you want to discover who you really are? As Shakespeare so eloquently stated, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”
Each individual must answer that question personally. Will you choose the “easy path” of denial, numbing out your difficult memories, hiding your feelings, and running from the truth? Or, will you choose the path of freedom, allowing yourself to be honest, truthful, and emotionally expressive? The first path looks easy, but in reality, it leads to ruin and destruction. The second choice, Learning To Be Real, might look dark and scary, but in the end, it is much less difficult than choosing “Not To Be”, and you would miss building a reality where wounds could be healed and problems overcome!
If you haven’t seen my YouTube video, please feel free to watch it now below!
I now invite you to the portal I’ve called, “Dancing in the Lion’s Den”. In the Lion’s Den I will develop the discussion about Talking the Blues and the Two-Step dance of inner dialogue. “The Lion’s Den” is where you can listen to my weekly blogs. In Blog 1-A I will lay out my strategy for “The Lion’s Den” and try to bring more clairity about how the art of free associatioin can be used to set us free. Blog 1-B is my 1st Blog. Enjoy!
There are other ways of Talking The Blues that I share with you on this website. I want to introduce you to separate areas of my work by clicking on each of the doors, or portals, below.
Behind the first door, or portal below is a look at “Vinekeepers”, my professional counseling ministry. This will highlight the work I do as a Psychotherapist offering Individual Therapy, Couples Counseling, and Groups/Seminars that I developed over the years. Therapy is a great support in helping you to overcome your struggles and heal emotional wounds. Consider, “Talking Your Blues” with me in Individual Counseling. We live in the age of the Covid Virus. One thing that I have learned is that people who are willing to fight to build positive changes can do so through online counseling, or when talking face to face. Feel free to call. Remember, talking is how we set ourselves free!
Secondly, I have a Weekly Blog in the doorway I call, “Dancing In The Lion’s Den” or, (The Lion’s Den). In my Blogs I pick an interesting topic, or thought, begin yacking, and see where it goes as I free-associate. My Blogs can be fun, or really deep, and allow me to talk about the healing beliefs and ideas that spring out of what I call heart, mind, and soul. I encourage you to listen to my Blogs as a weekly meditation. Many will add to your understanding of a course I developed called, “Voice Recorder Journaling, The Art Of Loving, Healing Self-Dialogue: Alias, Talking The Blues”. I will offer a two-hour Introduction to that course in the near future.
The Third Doorway is called, “Art Gallery” presenting you with weekly photos that I have taken and then altered. A few are for sale, but I want to give you others as a free gift. This way, you can have some of my original art to put on your Home Page. In terms of Talking The Blues, some say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Cups and t-shirts with my photos are also for sale.
The Fourth Doorway leads to interesting “Quotes” by myself and others.
I’ve called the Fifth Doorway, “Things Of Interest” which I will expand over time, offering new groups, seminars, interviews with guests, and eventually poetry and music I have written. My goal is to be open and authentic in sharing who I am with you, just as I invite you to discover and develop the most authentic, creative self you can be, and then learn to love others as you have learned to love yourself.
In the Sixth Doorway, called “Feedback”, I invite you to communicate with me about your feelings and encounters with my website!