Liza Catherine Johnson

Liza C. Johnson, a native of Great Falls, Montana, is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Huntington, New York. She recently published her first book, Take Me Home: Walking on Sacred Ground in the Last Stage of Life. You can listen to a recent radio interview of Liza on Tish PEARLMAN Host/Producer "OUT OF BOUNDS" NYSBA "Best Public Affairs Program Series" Award. Click on http://www.prx.org/series/31878-out-of-bounds-radio-show.

Caregivers of their elders face daily unsolvable and emotionally difficult challenges. Not only are there constant crises, accompanied by intense feelings, many times these crises push us beyond our normal coping mechanisms. Often the ways we usually get help are not helpful and then there is a large number of us who don’t remember or feel we have the time to turn for help or support. Liza’s book is a wise and loving guide for this daunting journey.

You will experience first hand the evolution of Liza's spiritual development as she cared for her mother. This evolution culminates in her discovery of a place within she calls the Inner Home. You too, will be able to discover your Inner Home just by reading the book. The last section of her book firms up the guide and use of the Inner Home through specific visual imagery, simple meditation and contemplative techniques and exercises. At last you will have a place within where you can feel peace in the midst of agony; access higher realms of wisdom when you do not know what to do; and a way to work through difficult feelings such as guilt, anger, or shame. When you enter into the experience of the Inner Home there is a feeling of rejuvenation, connection to inner sources of soothing, and a sense of feeling accompanied when there is nowhere to turn.

The advantage of knowing how to access the Inner Home can help caregivers to have some control over emotional ‘reactions’: for example, to be kind when we might feel angry; compassionate when we might be judgmental; patient when we might be fed up. The Inner Home is the experience of Being in the present moment where the ‘preciousness of life attitude’ can grace our suffering.

Liza is currently teaching the way in which care giving an elder or loved one is a rite of passage to the inner wisdom and strength that is unflappable like a lighthouse in a storm. When understood and guided in is this way, care giving is not just a sacrifice we make to a loved one. Care giving becomes an important journey of psychological development and spiritual evolution that benefits the caregiver.

Liza is a graduate of the Gestalt Center of Long Island, New York and the International Institute for Embodied Imagery and Dream Work. She has traveled to Iceland, South Africa, Brazil, Ecuador and France to study dreams and healing practices in other cultures. Liza is also a certified Clinical Meditation Teacher.