Ron Villano

Ron Villano, M.S., LMHC, ASAC is the leading expert in working through change. As a father who lost his 17-year old son in an auto accident, he always speaks from the heart. As a licensed psychotherapist and life coach, he counsels others on how to work through difficult times. As a national speaker and author of The Zing, Ron has appeared before sold-out audiences across the country, hosts his own radio show, and is currently featured on the new Verizon FiOS1 network. His funny, captivating and approachable style creates the powerful, life-changing moments you have been looking for. Embrace the Power of Change in your personal and professional life today! To Listen to Ron's Radio show Click Here Visit www.RonVillano.com to listen to his featured interviews and for additional information.

Articles:

Ron Villano: Finding ‘Zing’ in Your Life After the Loss of a Child

Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley welcome Ron Villano to a webinar about finding your “zing” after you’ve lost a child. Villano is a licensed psychotherapist, bereavement coach, national speaker, and author. Villano lost his son, Michael, and knows exactly how it feels to lose a child. His first tip is to give yourself permission to do something new, even if it’s “just for now.” Remember that when you choose to change your thoughts, you’re also choosing to change your life and that’s immensely powerful. All of the power is within you. “An avalanche of change begins with just one drop […]

Seeing Signs of Deceased Son

As a public speaker and radio/TV show host, many people have asked me if I have ever “seen signs” of my son’s presence. It may seem like a simple question, but when you really start to think about it, the answer is very complicated — in a simple way. Yes. I “see signs.” Early in my grief journey, I learned that the numbers 17 and 722 were very significant when speaking of Michael. 17 being the age that he died, and 7/22 being the date. I would be thinking about him, and one of these numbers would appear. I would […]

Heavenly Peace: How One Man’s Grief Journey has Taught Him Well

My holiday season has begun with another lesson learned along my Grief Journey. It comes with the passing of one of my friends who has done the billing in my Family & Personal Counseling practice. Diana Hogan reminded me of my Aunt Rose, whom we also lost to cancer. For the first time in awhile, I was really shaken up going to the funeral home to pay my respects. Not only were powerful memories triggered (of my son, Michael, and Aunt Rose), but it seemed like I was falling back in time to some of the dark days of facing […]

New Life Begins with ‘One Good Moment’

Had this happened a few years ago, it would have been a devastating moment. I look back on the years since I lost my 17-year old son, Michael, and I see so many important moments. All of them are a part of an incredible journey — a journey that led me to a special and incredible experience this weekend. I was at the wedding of my good friends, John and Kim, at a beautiful Catholic church in the Hamptons. Going to services of any denomination can sometimes make me emotional. On my way there, I passed Michael’s cross on Sunrise Highway. So, I started […]

How ‘Forced Change’ Healed My Life

Have you been forced out of a job? Are you facing a health issue? Are you a victim of a crime? Have you lost a loved one unexpectedly? Then you know that forced change embraces your life in an instant. And that is where my message starts. I experienced “forced change” when my 17-year old son, Michael, died in an auto accident. But, years later, I now see that losing Michael wasn’t the only reason my life hit rock bottom. I wound up down there because the forced change took hold of me and began to drag me down. Naturally, […]

For Men: Living a Regret-Free Life After Loss

Hands down, the strongest, most destructive part of grief is regret. That ever-present feeling that you could have done more. Regret can become so strong that everything else about life gets tossed aside. It is exactly what happened to me. The night before I lost my 17-year old son, Michael, in an auto accident, he had come over from his mother’s house to get something from my house. He was outside in the driveway playing basketball with my oldest son, Ronald. I looked down from the window upstairs and watched them for a few minutes. He didn’t see me. I […]

Father Pens 30th Birthday Message to Deceased Son

My son, Michael, was born 30 years ago today. It would have been amazing to see what he would have looked like. I often dream about what he would be doing with his life. Married? Kids? Or… still living at home?!? Well, he is still at home. His stocking is on my fireplace at Christmas. His picture is on the mantle and in my home office. Michael is also at work, in my wallet, and on the internet. His rap CD, just recently created from old cassette tapes, is being heard by others for the first time. And people who […]

Michael’s Gift to Me: Feeling the Zing

I purchased my third Christmas tree since I lost my son Michael in 1998. I’ve got to admit, this year I felt a little blue and a bit uncaring about the celebrations. I spent some time acknowledging that I do miss my son. I also miss my mom, dad, brother-in-law and others who are no longer here. And while it would seem that this would be the obvious cause of my blues, I found that it was only a small piece of a larger puzzle. Since I was still lacking that special ho-ho-ho, I began to check into other factors […]

For Men: Letting Grief Out One Word at a Time

What do holidays and journal writing have in common? They show how you feel. And that is perhaps the toughest and roughest part of living life as a man — that homegrown instinct to bottle up the negativity in order to always show strength. It means that feelings and emotions get trapped deep inside. It is at the very heart of why men’s grief is so desperately personal, especially at the holiday and family celebration times. I believe that our minds are like garages. We store everything up there. Ideas, beliefs and values…many of which have all been shifted and […]

Men’s Grief: It’s Time to Get it Out

The emotions of grief are the same for men and women. How and when these emotions surface is what defines each journey. But what I am struck with the most in my practice as a psychotherapist is how powerful this journey is for men. Men fight showing their emotions under normal circumstances. Now, they have to fight to keep a hold of the emotion when the emotions themselves are mostly out of control. Women can and often grieve as a group. They can publicly cry, be angry, sad — and then be happy, joyful, upbeat. And when someone asks them […]

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