Posts Tagged ‘Mental Health’

Attachment theory is a complex, broad theory that encompasses human, primate and mammalian behavior. It’s a biologically based relationship defined and strengthened (either positively or negatively) by the quality and quantity of social interactions with the baby’s immediate family and social environment.

A traumatic birth can be physically and emotionally devastating. Social support for those going through trauma treatment and for long-term survivors of trauma can improve quality of life, reducing anger, anxiety and depression.

Mindfulness skills can be applied to everyday life, used on an ordinary, everyday basis.

DBT’s Emotional Regulation Module teaches skills that help a person build up a base of positive experiences and regulate his or her emotions on a daily basis. 

Are You There Alone? is written by Suzanne O’Malley, an investigative reporter. She followed the tragedy in real time. She was present through Andrea Yates’ 5 weeks of court proceedings. To write this book, she read all of the transcribed trial testimony, 2000 pages of Andrea Yates’ medical records and interviewed nearly 100 people, including Ms. Andrea Yates and Mr. Rusty Yates, her ex-husband, to write this book.

Expressive Art: Creating Your Lifeline

The expressive art exercise called LifeLine is a positive tool in the therapy room. Getting an overview of your life can be a first step step towards self understanding and self acceptance.

David came in to see me because he had experienced a panic attack at work. The intensity of the physical and emotional feelings scared him.

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Joe’s a pretty emotionally balanced person with pretty good boundaries. And still, people got under his skin.  He came in to therapy to consciously develop and deepen his coping skills, so as to broaden and strengthen his emotional resilience. 

 In his personal life, Joe felt weighed down by negative gossiping.  His aunt called often to check up on him. He felt several ways about their relationship. He liked having an older adult to talk with. Yet, there was an (un)healthy dose of negativity served up with the caring as well. The mixed emotional messages were disconcerting. It was not something he had to cope within his own nuclear family.

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Affirmations alone won’t enact change within yourself, but are a wonderful addition to insight psychotherapy to aid in your transformative process. Adding strong positive emotion to the words will help enlist the cooperation of your wary limbic system. And adding a subtle  flower essence works supports you on an energetic level.

Today I’m going to sit with my events and dreams of 2018. Like, everyone’s looking back and listing accomplishments. I thought about doing that…oh, I did this and I did that…blah blah blah…

Does Oprah’s Daily Gratitude Journal Really Work?

Let’s take a look at this idea of gratitude.  Gratitude can bring you perspective.  Cultivating an underlying foundation of gratitude can move you from negative energy to more positive energy. Focusing on the good aspects of your life can bring you contentment, while focusing on the negative aspects of your life can fell really bad.  Oprah says daily gratitude journaling changed her life.

Hmm..but being grateful all the time isn’t easy. Sometimes it’s easier to get caught up in a swirl of emotion. We’re all human and can be hijacked by our limbic systems! When someone is actively aggressive towards you, such as working to take your job or if you are physically attacked, it’s not easy to process this anger and aggression away with gratitude. I don’t think it’s possible to for humans to always feel grateful.

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