Resources
Want some bonus materials?
The work you do during the week to practice what is learned and discussed during your session is invaluable to your progress. Together, we will delve into concepts and create plans to try them out on your own. Take a look at some of my favorite articles and clips to enhance your at-home efforts, check back for updates!
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a trendy word in the west right now, but the concept has been around for many millennia. My favorite definition is Jon Kabat-Zinn's: "Awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally."
That's easier said than done, but it's called a mindfulness practice for a reason! At its core, mindfulness is comprised of two overarching sets of skills: what you are doing and how you are doing it. Often when laypeople are discussing mindfulness they refer to the "how skill" of one-mindedness, or doing just one thing at a time. This can be accomplished during tasks like driving, eating, cleaning, drawing, and more. Take a look at Andy Puddicombe's entertaining description of mindfulness meditation, and get a glimpse of what incorporating a mindfulness practice into your life can look like in the second video.
What
Observing
Describing
Participating
How
Non-Judgmentally
One-Mindfully
Effectively
Self-Compassion
Dr. Kristin Neff is one of the leaders in the field of self-compassion. Knowing more about this concept and setting the intention to engage in self-compassion can truly change your life. Even the most basic strategy of speaking to yourself as if you would a loved one can shift perspectives and color your experiences more accurately. If you enjoy this clip, take a look at Dr. Neff's website: self-compassion.org
Noticing and Challenging ANTs
So often, our Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) pop up and say awful things about who we are, what we have or haven't done, what others think about us... the list goes on. Taking a moment to step out of our mind and separate ourselves from thoughts can be immensely powerful. Rather than, "I'm not good enough/They hate me/I can't do this/_______", try the following statement: "I just had the thought that I'm not good enough/They hate me/I can't do this/________." This feels much different from a declarative statement of truth. We are not our thoughts. We are not our emotions. These are separate from us and guidance from a therapist helps to differentiate. We deserve to put these thoughts under a microscope to determine if they are 1) Accurate and 2) Helpful.
Check out this Huffington Post article about steps to take to review your thoughts
Or take a look at this lighthearted overview of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy strategy of cognitive coping:
Improving Emotional Experiences
Psychologist Susan David studies emotional agility: the psychology of how we can use emotion to bring forward our best selves in all aspects of how we love, live, parent, and lead. This discussion gives a beautiful overview of some of the concepts in which I focus on as your therapist: Radical acceptance (accepting reality as is, rather than what we wish it would be), understanding emotions as pieces of information, and allowing oneself to experience the full range of our humanity- including those so-called "negative emotions."
Sleep and Emotional/Physical Wellbeing
Listen to researcher Matt Walker below explain the need to "reclaim our right to a full night of sleep" to avoid negative mind and body consequences. In therapy, we will discuss the PLEASE skills to regulate emotions: treat PhysicaL illness, Exercise regularly, Avoid mood altering substances, Sleep regular hours, and Eat a balanced diet. All of these components are intuitive. Nothing is surprising when I share this with patients. However, most of us do not regularly prioritize these aspects of our physical and emotional health and wellbeing. Together with your therapist you can create a plan to tackle one or more of these components and be on your way to a more peaceful existence.
OCEAN personality traits
Researchers typically use OCEAN or "The Big Five" personality
traits on continuums to describe our unique individual experiences.
OCEAN stands for:
Openness to experiences
Conscientiousness
Extraversion (versus intraversion)
Agreeableness
Neuroticism (or emotional dis-ease)
The question is: can you change your automatic way of
viewing the yourself and viewing the world
(described here as personality)?
Click here to check out this All In The Mind podcast (29 minutes)
that says our personalities change across a lifetime, and by
engaging in safe and meaningful therapy we can speed up this
process.
"Have you ever wanted to change your personality? Many people do - studies find we're keen to become more extroverted, more agreeable and more conscientious. But what does the evidence say about whether people do change? And can you tweak your personality deliberately?"
The 8 Dimensions of Wellness
At every changing of the season (equinox and solstice) my framework is that we come together and reassess our treatment FOCUS and FREQUENCY in order to stay mindful, intentional, and efficient together.
Those are as follows:
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Spring: March 21
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Summer: June 21
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Fall: September 23
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Winter: December 22
(This is also when I assess my caseload and decide if I can take on new patients/clients)
At that point, we review the treatment plan that you made and we reflect on what you've been working on to identify your gains and your next steps. We use that as a starting point to shift our FOCUS and FREQUENCY toward other goals and to increase or decrease meeting frequency, based on other factors as well.
Once we've done this activity together you can use it any time you'd like. I've found doing it at regular intervals together helps us to be on the same page in therapy and make the most of your experience.