Do You Get the Winter Blah’s – Seasonal Affective Disorder

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Could You Have Seasonal Affective Disorder?
1) Increased desire to sleep
2) Craving high-carbohydrate foods
3) Sadness
4) Decreased energy levels during short winter days
5) Winter weight gain
Remedies include: exercise, increasing your exposure to outdoor light (even on cloudy days), using bright lights inside, light therapy boxes, postponing ambitious resolutions until spring, and other skills your therapist can give you for coping.
The use of antidepressants among Americans has increased 400 percent since the late 1980s, yet less than a third of those taking a drug have seen a mental health professional in the last year.* Taking medication for anxiety or depression without concurrent” talk” therapy is merely masking the problem without a long term solution.
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cope with Peace and Grace: Practice Gratitude

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Gratitude acknowledges that we are beneficiaries of life. We do not put
the chicken in the egg or the oak tree in the acorn, but are merely
recipients of those gifts. Research suggests that grateful people are better
able to cope with stress and have stronger immune systems than those
who primarily focus on illness or problems. (WebMD)

Having a positive, grateful attitude does NOT mean denying or ignoring
problems. Like infections, trauma tends to fester and make us ill if it is
ignored or minimized. I take a balanced, healthy approach that deals with
both the past events AND the present thinking patterns that contribute to
current problems. Many years of study, internships, licensure, and experience
qualifies me to help you find a more peaceful and grateful life, free from your past.  It is never to late to begin.

Appreciate Your Life – Be MIndful

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Being mindful of the many good things in your life takes a conscious effort. It’s so easy to be negative and focus on fearful thoughts. In this way, we attempt to stay prepared for trouble. However, worrying is simply negative planning and does not solve anything. When you find yourself living in a future that doesn’t exist yet, remember this: in this moment, you are safe. You are fed. You are held. There is at least one person who thinks of you lovingly

Getting trapped in the negative cycle of worrisome thoughts is a common symptom of depression and anxiety. Changing negative thought patterns is the most common issue I treat and responds well to Cognitive Therapy (CBT). You can see changes often within the first few visits. I will teach you to catch and then challenge your negative thoughts using various techniques. Let’s get started!

 

Five Ways to Appreciate Your LIfe

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1) Stop and breathe in deeply. Hold for a few seconds, then breathe out slowly. Mentally watch the air flow.

2) Visualize breathing IN sparkling, clean healthy air. Visualize breathing OUT the black cloud of stress.

3) Take time to look around and cherish the vibrating aliveness of nature all around you.

4) Keep a Gratitude List. Count the small things you take for granted: your feet that take you where you want to go, the eyes that let you feast on beauty.

5) Realize that THIS moment never comes again!

Ways to Raise a Healthier, Happier Child

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Parenting is one of the most important tasks we perform in this life. Most parents have no training or support to do it well. Guidance helps in this often frustrating and yet rewarding experience. Build a solid self-esteem and a capacity to withstand peer pressure for your children. It can lead to lifetime of rewards.

For children, routine is important.  They need a solid structure to best flourish and learn. Bedtimes, daily chores, unstructured play time, and nighttime rituals all help contribute to a sense of security, and free the child to focus their energy on schoolwork and play. Unstructured time to play is critical to a developing child’s mental health and emotional resiliency. Guard your child’s development from over scheduling!

Here are four ways to raise a happier, healthier child:

  1.  Schedule a consistent routine for bedtime.  A child needs about 10 hours of sleep nightly.
  2. Have home responsibilities for your child.  Around age 10-12, they should begin doing their own laundry and contributing to household chores.  This develops independence and confidence.
  3. Present a calm, businesslike attitude when dealing with discipline.  Losing your cool gives the child a power that rightly belongs to the adult.
  4. Focus on your child’s positive traits, especially when it is tough to do so.

 

Five Ways to Achieve YOUR Goals:

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1) Enlist the help of a professional therapist to help you uncover sabotaging self-talk
2) Cut out pictures from a magazine that represent what you want and post them where you see them often
3) Talk to yourself in encouraging ways. Be your own cheerleader.
4)  Set small, incremental goals and then focus on your small victories as they happen
5) Don’t let your mistakes discourage you! Get back up.

The basic rule for goal setting is that the goal must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.  Goals must also come from a positive and self-loving stance in order to bring lasting satisfaction. Set goals in each area of life: Career, Relationship, Health, Service, Spirituality, and so on. Word your goals in positive terms. (mindtools.com

Celebrate Family Joy

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What is family Joy?  Joy is different than happiness.  Happiness often refers to a feeling of well-being, good cheer, merriment, pleasure, and satisfaction. Joy, especially inner joy, goes much deeper.  More than the sudden joy of a pleasurable turn of events, it can be an inner bubbling that accompanies all activities.

Joy arises from within rather than from an outer source.  Joy shows a capacity for patience and persistence of a positive attitude in the face of adversity.  We experience a deep joy, when we share our compassion for others.  It is a desire to benefit life itself rather than any one particular individual.   It is often helpful to honor the joy that we experience in the family. It takes time to grow and develop.

Children are a joy when we discover the special realities and share the wonder and freshness with they view the world.

A deeper joy may be experienced in the sharing of positive moments and the fulfillment of meeting the routine challenges of daily life.

At the deepest level, a powerful unity is realized in meeting family and community crises together.  It is not necessarily wining or conquering, but the intense reward that comes from discovering the strength and closeness within your family and with your friends.

When we experience all three sources of joy our lives become more deeply enriched and fulfilled. Take time to notice your joy and share it with others.

 

 

Are you stressed?

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Are YOU Stressed? Take the test…

1. My heart races for no reason. Doctor says I’m OK.

2. I am often doing two things at once.

3. I have trouble falling or staying asleep, or I wake up early with my thoughts racing.

4. My stomach hurts a lot.

5. I feel afraid of “losing it.”

6. I feel trapped in my busy schedule.

7. My back “goes out” often.

8. I fall asleep whenever I sit down to relax.

Stress is a major factor in illness, since our immune system is affected by the constant streaming of stress hormones into our system. Many doctors say that stress is the primary cause of most office visits and problems they treat. The tension in the muscles that stress causes makes back pain one of the most common symptoms. Therapists can help you manage stress with a few simple exercises and talk therapy. (National Institute of Mental Health

Untreated stress is dangerous! It can lead to high blood pressure, illness, and a host of other problems. Taking a few minutes every day to breathe deeply can help, but the best results come when you are willing to go deeper and talk to me about your life, exploring changes I can help you make. My training and objectivity give you another way to look at your life. Are you ready to change?

Habits of Successful People: How Many do YOU Have?

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1. Successful people have  a SPIRITUAL OR MEDITATIVE PRACTICE

2. They EXERCISE in some form  on a regular basis

3. Successful people try for HEALTHY EATING habits

4. Successful people get plenty of SLEEP

5. They reach out and CONNECT WITH OTHERS

6. Successful people strive for BALANCE in all things

7. Successful people  ASK FOR HELP when they are faced with a challenging problem or situation

Success in life encompasses MUCH more than finances! Relationships, health, peace of mind, the ability to give and receive all contribute to a successful time on earth. If one of your “life areas” is out of balance, then all the money or health in the world won’t make up for it. Successful people can be happy alone as well as with a mate. (Psychology Today)

I have the greatest admiration for people who bring their lives to therapy. For those willing to invest their time and resources, you can experience the most deeply rewarding changes of your life. I can help you learn to say “no” when needed, help you recover from painful breakups, parent your children, overcome depression, and many other issues.

Increase Your Happiness Level

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1) Tackle your problems head on with the help of your therapist. Don’t avoid or postpone things.

2) Take time each day to enjoy something. Look for the little gifts life holds: sunshine, a hug or warm smile. Appreciate the taste of food, the sound of birds.

3) Avoid “awfulizing” the situations life brings. Uncomfortable? Yes, but we can survive them.

4) Remember that how YOU SEE life is how it WILL be. Recognize the power of the thoughts you focus on!

5) Give yourself the same kindness you give others.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a style of therapy that examines the beliefs you have about your life. These beliefs came from life experiences and you may not even be aware they are controlling you. Beliefs about yourself such as “I must always achieve more than others” can cripple your enjoyment of life. CBT helps free you from those thoughts. (Burns)

Shakespeare said, “there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” While obvious tragedies do happen, we have more power than we think to make sense of them and move forward. My work involves me using my skills to help examine your thinking and beliefs to see where YOUR automatic thoughts are holding you back, in ways you don’t even realize. Let’s find freedom!