Going to Your Happy (safe!) Place
Sometimes the depression creeps back in. Sometimes the anxiety overwhelms and paralyzes me. Sometimes I feel like I am all alone and I have no future and the fear and sadness submerge me in their darkness. Sometimes I know I should fight, but I just don’t have the energy. Sometimes it’s really hard to love […]
ACT Now!
Thought Defusion…huh? “You can’t dwell on those thoughts.” “Stop thinking so negatively.” “Think positive thoughts.” People have told me these things repeatedly over the years. I have told myself similar things too. And yet, sometimes I truly feel like I have no control over my thoughts. That they control me instead. If I ruminate on […]
The “CALM” Exercise
My heart and mind have been in such chaos this week. Just so much pain. It’s hard to see around it, it’s so big. I’ve been trying to use this exercise to help me calm myself. Our minds and bodies are so intertwined that sometimes if you’re able to “fix” one, it “fixes” the other […]
ACT now! Exercise Those Psychological Muscles
It’s a rainy day outside and I’m having a bad body day (what I call days that I’m hurting which could be from any number of things associated with my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). I love the rain (perfect for reading or writing!) and a painful day is not unusual. And yet, I just watched a TED […]
ACT Now! Contacting the Present Moment
As a continuation from my last post on living a values-driven life versus a goal-driven life, I want to look at another one of those components of the hexaflex which is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (“ACT”). It’s called Contact with the Present Moment. WHAT IS CONTACT WITH THE PRESENT MOMENT? I think of contact with the present moment as aka: […]
ACT now! Leading a Values-Driven Life
When I was in residential treatment (crazy story, which you can read here!), the therapists there introduced me to a psychotherapeutic treatment called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT. I had never heard of it before, and they threw around terms like “radical acceptance” and “psychological flexibility” like I was supposed to know what they meant. […]
5-4-3-2-1: A Grounding Technique
Every week I’d like to present a new grounding technique or coping strategy that can help anyone who is struggling with overwhelming anxiety, intrusive thoughts, PTSD triggers, or stress. Not all of the strategies and techniques I provide will work for everyone. You will just have to try them and see what works for you. […]
Grabbing Gratitude
Probably like many of you, I grew up “saying grace” at the dinner table before digging in. I’m not sure why it was called “saying grace” because I always thought of it as saying thanks to God before my meal. Anyone ever have a relative who would wax long in their prayer to God while […]
Stop Taking Things So Personally!
I have another cognitive distortion for you that really does a doozy on me that I know wrecks havoc with others, too. It’s called personalization. We talked about “Should Statements” earlier, which is also a cognitive distortion, which you can find here. I have also written a short series on other cognitive distortions, which you can find here, here, […]
Shoulds…to Shits
Do you remember when we talked about cognitive distortions in Cognitive Distortions Parts 1 and 2? Cognitive distortions are a conglomeration of different patterns of thinking which negatively impact our mental health. Should Statements is one of the cognitive distortions that I struggle with the most, so I thought it would be a good idea […]