Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or DBT, is a model of therapy that emphasizes skills-based interventions to help develop coping strategies and effectively manage moods. Sacred Self is one of the skills taught through DBT. This skill is a powerful tool for mindfulness, self-validation, and self-love. As we break down this skill, please try and envision what this would look like in your life.
Many of us can acknowledge the value and importance of self-worth. Higher our self-esteem, we feel better about ourselves and are more resilient. When your self-esteem is higher, you are also less vulnerable to anxiety and stress. Even though it is great to have higher self-esteem, improving our self-esteem is no easy task.
How do we develop compassion? There are a few ways. Try to schedule time to implement self-compassion each week. Once a day, every few days, tailor a schedule that works best for you and dedicate a few moments to note these stressors and diligently preclude self-admonishment with self-kindness. Then increase the time periods in your compassion calendar to include these measures of mindfulness.
We hear a lot about the importance of forgiving those who have harmed us, but what about forgiving ourselves? Is that important as well? Absolutely. When we hurt others, we experience regret and apologize, hoping to make amends. However, we often beat ourselves up for mistakes and develop negative thoughts about ourselves because of it. Within these experiences come feelings of shame and guilt; while these feelings are similar and can occur in tandem with one another, they are slightly different. Self-forgiveness is one way to reduce feelings of guilt and shame; we’ll be discussing strategies you can use to engage in self-forgiveness.
Our relationship with ourselves is often at the core of other challenges such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or difficulties in relationships. How do we shift to seeing ourselves and treating ourselves the same way we treat others? If we can learn to be our own friends and practice self-compassion, we can boost our spirits and alleviate some of the struggles leading to that increased critical voice.
Often when we think of Valentine’s Day we think about hearts, love, gifts, and planning. For many who struggle with anxiety or worry thoughts, Valentine’s Day can be full of worries around disappointing someone else. Worries around being alone and your future relationships can also come to mind if you do not have a partner. For those struggling with depression, cynical thoughts around the unworthiness of finding love, cynical thoughts around the commercialization of the holiday, or hopelessness around finding a partner may occur. With so many thoughts like these, it is likely that Valentine’s Day can be difficult for many!
Whether you're in a relationship or not, focusing on self-love and kindness is crucial in order to support and love others as well. Often when we are single during Valentine’s Day we can feel frustrated with extravagant gifts, or feeling we have to buy presents. While we may have varying opinions on Valentine’s Day, we know it’s celebrated so why not take advantage of it and celebrate you?
Often individuals come into therapy looking to understand and explore self-esteem as well as boost their self-esteem. Individuals develop a close, trusting relationship with their therapist and share a lot about themselves. Through this process one can begin to feel that a genuine relationship has built and that they and their therapist have mutual respect for each other. Through the therapeutic relationship, one can heal from past negative experiences and shift their perspectives around various situations and circumstances. Self-esteem is often linked to many of these.
Caring for your mental health is as important as caring for your physical health however emotional well-being is often overlooked in the workplace. It’s a challenge to manage work-related stress while also taking care of oneself. Mindfulness is one way to prioritize our mental health while reducing work-related stress.
