Consent Preferences

Anxiety

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Grieving: The Four Tasks of Mourning

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Grieving: The Four Tasks of Mourning

As much as we would like to never experience grief, it is a universal experience that is unfortunately inevitable. Grief is the acute feeling of shock, overwhelming sadness & pain when someone passes away. It comes on suddenly, is strong & usually knocks the wind out of us. Grief comes in waves & may impact you at different times in your life. For example, if you just received a promotion at work, your first instinct might be to call your mother to share the good news. As you pick up the phone, you suddenly remember that your mother passed away a few years ago. The realization that she is no longer living, causes feelings of grief to wash over you. This is how grief ebbs & flows. Grieving on the other hand is the process of how we adapt to this loss in order to move forward with our lives. Grieving is fluid & demonstrates the relationship we have with grief as it changes over time.

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Exploring Dimensions of Wellness

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Exploring Dimensions of Wellness

When many of us think of “wellness”, the first thing that may come to mind is our physical or mental health. Although our physical and mental health are important aspects of our wellness, there are many more contributing factors. Debbie Stoewen identifies eight separate, but equally important, components of wellness (2017). These eight components, named the “Dimensions of Wellness”, are independent of one another, but can also significantly influence and impact each other as well. These dimensions don’t require equal attention paid to them, but neglecting one can have negative consequences on the others, including our overall wellness.

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It's Parade Season!

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It's Parade Season!

It’s that time of the year again. St. Patrick’s day can be a highly anticipated celebration for many people. Many times there are parade’s and day long events that often include excessive alcohol intake. People usually start early and day drinking can be something glorified and bragged about on social media. If you live in or around the Jersey Shore you know that parade season can last a few weekends. This trend can leave a lot of triggers for people who are recovering and trying to protect their recovery with substance use. Even if you want to go to the parade, the temptation and environment can be difficult when you see people inebriated, slurring their words, and being rambunctious. The boardwalk’s starting to come alive again. Bars are flooded and food concessions are open.

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Sleep Hygiene: Understanding & Coping With Sleep Debt

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Sleep Hygiene: Understanding & Coping With Sleep Debt

Sleep is a crucial part of our lives, and it’s essential for good health. However, in today’s fast-paced society, it’s easy to get caught up in a cycle of sleep debt.  Sleep debt is a term used to describe the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep over time. This can happen if we consistently go to bed late and wake up early, or if we have poor sleep quality. When we don’t get enough sleep, our bodies start to accumulate a sleep debt, which can lead to a range of physical and mental health problems.

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Parenting Support: I found out my child is self-harming… what do I do?

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Parenting Support: I found out my child is self-harming… what do I do?

Being a parent and finding out that your child has been intentionally harming themselves without any intent to kill themselves can be bring up a range of emotions; it can be upsetting, difficult, and maybe even confusing. It is something that no parent ever wants to learn about their child. This can bring up many questions for a parent related to how to proceed or why this is happening. The following will help best answer these questions.

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DBT Skills: Understanding The Sacred Self

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DBT Skills: Understanding The Sacred Self

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.

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Is this Laziness or Procrastination?

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Is this Laziness or Procrastination?

Are you lazy or is this just plain old procrastination? In order to answer this complicated question, let’s first examine the definitions of both. Procrastination is defined as the act of delaying or postponing something. Laziness on the other hand is voluntarily choosing not to exert energy to complete something. Even though they sound similar, procrastination & laziness are not one in the same. Do you ever make a to-do list and then feel psychologically paralyzed when it’s time to begin? You are not alone. Many people get caught in a cycle of putting things off, which inevitably results in unwanted procrastination. The old saying goes, too many tomorrows & tomorrow never comes.

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The 3-3-3 Rule for Anxiety

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The 3-3-3 Rule for Anxiety

The 3-3-3 rule for anxiety is a technique that uses emotional grounding to reduce anxiety.  The technique gets you to focus on the present, shifting your focus away from your worry.  Negative thoughts tend to stem from the future or the past, so by focusing on the here and now, you can reduce your negative thoughts and gain some clarity.  The 3-3-3 rule is a short exercise that you can use on a daily basis or during moments of high stress or anxiety. 

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How to Make Overthinking an After-thought

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How to Make Overthinking an After-thought

Overthinking is a common struggle that can lead to increased anxiety, stress, and negative emotions. Most thoughts and feelings are very temporary.  However, it is the chain of thoughts and emotions we may engage in that causes these undesired feelings to outstay their welcome.  If you struggle with overthinking, you are not alone; there are several strategies you can use to reduce or eliminate habits of overthinking and improve your mental well-being.

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The Winter Blues

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The Winter Blues

Many people struggle with lower moods, sadness, lack of motivation, or worse when winter time comes. The cold and gloomy days can be difficult to navigate when you are someone who feels much more energized and brightened by the sun. You might have heard about seasonal affective disorder, or are just someone who feels different during this time of year. Whether you have been diagnosed with an official disorder, or are generally struggling with your mental health, such as anxiety, depression, or more, seasonal changes can be difficult for many people. If you are an active person and enjoys the outdoors, winter time can limit some of those opportunities. It can be chillier to run or to hike, the beach is less enjoyable, the wind and snow can pierce through your jacket even if you try to get out of the house. That can be a common mindset if you are not someone eager for snow-based activities lie skiing or snowboarding. How can we cope and feel more ambivalent about this time of year? The holiday cheery and energy has subsided, gathering’s aren’t as common, some people can get lost with what to do. 

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New Year, New Me

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New Year, New Me

We have heard it before. New Years Resolutions. At the stroke of midnight, we kiss our loved ones, wish them a happy new year, and set some goals for ourselves to be better. If you are someone to abandon that shortly after you set your sights on change, you might be reading this blog. Why is it easier for people to trail off with their goals and revert back to their old ways? Changing habits is actually hard work and because that work requires more time, attention, and commitment, it’s easier for us to let go of that and be where it is comfortable, our “old” self. Perhaps you have reached a point where you are entirely fed up with who that person is.

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Anger Management Skills

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Anger Management Skills

Anger is a very common and natural emotion that everyone experiences regularly throughout their lifetime. However, anger can spike and become intense and difficult to manage, this is when it can have negative consequences on both in the short-term and long-term. If struggling with anger management is something you can relate to, there are several skills and tools you can use to manage anger spikes and express your true feeling effectively.

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Coping With Difficult Emotions

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Coping With Difficult Emotions

Coping skills are a set of behaviors or actions that have positive benefits to one’s mental health. They can be used in situations to help alleviate any difficult emotions (ie: anger, sadness, anxiety, etc.) or they can be used daily to assist in maintaining a positive mood.

 

The unique thing about coping skills is that they are different for everyone! Where one skill may be helpful for you, it may be something that does not work for someone else. It may take trial and error of varied coping skills to see what is unique to helping you. Try out different hobbies or interests to see if they are helpful in alleviating those difficult emotions, commonly these hobbies/interests can also work as coping skills. Additionally, try out coping skills that you may be skeptical about because they could surprise you in a positive way. As time goes on and you begin to learn more about yourself, it can become easier to recognize the coping skills that help you to manage these difficult emotions best.

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What Is Gaslighting?

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What Is Gaslighting?

The term “gaslighting” was one of the top searched terms of 2022.  So what is gaslighting? And how can you identify it?

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4 Ways To Improve Body Image

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4 Ways To Improve Body Image

Many people struggle with body image, especially with societal pressures and constantly seeing perfectly photoshopped celebrity bodies online.  However, it is important to remember that there is no standard of beauty and you are beautiful just the way you are. 

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S.M.A.R.T. Goals In The New Year

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S.M.A.R.T. Goals In The New Year

New Years has recently passed and many of us have set resolutions or goals we want to accomplish in 2023. For many of us, as great and important as these goals may be, we might find it difficult to stick to and achieve them. Many times we might find it difficult to start working towards our goals, or if we start, we might stop shortly after beginning. Although there are several factors that may contribute to our difficulties in achieving our new goals, one common one is that these goals are often too large or too vague. One strategy we can use to help us toward reaching our goals is by setting “SMART” goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound. These components work together to help to keep us motivated as we start and progress toward our goals.

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Taking A Time-Out

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Taking A Time-Out

Whether it be with our partners, friends, family or a stranger in a grocery store, disagreements, arguments and conflict can happen. They are a normal part of our relationships and even the healthiest of relationships experience them. However, just because everyone experiences them, does not make them any easier to deal with. In fact, in the heat of the moment, even the smallest of disagreements can feel like they begin to spiral out of control and end up turning into a much bigger problem. To navigate these disagreements, there are some strategies we can use to reduce the intensity of the disagreement and possibly even end it in a better place than it began. Although it “takes two to tango”, just one person changing their behavior and responses in a disagreement can change the course of the conversation.

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Is Social Media Harming Your Health?

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Is Social Media Harming Your Health?

It’s 2023 & social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter & Tik Tok are all the rage. Technology allows us to live in a world where we can connect socially with others without actually getting together in person. Engaging in social media produces dopamine in the brain, otherwise known as the “feel good” chemical. This rush of dopamine is what motivates us to continuously check our social media apps in the search to feel good.

There are some benefits to social media use such as reconnecting with family & friends that live around the world. Finding new friends in your community & getting involved in social causes that need awareness. Connecting socially if you are housebound or live remotely without access to others. Lastly, it gives us the ability to seek emotional support from others, while providing this type of support in return. Therefore, social media is not all bad & can be used in moderation to enhance our lives.

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The Power of Self Talk

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The Power of Self Talk

What is self-talk & why does it matter? Self-talk is just that, the way you speak to yourself. It is your inner voice comprised of conscious thoughts, beliefs & biases that creates the monologue in your head. Whether you are aware of your patterns of self-talk or not, it is there. Self-talk has the ability to tear you down or lift you up- it all depends if your self-talk is positive or negative.

If your inner voice is consistently negative, it acts as a harsh critic & promotes pessimism in your life. Negative self-talk decreases self-esteem & confidence, causing you to feel badly about yourself. It will keep you from succeeding and it will fool you into thinking you will always fail. Negative self-talk causes endless cycles of rumination that lead to increased levels of depression & anxiety. This negativity often distorts reality causing you to see the world through a negative lens. So, I ask you, how can you possibly feel good or have a good day when your thought stream is consistently negative? The bottom line is, you can’t. Keep reading & you will learn how to change those negative thoughts into positive ones in order to live a happier life.

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It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like The Holiday Season: Coping with Stress Around the Holidays

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It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like The Holiday Season: Coping with Stress Around the Holidays

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or don’t celebrate any holiday at all, this time of year can be particularly not the jolliest time for some. In fact, the celebrations, the get-to-togethers, the gifts, or realizing that your family are not people you look forward to seeing can be difficult to admit. Perhaps you do not have any close friends or family and this time of year is a glaring reflection of that. This is a typically stressful time for most people whether you have excitement and parties to look forward to or not. The logistics of planning something, financially making the season work for you, the pressure to get the holiday cards out, bake the cookies, buy the food, clean the house, put up the decorations, and deal with the family drama that may ensue from hosting the holiday this year can be especially draining. If you are someone who does not celebrate at all, or being around your family is a trigger, this can be a vulnerable time for you. The seasons are changing, it's getting darker earlier, and it can be a bitter fight to stay sober, not relapse with substance use, eating disorders, or general mental health.