Introvert or Extrovert?
An introvert is someone who gets energy from alone time, while an extrovert is someone who gets energy from being around other people. While some introverts are shy and some extroverts are outgoing, some can be introverted and outgoing, or extroverted and shy. Someone who is extroverted will feel energized after social encounters, and more drained from alone time. An introvert may feel drained after a social encounter and need a few hours by themselves. An ambivert is a term used to describe someone who experiences both things- energy from being alone, and energy from being with others- depending on the scenario.
Simple Ways to Work on Self-Improvement
Many individuals want to invest in self-improvement to be more mindful, to learn new skills, or to improve their overall well-being. But just how do you improve yourself? While there’s no one way of working on self-improvement, there are some strategies that have been proven to help.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Exercises You Can Do At Home!
At its simplest, CBT is designed to change unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors to improve emotional regulation and solve problems with coping strategies. In other words, with practice you can change negative thoughts (“I am terrible at everything I do,”) to thoughts that allow for positivity and growth (“I didn’t do as well as I hoped but I will be better next time”). Over time, you will become more self-confident and have a better outlook on life. Reaching your goals will suddenly become a much easier task. A therapist can help you through the process of deconstructing and redirecting negative thoughts and behaviors, but there are many ways you can get started at home.
Finding Coping Skills That Actually Work
Sometimes we don’t know what we need to feel better, and sometimes our usual coping skills just don’t feel like they’re helping enough. Let’s build on commonly known coping skills, such as breathing, and think about the basics of coping skills. If you’re needing to add something new to your box of coping skills, are stuck with finding some good ones or your old ones aren’t working anymore, keep reading.
Limit or Permit?: A Parents’ Guide for Monitoring Social Media
Having a conversation with your kids about online safety rules is a crucial step. This will help your kids grow up using social media wisely. This post is intended to act as a guideline for parents who share some of these questions about when to limit or permit their kids’ online activity.
You Know… That Thing That’s Happening on November 5th…
The differences in political views, the directions that our future leaders could take us, could not be more different. I want to be in tune with the struggle that so many of us (including myself) have had during this difficult time. Uncertainty is driving us to respond in several ways, whether that be avoidance, feeling a lack of caring or powerlessness to engage in our civic duties, or unhealthy use of media (among many others).
Is It Time to Break Up With Your Therapist?
Therapy is a relationship. In order to be effective, you need to feel connected to your therapist. So what happens when you no longer feel like your needs are getting met? Do you stop coming in? No show? Something many people don’t realize is that therapists do want you to be honest with them, especially if the relationship isn’t working.
Climate Anxiety
Climate anxiety can both prevent and motivate people to address climate change through action. Different levels of climate anxiety have effects on motivation levels to act, which can ease the effects or address the causes of climate change. Surprisingly, some anxiety about climate change can be helpful in pushing us to take action, although too much or too little may result in not taking action at all.
Learning From Failure
The reality is failure is an inevitable part of life. Allowing children to fail early and often when they have your support prepares them to deal with failures as a teen and adult. But in a world where there is so much pressure on kids to succeed, as parents, it can be difficult to allow them to fail.
Breathing Doesn’t Work For Me
Intentionally breathing a bit deeper (also, doesn’t have to be deep enough to blow out 98 birthday candles) and exhaling longer sends signals to the brain that say “things are going to be ok,” so the brain stops sending stress hormones and fight/flight signals to the body. The brain is able, slowly, to tell the heart to beat regularly instead of rapidly, the lungs to breathe normal instead of shallow and muscles to be at ease instead of tensing. This is a physical process that takes time, minutes not seconds.
Talking to Teens About Mental Health
Ask questions. It is okay to be direct when it comes to checking in with mental health, it sends a message you take this topic seriously. It is also okay to bring mental health up in a roundabout way. You can bring up an article you recently read or discuss well-known individuals such as Simone Biles and Harry Miller who are making their mental health a priority.
Good Days Gone Bad
The inner critic often struggles to accept an alternative dialogue, but with support, it can learn to. The supportive dialogue often sounds like something our best friend would tell us. It’s helpful, encouraging and often more truthful than what the inner critic would like us to believe.
This is Your Brain on Meditation
If you hear the word “meditation” and think “that’s not for me,” “I can never get my thoughts to quiet down,” or “I don’t have time for that,” you are far from alone. You might picture someone sitting (or laying) with their eyes closed and an unmatchable willpower to simply send their thoughts packing. While this image isn’t entirely wrong, it certainly isn’t the only type of meditation.
10 Fun Sober Summer Activities for People In Recovery
Summer is here, and it's the perfect time to enjoy the sunshine and have fun with friends and family. If you're in recovery and looking for fun and creative activities that don't involve alcohol or drugs, there are plenty of exciting things to do. Here are 10 fun ideas to make your summer memorable.
Distraction - An Excellent Coping Skill
Sometimes, what we need a break from is our own thoughts or feelings. When our emotions feel overwhelming, they can also be harmful to our self-esteem, or, in more severe cases, to our physical or emotional safety. Positive distraction has a place in mental health, and, when used with other ways of coping, can be very healthy.
Time Outdoors and Your Mental Health
A study of 20,000 people in 2019 found that those who spent at lease 2 hours total per week outside in green spaces reported feeling healthy and a strong sense of well-being, across ethnicity, class, age, and abilities. Looking at nature or listening to natural sounds can help energize a tired brain in the middle of repetitive tasks.
A Study in FOMO
The fear of missing out has predated social media, but not by much. Social media has thrown FOMO into the spotlight since everyone can experience a daily dose of seeing the highlights of someone else’s day. In fact, the more that people use social media like Facebook morning, noon, and night, the more they tend to experience FOMO. But FOMO doesn’t originate from social media use alone. It also comes from general unhappiness and life dissatisfaction.
“Can You Just Tell Me What To Do?”
Therapists can at times be viewed through an “all-knowing” lens, but the reality is that we very rarely have “the answer”. Your therapist cannot “just tell you what to do” because answering that question for you takes away an opportunity for growth and self-determination.
Building a Coping Kit
A coping kit is simply a list of skills and strategies a child can use when feeling anxious. It helps to practice these strategies when the child is already calm. Sometimes children can memorize their list of strategies but others may need to have them written down.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Understanding Autism’s Unique Impact on Exceptional Women
Autism not being considered as a diagnosis in childhood will have a negative impact on the child, and the consequences will continue into adulthood. Self-diagnosis is more accepted today, though it is not a replacement for a formal diagnosis, especially if accommodations are needed for work or school. Many self-diagnosed adults are choosing not to get a formal diagnosis for many reasons.