How to Intentionally Consume Media: Promoting Emotional Resilience

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How to Intentionally Consume Media: Promoting Emotional Resilience

We find ourselves in a time when it has become increasingly challenging to ignore the elephant in the room - that is the state of the world and our country. For some time now, it has been a commonplace experience for many of us to wake up to yet another breaking news headline that often has our jaws on the floor and leaves us feeling quite vulnerable and heavy inside. Ironically, a lot of us sometimes find ourselves unable to stop the infamous doomscrolling (repeated, compulsive, algorithmic content consumption) and put our devices aside. It’s a vicious cycle.

We may not have the ability to click a button or to snap our fingers to enact the change that will bring us relief or a renewed sense of safety and security, but we can change how we engage with the content presented to us in a way that does not lead to existential dread, helplessness, and hopelessness about our current sociopolitical circumstances.

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Attachment Styles & Their Impact on Adult Relationships

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Attachment Styles & Their Impact on Adult Relationships

When we think of our current relationships, we may often wonder why we feel safe and connected in some, but in others, we feel anxious or distant. Sound familiar? This idea of the way we connect, or sometimes struggle to connect, with others often traces back to a concept known as attachment styles. These patterns are how we relate to others in society, influenced early in our childhood, that continue to shape our relationships within adulthood.

The good news you ask? Having some clarity of your attachment style can not only help you build healthier connections, but also feel more empowered in your relationships and shift away from generational patterns.

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Creating Joy in the Dark Winter Months

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Creating Joy in the Dark Winter Months

January and February can feel like they stretch on forever, especially if you’re navigating constant sickness, a string of canceled plans and disrupted New Year’s Resolutions, icy weather forecasts that keep you stuck inside, or post-holiday blues. Many people find this to be one of the toughest times of the year, which is why the third Monday in January is sometimes referred to as “Blue Monday.” For parents with young kids, this time of year can feel especially isolating, increasing the parenting load.

Cultivating joy and resiliency in the midst of these challenging months can be essential for getting through them without seeing a decline in your mental health. There are several mental shifts that you can make to increase joy in the midst of the struggle of these months. I’m going to share with you four mental strategies to support yourself and create joy.

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Great Mental Health Apps To Try

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Great Mental Health Apps To Try

Phone apps can be an incredible support for monitoring behavior and emotions, supplementing therapy, or for improving or maintaining mental health and wellness.  While mental health apps do not substitute treatment from a mental health professional and do not provide a diagnosis, they can be used in conjunction with therapy to help you build awareness of habits and patterns, as well as independently to support self-care.  Many of these apps are based on scientific research and evidence based therapy techniques.  I recommend some of them to support work I do with my clients and I use them personally. 

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What is Beginners Mind?

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What is Beginners Mind?

Beginners Mind is one of seven principles within Mindfulness meditation practice and the most important according to prominent Zen authors. The other six principles are Letting Go, Acceptance, Non-Judgement, Non-Striving, and Trust. I will interchange the terms “principles” and “practice” throughout the blog because principles are practiced and practice involves principles. 

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