Reflective Listening for Improving Communication

Practice reflective listening in your relationship for better communication. A few reasons why couples argue and struggle to communicate well: Real-world issues: different opinions on finances, family, raising children, and things going on within the home. Attachment issues: this can be presented as couples fighting about how they fight. Communication itself: a person has lack … Continue reading Reflective Listening for Improving Communication

Things to Remember During Bad Days

Your day is still full of potential and possibilities even if The weather is nasty and you're stuck indoors. Your car got a flat tire on the way to work. You received a negative report that was out of your control. You didn't get the job or raise. A major household appliance broke. You received … Continue reading Things to Remember During Bad Days

What People Think Therapy is vs What it Actually is

What people think it is: • Talking to a therapist about problems. What it actually is: • Talking to a therapist about problems. • Making changes to thoughts and behaviors. • Psychoeducation. • Building awareness of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. • Between session work. • Learning and practicing coping strategies. • Working on becoming less … Continue reading What People Think Therapy is vs What it Actually is

Mindful Breathing Exercise for When You’re Feeling Stressed and Anxious

When you feel stressed or anxious, have you been mindful of your breathing? Notice if you're holding your breath, taking shallow breaths, or breathing too quickly. Take control of your breathing by trying a short breathing exercise Lay, sit, or stand comfortably, with good posture to allow yourself to breathe easily. If you're laying or … Continue reading Mindful Breathing Exercise for When You’re Feeling Stressed and Anxious

How to be Productive and Calm as a Busy Woman

Busy ladies, here are some strategies that can help you be productive and calm Does this sound familiar to you? Personally, as a busy woman (I'm a mom; maintaining relationships; keeping the house tidy; running my mental health private practice and mindset coaching business; write for my two blogs; assistant run coach, and preparing for … Continue reading How to be Productive and Calm as a Busy Woman

Powerful Ways to Manage Worry and Anxiety

This article is about four simple, yet powerful ways to manage worry and anxiety. Are you worried about how things are going to go for you? Do you fear that you won't be able to handle potential problems? How can you make a tough decision not having all of the details? Here's what you CAN … Continue reading Powerful Ways to Manage Worry and Anxiety

Calming Through Your Five Senses by Using Self-Soothe Skills

Self-care is giving the world the best of you Self-soothe skills Self-Soothe is about calming through the senses, and the goal is to engage your senses in behaviors that are relaxing. As you practice self-soothe, allow judgements, stress, worries, and unhelpful thoughts to slide through your mind, and just be in the moment. This process … Continue reading Calming Through Your Five Senses by Using Self-Soothe Skills

IMPROVE Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT)

DBT Card Deck by Lane Pederson, PsyD, LP, DBTC - PESI Publishing and Media IMPROVE IMPROVE the Moment. The acronym IMPROVE makes life a little bit better when it is not going so well.During a crisis, you have two options. You can sink into the distress or invest in behaviors that might improve how you … Continue reading IMPROVE Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT)

Wise Mind: ACCEPTS Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT)

DBT Card Deck by Lane Pederson, PsyD, LP, DBTC – PESI Publishing and Media Wise Mind: ACCEPTS The ACCEPTS acronym has skills that helps keep you busy and distracted when you would typically be preoccupied by a crisis. It is easy to dwell on what is going wrong, by focusing on the ACCEPTS behaviors, you … Continue reading Wise Mind: ACCEPTS Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT)

Distress Tolerance Skills for Managing Stress and Crisis (DBT)

Distress Tolerance (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) When people "cope" with stress and crisis, they find out ways (behaviors) that relieve stress, however, some of these ways come with heavy consequences. Examples of ineffective behaviors are drug and alcohol use, self-injury, gambling, spending money, and overeating.We can learn distress tolerance skills to effectively manage the stress and … Continue reading Distress Tolerance Skills for Managing Stress and Crisis (DBT)