Education & Action: A Mind/Body Blog
8 Steps to Creating Therapy Goals
Therapy goals can go beyond addressing specific symptoms or disorders because therapy can help improve relationships, develop coping skills, and enhance overall well-being. Although most therapeutic goals focus on decreasing symptoms, increasing positive behaviors, eliminating disruptive behaviors, enhancing relationships, and developing coping skills, yours can be tailored to your specific needs and desires.
The Big Three: Sleeping, Eating, and Moving for Good Mental Health
One of the first things I discuss with new clients is something I call The Big Three (yes, that's a nod to This is Us): sleeping, eating, and moving. In this blog post, we'll explore the critical role of The Big Three and how you can incorporate them into your daily routine to support your mental health.
5 Stress Management Tips from a Somatic Therapist
Everywhere you turn, you can find a lot of advice about managing stress. Often the list of tips is long or overcomplicated. This can be overwhelming and can add to already high-stress levels. There are some tried and tested things you can do that are really helpful. These five tips are the ones that come up over and over again in my work with clients.
3 Ways Unhealed Trauma Impacts Our Lives
If you have experienced trauma, the physical and emotional scars can run deep. And if that trauma has gone unaddressed, managing your fight-or-flight responses can be a constant struggle. Unhealed trauma can leave a lasting impression on your body and mind, causing your body to become "stuck" in this response.
A Comprehensive Approach to Healing from Trauma
Combining traditional talk therapy with somatic therapy, mind-body techniques, and journaling can be a powerful approach to supporting healing from interpersonal and intergenerational trauma.
The Fawn Response: How It Impacts Your Mental Health and Relationships
Fawning is characterized by a tendency to avoid confrontation, placate others, or accommodate their needs, even if it means sacrificing our own needs or boundaries. Fawning allows us to avoid confrontation or conflict when we feel threatened.
The Freeze Response: What It Is and How to Help
Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The Flight Response: Understanding Your Body's Natural Reaction to Stress
Humans have an innate response to stress, danger, or perceived threat, known as the fight or flight response. While the fight response is characterized by aggression and heightened anxiety, the flight response is characterized by the urge to escape or withdraw.
The Fight Response: What Happens to Your Body and Mind during Traumatic Events
When faced with a traumatic event, our bodies and minds react in ways to help us survive. One of these ways is the fight response, a survival mechanism that is part of our body's natural stress response.
Understanding the Physical Effects of Trauma
Trauma is a physical and emotional response to an overwhelming and distressing event. When our body is exposed to traumatic situations, it activates the fight or flight response, a natural survival mechanism designed to protect us from harm.
The Impact of Trauma on the Brain and Mental Health
Trauma can be defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that can impact an individual for the rest of their life. The psychological, emotional, and physical effects of trauma can be felt long after the event has passed.