We’ll go to the doctor when we feel flu-ish or a nagging pain. So why don’t we see a health professional when we feel emotional pain: guilt, loss, loneliness? Too many of us deal with common psychological-health issues on our own, says Guy Winch. But we don’t have to. He makes a compelling case to practice emotional hygiene — taking care of our emotions, our minds, with the same diligence we take care of our bodies.
As we start 2018 and we take the annual inventory of our lives let’s consider a different approach. It’s normal for us to focus on the results of the behavior vs the cause of the behavior.
We spend a lot of time telling ourselves, I need to lose weight, I need to get a better job, I need to exercise more, and I need to improve a relationship.
We don’t spend the time asking ourselves why we haven’t lost weight, have the same job, are not exercising, and are still unfulfilled emotionally.
Let’s resolve to spend 2018 on exploring our minds and souls. Working on being authentic and mindful will lead to productive changes in our 2019 annual inventory.
Check out the following article from mindful.org to get started
Did you know that people go to therapy to improve their communication skills?
Communication plays a big part in mental health. Learning how to identify your thoughts and feelings can be difficult, communicating them can be even more difficult.
We like this article that lays out step by step tips for communicating. It can be useful to bring articles such as this into therapy to help identify where you feel you need more help with communication.
Step-By-Step Checklist for Difficult Conversations – By Judy Ringer