Help for Your Anxiety

5 DBT Skills To De-escalate family conflict during COVID-19 We are all stressed during COVID-19 lockdown. In many families, tension and anger are becoming a problem. Couples and siblings are fighting because they are stuck together 24-7 and isolated from their usual routines and support systems. They are also struggling with an unpredictable future. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is a great counseling modality that helps people manage emotions and decrease conflict in their relationships. Don't worry, I'm not going on and on about DBT theory, but I do want to share one extremely helpful component of DBT: explicit skills instruction. Here are 5 skills from DBT you can learn to help manage irritability and family conflict during shelter-in-place. 1. Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills. The acronym for this set of skills is DEAR MAN (DBT loves acronyms and they actually do help you remember what you are supposed to do). Learn these skills to manage dif...

Today's blog post is an article by fellow therapist, Dr. Jamie Long.  If you are feeling overwhelming panic and fear during the COVID-19 crisis you might be caught up in a cognitive distortion called Catastrophic Thinking.    Read on to see how to identify and manage this destructive thought pattern How to Cope with Catastrophic Thinking During the Coronavirus Pandemic For many of us, concerns and worries have escalated tenfold over the past few weeks. I checked on a friend of mine, a new mom who just temporarily closed her business in response to the novel coronavirus. She’s someone who typically operates right at the edge of functional anxiety. “How’s the anxiety?” I asked her. “Ha! Anxiety?” she joked (sort of). “I’m petrified.” My friend isn’t alone. Folks with or without pre-existing  anxiety  are experiencing a new wave of fears, worries, and downright doom. And the anxiety is valid. Worries and concerns about this pandemic are n...

WHEN YOUR INNER CRITIC ATTACKS During these many weeks of Covid-19 physical distancing, we are missing out on a lot of our usual coping mechanisms and useful distractions. There is also a lot of pressure on social media and elsewhere to be productive and do all the things you have been putting off or procrastinating about right now ! For some this proposition is inspiring but for many, setting these lofty goals is adding self-recrimination and guilt to their already frightening and destabilizing pandemic experience. A good alternative to all this pressure is learning to practice self-compassion.  “How can you be so stupid?”  “You are just lazy!” “You can’t do anything right!” These are things that most of us would ever say to anyone (unless you are a really cruel person) but why do so many of us tolerate a harsh inner critic that tells us these things all of the time? So many of my clients would be less depressed and anxious if they just could develop a...

NUTRITION HACKS FOR MENTAL CALM If you are feeling anxious these days (aren't we all?) don't forget about the mind-body connection. What you eat can actually affect your mental state.  Here are some nutrition hacks that can help your body create a sense of mental calm. Stay Hydrated:  I am guilty of drinking coffee and Diet Coke all day, but I am trying to drink more H2O. The general recommendation is that we drink 64 ounces of water a day. Staying hydrated has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress. Regulate your blood sugar.  Don't skip meals,  A blood sugar drop really affects your mood negatively!  Have lean protein for breakfast and add the following foods to keep your blood sugar stable. Whole grains contain tryptophan and magnesium which decrease anxiety and boost mood. Spinach, nuts, and beans are good sources of the calming mineral magnesium. Asparagus is potassium-rich and contains vitamins A, C, E, and K.  In Chinese medi...

10 THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO HELP YOU SLEEP DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS So many of my clients are having trouble sleeping during these unnerving times. Many of them are worried about themselves,, family, friends, and co-workers contracting the Coronavirus. Some of my clients are essential workers who have to go out in public masked and gloved hoping they are protected.  I think this widespread problem of insomnia is rampant because the pandemic brought so many changes to our lives. The pandemic regulations came so quickly and escalated so fast that our heads are spinning. When we lay down to sleep it can feel like all of our worries and fears come out to play,   It doesn’t help that we are now separated from our neighbors, friends and the religious organizations that would normally support us when we are anxious and frightened. We are all trying to adjust to this "new normal" but it can be even harder if we are sleep deprived. I went to the experts at th...