Designed For Crisis

July 30th, 2018jm@ownhope.org0 Comments

The term crisis tends to bring with it thoughts of difficult events and our worst fears including our own mortality. Part of what amplifies our distress is how we approach a crisis cognitively and behaviorally. There are a few things you can do to tap into your own natural ability to cope with a crisis and perhaps even capitalize on it. Rethink How You Understand the Term Many things we consider good or positive events are in fact crises. The birth of a child, going to college, starting your first job, transitioning from one developmental stage to another all involve …

States of Mind is on the agenda for today….

July 2nd, 2018jm@ownhope.org0 Comments

I do a pretty cool Star War’s analogy for this if I do say so myself.

Four Choices

June 30th, 2018jm@ownhope.org0 Comments

DBT presents us with four choices when faced with a painful situation, we tend to be really aware of two (changing the harmful situation, staying miserable) but not so aware of the others. To illustrate the four choices, let’s take the example of a difficult situation at work. In this scenario, let’s imagine you’re boss engages in small talk with your co-workers, takes them out to lunch, etc. and barely gives you a nod in the morning. Our choices may play out in the following manner: (1) Change the Situation- This would involve different strategies including, taking initiative and starting …

Sleep keeping you up?

June 21st, 2018jm@ownhope.org0 Comments

A common barrier to sleep is the worry of not being able to fall asleep. DBT encourages us to aim for restfulness when we’re having difficulty sleeping. One mindfulness activity I share with clients involves having them close their eyes and simply watch the movie in front of them, sort of like when you were a kid and tried to pick out shapes from clouds…..or maybe you were doing that yesterday, which is cool. Give it a shot tonight when you go to bed and see how it works for you.