Minding Your Upkeep

“Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to things as they are.”

-Williams, Tisdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn

 

Mindfulness

 Moment-to-moment awareness
 Being in the present
 Cultivate a new kind of control and wisdom
 Inner relaxation
 Knowledge of self
 Acceptance
 Directing attention
(Kabat-Zinn, 1990) & (Baer, 2006)

 

Strategies for Developing with Mindfulness:

 Be mindful of one thing at a time- internal or external not both.
 Be nonjudgmental- describe what you are observing without making a judgment. Enjoy the moment.
 Patience
 Beginner mind- look at thing through new eyes
 Slow down
 Stop-be still and silent in meditation
 Trust- develop a trust in yourself
 Non-striving- no goal
 Observe-participant observer by engaging with the experience
 Be mindful of the moment- observe the present without thinking of the past or future.
 Focus on your senses- use all your senses in the moment to truly appreciate the event or observation
 Return- when you wonder off return back to your focus
(Kabat-Zinn, 1990)

Major Concepts in Mindfulness:

Present
 The only time we have to:
 Know
 Perceive
 Learn
 Act
 Change
 Heal
(Kabat-Zinn, 1990)

Being
 Lack of a goal
 “Letting go of wanting something else to happen.” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 15)
 Being more aware of ourselves
 Present- moment-to-moment experience
 Accepting things how they are
 Allowing things to be as they are
 Thoughts are passing events in the mind
(Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2013)

Breath
 Focus on the breath without controlling the breath.
 Watch your stomach move up and down or place your hand on it as it moves
 Attention to the feeling on your breath entering and exiting
 The focus helps avoid your mind wondering
 Calms the anxious mind
 Takes us back to now- breath is only now
(Kabat-Zinn, 2012)

Driven and Doing

 Don’t let go of a goal
 Consumed with solving the problem
 Difference in how things are and how you want them to be
 Ruminating- focus on past and future
 Affects view of self
 Ignore the present
 Driven by expectations
 Have our own way
(Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2013)

 

Written by: Dr. Cynthia D’Sauza, Clinical Director

 

References
Baer, R. A.(2006). Mindfulness-based treatment approaches: Clinician’s guide to evidence base and applications. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2012). Mindfulness for beginners. Boulder: Sounds True.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The MBCT program. Retrieved from http://mbct.com/Classes_Main.htm
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are. New York: MFJ Books.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness (15th anniversary ed.): New York: Delta Trade Paperback/Bantam Dell.
Segal, Z., Williams, M., & Teasdale, J. (2013) Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression. New York: Guilford Press.
Williams, M., Teasdale, J., Segal, Z., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The mindful way through depression: Freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness. New York: Guilford Press.

 

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Looking Under the Shadows

During severe depression something people take solace in the idea that they could end it all but a majority of people never act upon it due to religious views, support systems, family commitments or the knowledge that the depression will pass. Sometimes the emotional pain becomes seemingly so unbearable the idea of suicide leads to action.

Normally, the person thinks family members would be better off without them because they are a burden. The depression feeds into negative thoughts that feel like truths like “you are worthless” or “you will never amount to anything”. They can not see beyond the reality that the depression is projecting. The current depression is all consuming and the future looks like a dystopia.

A person with severe depression usually isolates themselves to the point that they feel there is no one to turn too.

They have anhedonia, a loss of pleasure in things and activities, so what normally would make them happy and pull them out of the depression. They loss the ability to concentrate and the world is just a blur and they are unable to make logical and informed decisions. They are afraid to ask for help or are embarrassed that they cannot cope with things on their own. The darkness seems for engulfing that they can not look up to see the sun. The all-encompassing nature of depression makes it hard to untangle from it on their own.

Some Warning Signs of a Pending Attempt:

  • feeling hopeless
  • feeling intolerable emotional pain related to depression
  • having an abnormal fascination w/ death and dying or talking about suicide or dying
  • having mood swings from happy to sad
  • increased irritability
  • talking about issues related to anger, guilt or shame
  • have an increase in anxiety
  • experiencing changes in personality, routine, or sleeping patterns
  • Decrease in hygiene
  • Unable to get out of bed
  • personality changes
  • an increase or recent usage of drugs and alcohol
  • engaging in risky behavior that could lead to an accidental death
  • putting their affairs in order like giving away important possessions
  • resolving issues or staying goodbye to people
  • gathering means to commit suicide
  • increased isolation
  • feeling they are a burden to others
  • seeming to be unable to experience pleasurable emotions from normally pleasurable activities
  • negative thoughts like “I’m useless.” or “Everyone would be better off if I was not here.”
  • relationship issues
  • bullying
  • trauma

Please seek help, if you or someone you know is suicidal.  Assistance can be provided at your local ER or mental health facility.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is always open. You can reach a trained counselor at 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255) or chat online at  https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Text the Crisis Support line at 741741

Written by: Karen Limme, LPC-Intern

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Doing More in May

Mental Health Awareness is during May. The stigma behind mental health has hurt the growing community and kept mental health in the dark.

A stigma is an association of negative feelings towards something or someone. The stigma for mental health has become a barrier to people processing and seeking help for their own illness.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has decided to spend the month of May, raising awareness about the effect predispositions cause. The campaign #curestigma or #stigmafree has spread across their social media platforms. The goal is to keep the conversation about mental health in a constant stream.

Key mental health statistics include:

  • One in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental health condition.
  • One in 25 (10 million) adults in the United States lives with a serious mental illness.
  • Sixty million people in the United States face the day-to-day reality of living with a mental illness.
  • Half of all lifetime mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75 percent by age 24, but early intervention programs can help.

Understanding mental health and the illness that ensues has become a critical part of our society. So many suffer from different types such as depression, bipolar, borderline, schizophrenia, etc. While, some types are beginning to be decriminalized, there are other types that need a higher level of compassion. May is a month that highlights the need for more information and understanding of mental health.

 

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Taking a Look at Xanax

Xanax is one of the fastest growing drugs since its inception in the late 1960’s as a sleep aid. It’s current use ranges along the lines of mental illness especially with anxiety and panic disorders.

Xanax was FDA approved in 1981 and has become one of the most popularized anti-depressants. But a problem of its popularity is the serious addiction possibility when taking Xanax.

Xanax is classified as a benzodiazepine and is connected to the central nervous system. Benzodiazepines increase neurotransmitters in the brain to cause a calming effect. Doses range from .25 to .5 mg tablets, usually taken three times daily.

When deciding to no longer take the drug, be careful. As the drug dependency increases so does the addictive potential. After taking Xanax for a short while, withdraws and side effects are possible.

Some side effects that could happen include:

 

  • trouble sleeping
  • rebound anxiety
  • irritability
  • weakness
  • blurred vision
  • panic attacks
  • psychosis
  • vomiting
  • hallucinations

If the decision to stop the treatment is met than it usually is best to slowly reduce the prescription dose with the aid of your psychiatrist.

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A New Set of Paws Around Exult

Recently, Exult Healthcare did new employee training except it was a bit different. Our latest therapist is Koa, a 3 foot, 5 pound Labradoodle. He has his licensing as well in AAT (Animal-Assisted Therapy).

Koa partakes in therapy sessions from individual, adolescent, family, and couple counseling. Koa is not there just to be a cute pet to look at, he is fundamental in the therapeutic sessions that happen. Animal-assisted therapy provide a sense of calmness, comfort, safety, and become a destressor. Dogs are sensitive to the changes of human facial expression, behavior, and emotion. This is a big reason why Exult chose to begin animal-assisted therapy. The studies that support AAT help show the wide variety of mental illness’s they treat from anxiety to PTSD (https://mayocl.in/2Hw138P).

A session with Koa is dependent on you. Throughout the session he will not come to you unless called

 

or motioned for. He will be attuned to you and your needs throughout the session. As you have repeated sessions, you will begin to grow a closeness to Koa. You, as the client, go at your own pace of touching, looking, and interaction with Koa.

Koa’s trainer is Astrid Thomson who also provides Exult with equine therapy. He is available to be a part of your recovery team at Exult Healthcare.

 

 

 

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“I’M NOT SMOKING, I’M VAPING”

Have you seen young adults and kids reaching for a machine and breath in from it. Ever wonder what it was? Well, these are the new e-cigarettes that people use to kick the habit of smoking cigarettes. And the brand that’s heating the market is Juul, a company founded by James Monseen and Adam Bowen, grad students at Stanford, smokers themselves who looked for alternatives to cigarettes.

Juul is the new-age status symbol. Statistics show that 18.9 % of 8th graders are vaping(Or Juul-ing) up from 17.9% last year. Go to a middle school and High School bathroom between classes and you’ll see one of them being passed around.

Why the sudden rise in Juul usage? Well, Juul delivers nicotine in concentrated doses which are well flavoured like Creme Brulee, Cherry etc. Net result: No foul odour of cigarettes, no smell post smoking. They are almost vaporless, so less chance of getting caught by the smoke detectors. Pods cost 4.25$ which is less than the retail price for a pack of cigarettes. And in case you want to hide it from your teachers- just fit it into a USB port in your computer(It looks just like a pendrive).

The authorities and FDA are under a lot of pressure to enforce strict regulations to ensure that there isn’t an indiscriminate use in school going kids. Presently the valid age of purchase is 18 in most states.

So look out for these new nicotine delivery mechanisms and protect your kids and loved ones from them.

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“C-ing A New Way”

On March 24th, Exult Healthcare put on a fantastic workshop for parenting workshop lead by licensed professional, Astrid Thomsen. It focused on learning new techniques to understand and communicate with their children. The seminar was three hours long and was filled with interactions, lectures, and of course snacks and water.

The workshop’s theme was to give parents, who still use traditional parenting styles, the skills to understand how kid’s think today.

Astrid broke it down with, “We have parents who are still used to the old-school type of parenting. The idea that when the parent says jump, the kid says how high. Parents have to understand that children just do not work the same way. It has come to the point that when parent’s say jump, the children say why. Many adults have trouble with this and there needs to be an understanding of today’s society and just how different it is.”

She went on to point out the “wall of resilience” that comes from the inability to understand the differences. A parent can use ‘because I told you so’ but children today are not responding to a blanket statement. When you take the resilience down then the child can not only better understand the parent but the parent communicates better to reach an affective boundary with their child.

Some other highlighted points from the seminar came from the importance of letting your child fail. We are not talking, major failures that you could have prevented. But parents learning not to rescue their child every single time. This allows the child to have a better transition into later years of emerging adult and adulthood.

Taking a look at the therapist leading the seminar was Exult’s own Astrid Thomsen. Astrid has been a therapist for almost thirty years and is LPC-S certified, dual-certified as an Equine Specialist in PATH and EAGALA, and certified in Chemical Dependence specializing in Addiction. She owns a farm in East Texas, where Astrid practices her “farmacy”. It is an integrated approach to using therapy, nature, and animal rescues to benefit your mental health.

 

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Group therapy

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Conquer depression

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