Holistic Therapy For Anxiety Treatment: Negative Thought Loops + Ruminating Thoughts

November 2, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy For Anxiety Treatment: Negative Thought Loops + Ruminating Thoughts

Have you ever felt anxious about something going unexpectedly wrong in your life where you did not feel like the situation was in your control? Did the negative thoughts and emotions keep circling around in your head for hours? Sometimes negative thoughts will loop in our minds because we are interested to naturally problem solve. But sometimes we have an issue that will need time to resolve which means the negative thought loop or ruminating thoughts will potentially do more harm than good.

In the paragraphs below, I would like to share some of my favorite anxiety management treatments for negative thought loops also known clinically as ruminating thoughts.

Meditation Can Help Your Anxiety

It may seem difficult to believe that meditation would even be possible when you experience ruminating thoughts. The truth is you can practice focusing your mind on your breathing and focusing on bringing your energy into a calmer space by trying and being intentionally single focused. If you struggle with thinking clearly when anxious like most, consider meditations that are meant for body awareness like completing a relaxation body scan or sending peaceful energy throughout your body for increased sensation of relaxing more deeply.

You can also follow a guided meditation to help channel focused thoughts and needed relaxation when you feel overwhelmed by ruminating negative thoughts. I have several guided meditations that are free and available on my YouTube Channel. You can also opt to follow a mantra-based meditation where you will verbally or mentally repeat a healing or calming phrase for the duration of your meditation session. Ideally after even a 5-10 minute meditation session you are likely to feel more relaxed than before making time to focus on energy shifting and reducing stimulus. You may not feel like you won the lotto after a meditation but 99% of people who genuinely practice will feel better.

Use Internal Narration To Stay Present

When your struggling with ruminating anxious thoughts something that may help you focus your thoughts, attention, and memory is to single task where you complete literally just one thing at a time without moving on to do anything else until you complete the task you are working on.

The other part of what makes this tool/ practice so amazing for anxiety is the internal narration component. As you single task your work try to also repeat/ narrate your task in your mind. For example if you are washing the dishes consider narrating the process for washing the dishes in your mind as you wash the dishes. This helps block out ruminating thoughts because you are intentionally using all of your awareness to complete your single task. This practice works! You can also use this practice of narration to be a more present parent or partner; you’ll notice your ability to engage in time together feeling increasingly happier.

Slow Down/ Rest Your Anxious Mind

When you are feeling anxious it can be hard to think clearly. Something that can help is to intentionally slow down. You may notice your productivity decreases when your anxious anyway so slowing down will likely give your new energy to complete your goals better. Be sure to take a break for rest and relaxation. Sometimes just choosing to sit down and rest for 20 minutes can make all the difference. Usually when you allow yourself some room to sit down you might realize how tired you feel. Rest for a moment, hydrate, and take intentional deep breaths.

You might find that coloring is a great way to shift your anxious mind when you take a rest break, you can also break out the play dough, or knitting supplies. It’s ideal if you need a break to reach for relaxing thought free activities if you need to buffer rumination or anxious thoughts.

The goal is really to create a space for calm and relaxation and to buffer negative thought loops where you will need time to resolve and problem solve. Try these tips and see how they can work to treat and reduce anxiety and negative thought loops. Remember the more you genuinely practice the better your tools become. When your tools for mental wellness gain strength so does your ability to feel more in control on your mood management.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Sign up for your free 30-minute wellness consultation session to help you glow and live a happier lifestyle. Together, let’s use our Online Therapy and Wellness Coaching sessions to help you overcome your seasonal depression so that you may live your best life during this holiday season and to help you start fresh during the start of the new year.

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Feel More Joy + Happiness (Right Now & Today)

October 27, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Feel More Joy + Happiness (Right Now & Today)

Being authentically happier is possible even right now and today. It’s useful to first make the mental note “I could go for more happy vibes” and from there you can start to seek out more moments of joy. Sometimes you may find that others are kind enough to gift these moments of joy to you. But it’s a great idea to create your own moments of joy and happiness so that way you don’t have to wait for anyone. There’s a popular saying that I find to be completely true, “happiness is an inside job”. This means that we can always count on looking within instead of looking outside of ourselves for the things we need most emotionally. In the next few paragraphs, I’m going to share some of my favorite Holistic Therapy tools to feel more joy and happiness.

Choose to Laugh Everyday

Laughter is a medicine of sorts when we authentically laugh we feel happier and in a greater state of emotional ease. Laughter works by connecting us with something to focus on that not only makes us smile but also makes us verbalize our joy via laughing. When you laugh you also get the benefit of reduced stress. Your body physically reduces tension, you get more oxygen, your immunity is increased and you can even burn calories from daily laughter.

When we laugh we feel happier, it’s something we know in the moment as good but it’s also something we may not necessarily seek out on a regular basis. Try taking time at least 1-3x per day to create laughter with friends of alone to boost your personal sense of joy and happiness.

Locate Daily Awe-Worthy Inspiration

Life feels so very different when we cultivate and create a daily experience of accessing awe worth inspiration. I know every day can’t be equally awe inspired but if you reach for the stars as they say, you’ll land in the clouds. Creating a daily inspiration practice is great for making brain connections and cognition development. Imagine looking and finding inspiration daily so much so that you automatically look for it. This method create a great approach to seeking joy via inspiration of the good in the world, the beauty of a blooming rose, a smiling baby, a contagious laugh, a delicious meal, a amazing conversation with a loved one, or time tending your urban indoor garden.

No matter the items or experience you choose as a part of your daily inspiration routine, it should feel re-energizing and like a pleasant treat for you to enjoy. But you also get the bonus ripple effect of your mood likely being brighter which can extend into your important relationships and with the general public as well.

Connect/ Create With Your Hobbies Often

When we take time to connect or cultivate our hobbies we get to access a very unique and special experience called “Flow State”. Flow State is described as becoming completely immersed in the task where you achieve an “optimal state of consciousness” where you feel your best and can access best productivity and performance. When we connect and attend our hobbies we feel more happiness, more creative mindset, we’re learning to evolve from beginner, intermediate, and over to expert every time we engage. There’s a relationship happening that brings joy to us. I won’t lie, sometimes our hobbies can drive us up the wall when we experience set back but it’s a necessary part of the growth process and if we continue to hold space for hobbies, we gain an advantage of increased joy and happiness.

It may go without saying but just in case, it’s useful for your hobby to be something that can be done independently. When your hobby can be done independently you have more access and freedom to enjoy your developing relationship. You can also share hobbies with others but it’s great to save something that’s just for you as well.

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Holistic Therapy Tips To Get Up And Exercise Even When You Feel Tired Or Unmotivated

October 23, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips To Get Up And Exercise Even When You Feel Tired Or Unmotivated

It can be hard to find the mental power and commitment it takes to get up and exercise when you feel tired or unmotivated after a long day of working and taking care of others with a packed schedule no less. You might want to get up and go walking, biking, or to do anything that resembles cardio after your busy action packed workday or life day. Then you have the weekend to recover where working may feel like a chore while your goal is to rest, relax, and recover.

I get it, it’s tough to be in action mode when you’re tired. Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep. Maybe you’re feeling over stressed from work or your responsibilities. Ultimately there will be enough good reasons to not workout when you feel tired or unmotivated but there’s also likelihood that you won’t feel as energetic, productive or resilient with your stress when you remove at least moderate fitness from your weekly practice.

In the paragraphs below, I will be sharing 3 tips that make a helpful difference for your holistic practice of bringing physical movement into play more often for your health and wellness efforts.

Start with a Small Approachable Goal

The goal of having more movement or exercise can feel like a big undertaking first thing in the morning and at the close of your day. With a busy schedule and down time being rare it’s not always easy to find the will power or motivation to commit. It may be difficult to get yourself to commit to an hour workout. Honestly, it may be difficult to commit to a 20-minute workout just the same. In these moments where you’d like to workout but find it difficult to commit consider the 5-minute or even the one-minute rule. Instead of committing to a workout that feels long-winded of 10-minutes or more, aim to complete a 5-minute or 1-minute workout instead.

When you commit to just a one minute walk around your home or jogging in place, it counts. You can also consider walking outside for fresh air and sunlight. Once you start your one minute or 5 minute workout you’ll likely naturally add more time to your practice. Even if you don’t add time you still did something for the day and any effort is always going to be better than no effort at all when it comes to fitness.

Make it A Concert: Use Your 5 Senses

Using your 5 senses for your exercise practice makes your efforts feel like an experience similar to going to a concert (remember when that was something to go and do pre-COVID). You want to bring in your 5 senses of taste, smell, sight, feel, and hear when you choose to work on getting more movement.

For Example: Walking Using 5 Senses Approach

Taste: Chewing spearmint gum or mints for refreshment/ bringing delicious tea to drink on the go

Smell: Wearing aromatherapy spray, essential oils, or aromatherapy jewelry

Hear: Listening to your favorite music or podcast

Sight: Walking where you can see nature, plants, water, or flowers

Touch: Wearing comfortable clothes, bundling up if you want to feel cozy, and wearing a comfy walking shoe.

When you use your 5 senses to create an experience where fitness isn’t a chore but a unique custom relaxation or happiness experience, you’ll definitely be able to convince yourself to create time and flexibility to participate more often. Who knows you might even look forward to working out and getting more movement.

Create An Accountability Partnership or Accountability Carrot

Consider inviting a friend or loved one to support or encourage your practice. Maybe they can offer to check in with you a few days a week and encourage/ remind you that you are starting a practice that’s for your self care and wellness. They can ask how your practice is going, if you did your practice today, or if you need any support to get your practice done for the day. It may help to pick an accountability buddy that can be consistent to check in with you which will help you to keep the conversation going until your routine begins to stick.

If you can’t locate a good accountability buddy, consider an accountability carrot where you can work on self-motivation with small rewards when you complete your weekly practice. Maybe at the end of a good week of meeting your practice goals you can treat yourself to a Starbucks run, a home mani-pedi, or a new book or magazine that you want to read.

The idea is to celebrate your progress in a tangible way. You could also enjoy a rest day and feel proud of showing up for yourself even when you didn’t always feel motivated or well rested. With practice your practice can keep getting better so don’t give up, just try your best to work with what you can do.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Tip: How To Make Time For Yourself If You’re A People Pleaser

October 21, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tip: How To Make Time For Yourself If You’re A People Pleaser

It can be pretty tough trying to carve out time for yourself especially when you have a pretty busy schedule. Ultimately, I think it’s going to feel even tougher if you are someone who struggles to say no when asked to give your time to the needs of others. If you have a tendency to help other before you help yourself you’ll notice a sensation of exhaustion at some point. Maybe you actively try to work on self care and time to yourself but there often seems to be someone needing your time even when you make the effort to set aside some time. It can feel frustrating and impossible to have any time that feels like it’s there just for your needs.

When you’re in a practice of not having time that is continually reserved just for your own needs, it’s likelier that you may begin to feel disconnection with yourself and who you understand yourself to be as a person. Making time for you requires commitment to prioritize your needs as equally important as the needs of others.

In the next few paragraphs we’ll look at different holistic tools that will support your journey to feel more comfortable and confident in your practice of making time for yourself.

Make Your Time A Consistent Day Every Week

It will be easier to make time for yourself by choosing a consistent plan of weekly self-care and down time at least one day per week to start. You may find you benefit from having time set aside mid week where you intentionally carve out time just to attend your need for down time and relaxation alone. If your at work consider if you can make time before the work day or after. Also consider weaving downtime directly into your workday as well. You may find it simple to weave downtime into your workday by planning to take all of your scheduled breaks, drinking water, going for a wellness walk, only taking afternoon meetings or making your work space more relaxing by closing your office door (if you have one), or wearing aromatherapy jewelry, listening to calming music, watering your plants, or eating a special healthy lunch on your self care day at home or at work.

The idea is to make your time feel like a mini holiday that’s just for you to recover and feel increased relaxation.

Don’t Put Others First When You’re Spending Time On Yourself

Great, so now you have a specific day or specific time set-aside for yourself one day a week to start your practice of making time for yourself. The next step is to create a practice of honoring your time. To honor your time means to use your time. A best way to ensure you can honor your time is to be clear on what barriers may come with your plan to step away from being as available to others. If you can remember that you have chosen to honor time for self and that everyone else can manage to be okay until you return you will feel better. Even children understand that downtime is needed and important if you teach them.

Communicate In Advance, Remind, And Reiterate

In order to remove interruptions, distractions and cancellations for your time alone, be prepared to communicate, remind, and reiterate your time away plan with anyone who will need to know that you will not be readily available.

It’s important to communicate in advance so your peeps will understand and anticipate in advance that they will need to reach out to you before or after your self care time alone window.

You’ll also need to remind your need to know peeps ideally prior to your self care break that you’ll be stepping away and unavailable. You can also let them know when they can expect you back if it feels helpful and important.

Reiterating your availability will be ideal after your self-care time alone break. You may notice your need to know peeps will forget that you are taking time alone and they may ask you for attention, information, or “need you”. Realize that unless there is an emergency that feels life and death (work deadlines don’t count unless they’re yours) you can trust everyone can wait until you finish your time alone break. You can also reiterate when your need to know peeps can expect you to be available.

I hope that you enjoyed the initial tips for self-care and creating time alone. If you feel motivated to create time alone for self care, please know that you can feel greater self connection and learning who you are with time and practice.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Feel Less Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

October 17, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Feel Less Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

Feeling emotionally sensitive or reactive is not much fun. One minute your mood is good and then the smallest of unexpected events can change the rest of your entire day. For example you go to Starbucks and the Barista doesn’t greet you or get your name spelled right. You may feel slighted and “in your head” for hours thinking of different reasons why the interaction went the way it did. You might even decide to not go back to Starbucks for a while because the anxiety of having to deal with the Barista makes you feel like you’ll have to bat away potentially more negative energy. Maybe this example reminds you of an interaction with a co-worker, or a partner, or maybe this example reminds you of a friend.

The feeling however is the same. The feeling is one where you feel your emotional resilience being swept from under your feet by an unexpected interaction, conversation, or behavior. The person on the other end could be someone you care about or love, or it could also be an interaction with a complete stranger and it still feels just as painful. When you feel emotionally sensitive or reactive consider the tips I will be sharing below in order to feel more grounded and steady.

Connect More With Your Needs

Did you know you are more likely to have emotional reactivity if you are not taking time and space for your own personal needs consistently? One of the superpowers of self-care and feeling grounded is that when we spend time and attention connected to our own needs we feel emotionally nurtured and cared for. If we aren’t spending time connecting with our personal needs you may begin to feel emotional overwhelm more quickly as your needs begin to pile up and compete which makes it easier to become emotionally reactive and focused on external experiences, behaviors, and conversations.

It’s important that we carve of space and time daily to take care of our personal needs to do basic acts of self-care consistently. Some basic self care practices that help you include eating meals regularly, hydrating, showering daily, getting dressed daily, seeking out daily inspiration, laughing, and practicing affirmation daily all matters in how you will feel emotionally and how you will react to others.

Think About Why You Feel Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

What is it about the interaction that causes you to feel reactive? What makes you feel triggered emotionally? In repeat interactions or experiences where you find yourself feeling more and more triggered consider what it is about the interaction that makes you feel upset. Consider using a curious and neutral process where you can look at the interaction that happened without blame or reaction to look deeper at what about the interaction makes you feel your personal expectations were not considered or respected. In the case of the Starbucks Barista, maybe your expectation is that they would be kind and say good morning as a standard pattern. When store clerks don’t greet you it triggers old feelings of being ignored or mistreated from other areas of your personal past.

Once you can pinpoint your link to the emotional reactivity, you can also dismantle the impact by asking yourself an alternative question of:

“What if this has nothing to do with any of those experiences”
“What if I isolate this experience from my past or similar experiences”

These questions are meant to help our logical brain connect with the present and to separate our emotional reactivity into one experience rather than grouping our experience with all of our similar past emotional experiences that causes the emotional overload aka emotional pile up. Ideally separating and isolating your interactions to make them singular vs. collective also helps your emotional mind rest and you step away from being “in your head” for hours and days at a time.

Recover With Independent Creative Learning And Expression

Your emotional recovery can speed up when you make time to recover by taking time where you focus on doing actions that make you feel happy and recharged. Consider your favorite past times or hobbies. Consider learning a new hobby as well. Spending your time learning a new skill takes time and attention where your brain actively engages in the process, which makes it easier to stop thinking about your emotions, interactions, and relationships. Consider activities like painting, coloring, doodling, reading, Listening to upbeat positive music and cleaning, cooking, organizing your home or office, or going for a long walk to change your environment.

Applying the practice of increased self-care daily and doing personal reflection of why you feel emotionally reactive can help you feel more grounded and emotionally strong. Also consider writing down the 2 emotional organization questions listed above and seeking space for independent creative learning or expression. You’ll notice your reactivity decreasing and a feeling of being more in control of your emotions.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use An Acupressure Mat And Pillow + More Benefits

October 12, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use An Acupressure Mat And Pillow + More Benefits

Anxiety can be immobilizing and distracting so much that it’s hard to think with clarity or any sense of direction. When we feel anxious, it’s a great reminder that we need to be able to access different tools to slow our racing mind down to return to a healthy state. Acupressure therapy is a great tool to treat anxiety holistically. It’s a simple and self governed process of simply getting your acupressure mat and pillow, then spending time lying on your mat and pillow to receive the therapeutic benefits, then storing your mat and pillow to returning to your day with improved refreshment.

What is Acupressure?

Acupressure is an ancient form of massage practiced in Chinese Medicine. The goal of acupressure massage has been to increase and encourage balanced flow of Qi (energy) through the meridian channels of the body.

In current history acupressure mats and pillows have also been created and utilized for the same purpose and practice. Now acupressure therapy can be achieved by lying on an acupressure mat and pillow minus the masseuse, which is helpful with everyone currently spending more time at home to prevent and reduce COVID risks.

Acupressure mats can be found online at holistic health stores and amazon.com. Some people will simply buy the acupressure mat without the pillow. I personally find the pillow and the mat combined to be most beneficial for therapeutic response for anxiety and stress management.

How Does Using An Acupressure Mat Feel?

Using an acupressure mat does take a little time to acclimate to as the pillow and the mat is covered in small plastic “needle like” points. When you lay on the mat it’s ideal to move slowly and gently while wearing as little layers between your skin and the mat for maximum application.

Once you find a comfortable position on the mat it’s ideal to stay in a resting position on the acupressure mat and pillow for 10-20 minutes for best anxiety and stress relief. Usually within the first 5 minutes of your acupressure session, you will feel an endorphin release of calm and soothing energy. This feeling is often maintained throughout the remaining time in your acupressure session.

How to Use Acupressure When Anxious Or Stressed

When you’re feeling anxious or stressed, using an acupressure mat can be helpful to calm yourself effectively. It may be harder to think clearly when anxious but planning ahead helps. Anxiety is an emotional experience that happens more than once and ideally you may even know the times and locations that your anxiety or stress may peak.

If you find yourself anxious at home, consider keeping your mat in a space where you can practice for example your bedroom may be ideal or near the living room couch. If you are working in an office space, consider keeping your acupressure mat at your desk or in your car to be used during your break. If you happen to have an office with a quiet room, consider using your acupressure mat while in the quiet room space.

Additional Benefits of Acupressure

We talked about the benefits of using an acupressure mat and pillow for anxiety and stress management and there’s a extended list of additional benefits you will gain from using acupressure therapy. Some additional benefits from using acupressure therapy include increased pain management, reduced neck and pack pain, reduced insomnia symptoms, fibromyalgia pain, and headache reduction.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Tools For Stressful AF Days At Work

October 9, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tools For Stressful AF Days At Work

Work can be a busy place. Even now while most people report working from home, there’s still other responsibilities that need to get done. While you work you may also be considering the housework, laundry, and home school. You are home after all and that means that you may find distractions and stress surfacing more easily at the home office than the work office. What about your partner, children, or roommates if you have them? What about your parents if you’ve returned home? What about your pets?

Then, you have the zoom meetings that you need to attend and then the other parts of your work commitments that are important as well. Stress at work could also primarily be coming from the pace of your work and the type of work you do. It varies person to person. The first and best thing you can do when your feeling stressed at work is to stop and acknowledge that you are feeling stressed in that moment. I have some tips to help you deescalate your stress while at work.

Holistic Mindful Breathing

Let remember the power of your breath. You can take a simple and intentional inhale, pause briefly and then exhale slowly to allow you body and mind to reduce stress symptoms like racing mind, speeding heart rate, high blood pressure, tight muscles, and feelings of emotional overwhelm. When you practice mindful deep breathing you want to aim for breathing in through your nose, down through your chest and allowing your inhales and exhales to reach the base of your stomach. Deep breathing in this way is also known as belly breathing. When your breathing is deep and able to access the base of your stomach you can trigger the full oxygen exchange in your body. When you practice diaphragmatic breathing you can also reduce symptoms for depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Change Your Environment: Go Outside

When you are feeling stress during the workday it’s important to consider your environment and how long you have been working. Have you had your break today? It’s a great practice to spend time away from your desk when you take breaks instead of surfing the net and staying in your seat. Your mind and body recognize the benefits of change of environment and this creates recovery and increased productivity for the workday. Think of it as going on a small vacation daily when you step away from your desk. When you return to your work after stepping away you will likely notice a feeling of improved energy and stronger concentration.

Meditate For Re-Centering

Meditation is a great tool when your feeling stressed, even when you’re at work. You can take a moment while seated at your desk, dim your screen, and complete a brief meditation when you feel stress coming in. You can put on ear buds if you’d like and if you share a work space just put up your “do not disturb -available in 5 minutes” sign so people can see it and take some time to just close your eyes, breathe deeply and think of relaxing the muscles throughout your body starting with your scalp and going all the way down to the tips of your toes. When you return from your meditation break you will likely feel much calmer and have improved clarity in your efforts.

Listen to Positive Uplifting Music While You Work

Something that always seems to work and work quickly no less is to listen to upbeat and encouraging music while you are working. There are many great productivity music stations that you can listen to on YouTube while you work which help you to keep a productive pace while you work. You can also consider listening to productive binaural beats, Lo-fi Chill Hop or Gospel music to keep your mind and actions feeling upbeat and relaxing at the same time.

Take Water And Walk Breaks

It’s important to stay hydrated and get a little walking done during the workday. You may even enjoy going for 1-3 walks throughout your workday. Consider going for a walk and water break before you begin your work shift, even if it’s just around the home office or your work office. Next, try to complete a midday walk and water break as well. Your midday walk and water break is the most important chance you’ll have to rest your energy for the second half of the workday. Also if possible, try to conclude the workday with a brief walk and water break to transition from work mindset to home and relaxation mindset. The walks can be as little as a couple minutes. Every little bit of stress management practice counts for your stress reduction process and over time you may notice your tools become more efficient because your mind and body is more accustomed to the tools you’re using. It’s a win-win for healthy stress management recovery.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy For Seasonal Affective Disorder: How To Stay Emotionally Resilient

October 6, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year. In many places the weather is becoming cooler, the holidays are coming, the time of daylight hours will be shifting, the foods we eat are even within a transition. There’s a lot changes that come into play for most during the fall and winter months.

What About Your Mood?

Your mood is often more vulnerable during the fall and winter as the transition of time, season, daylight, sleep, holidays, and interpersonal relationship is all called into transition for most people. Your mood is likely to have more highs and lows with a great season of transition. We also must consider the current and real experience of COVID 19, Quarantine, Home Schooling, Election Season, and how that also impacts this fall and winter.

This is a big thought and question to ponder? How can you best stay healthy and safe? How can you thrive through this winter and minimize/ prevent your risk of Seasonal Affective Disorder?

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of Depression that is related to change of season and daylight, which effects mood and energy. You may find that you generally feel higher levels of depression and sadness during the window of SAD. The window where seasonal Affective Disorder is most prominent is during the months of November and ongoing through February depending on the person, stressors sleep patterns, nutrition patterns, and available support network.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Symptoms

Seasonal Affective Disorder has a distinct set of symptoms that usually overlap with Depression symptoms as well. Some of the symptoms that may be easier to self-monitor are listed below.

Increased experience of low energy and feeling tired often
Low interest to do the activities you previously enjoyed
Social Isolation and avoidance
Irritable mood and emotional sensitivity
Feeling hopeless or guilty
Difficulty concentrating
Low sex drive
Brain fog

Holistic Therapies For Seasonal Affective Disorder

Light Therapy: Seasonal Affective Disorder has been treated with light therapy in 2 primary ways, the first way is to open the blinds to allow natural light exposure to occur daily for natural vitamin D support which correlates back to mood management. You can also find light therapy lamps for daily light therapy practice indoors while at home or at your workspace.

Vitamin D Supplementation: Also taking Vitamin D in supplement form can be very helpful for maintaining a certain amount of vitamin D in your blood system as a baseline through the winter months. This helps maintain a preventative approach to keeping your vitamin D established at a certain level during the fall and winter season.

Exercise: Try to keep your fitness practice in good shape. Consider going for daily wellness walks, doing daily yoga or indoor cardio. Your body will naturally produce cortisol, serotonin, and additional endorphins that will naturally support your mood management and potentially prevent SAD or reduce impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Support Circle: Reach out to friends, family during, and your natural supports during the SAD Season as much as feels appropriate for you to feel that your practicing healthy and supportive social interactions. Isolation is vulnerability when it comes to likely increase of depression symptoms. Humans are social creatures and without enough social interactions there is a posed risk for your sense of wellness.

Self Care: Having a winter self care practice is priceless! Be sure to look forward to updating your self-care routine as the seasons change and your routine is likely to change. You want to keep your self care practice as relevant to your present needs versus doing what may have been practical for the previous season.

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I hope you enjoyed learning about my favorite post-party detox strategies. Be sure to share your real life wellness issues below! I will try to share more posts for you to help you keep up a healthy self care practice for the winter season.

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Sleep Hygiene: How to Stop Stress and Anxiety Insomnia

October 5, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

Your sleep affects so many aspects of your life so it’s essential to ensure you’re always getting the best sleep possible. If you aren’t getting good sleep you may be experiencing low moods, your stress levels may increase and you may be eating more for comfort than substance. Lack of sleep can also increase your risk of health concerns like diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Stress and anxiety can cause insomnia. This type of insomnia can usually be helped without the need for medication by focusing on proper sleep hygiene.

Holistic Bedtime Routine

A great place to start is to assess what you are doing before bed that could be causing anxiety and stress and preventing you from getting good sleep. You’ll want to take a look at the four hours before you get into bed and determine if those activities are activating or deactivating you. You may want to implement a decompression plan that you can do everyday before going to sleep. Some of the things that will help you decompress would be no screen time, light eating, maybe making a tea, listening to something calming or reading.

Holistic + Mindful Insomnia Hygiene

If you are someone who wakes up and has trouble falling asleep you will want to have a before bed routine and an insomnia hygiene routine. The first thing you will want to check in your insomnia routine is if you have any stimulating things like a tv on, the lights on, your phone next to you, etc. If you don’t think you will be able to go back to sleep quickly I encourage you to get up, go to a quiet place in your home, keep the lights dim and stay away from any screen time. A great practice at this time would be to get out your journal and jot down anything that’s on your mind. Sometimes when you have had an emotionally draining day or you are working through a challenging time, getting these thoughts and emotions out on paper can be a great release and it allows our minds to relax. Once you’ve gotten your thoughts out it's a great time to relax by meditating. One of my personal tried and true favorites is using an acupressure pillow. On nights that I have too much on my mind and wake up I use my pillow for about ten to twenty minutes and I’m good after that.

Supporting Holistic Supplements

You may want to consider supplements at bedtime as well. Melatonin is a great option for sleep. It’s an all natural product that helps the body produce sleep inducing hormones. Tryptophan is another supplement that you could try. It’s a naturally occurring chemical that makes our body chemistry tired.

The Consistency Factor: Stick With It

It typically takes two to four weeks for your sleep cycle to shift but you need to determine if you want to be consistent with your sleep routine and what is going to work best for your lifestyle. For those hot summer months when you’re having trouble falling asleep try my summer sleep tips and tricks. This article was a brief introduction on what I cover in my Fit Mind & Body Program. If you want to dive deeper into your health and wellness then click the link below and let's get started!

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5 Unconventional Tips to Improve Your Depression & Energy Right Now!

December 6, 2019 Brandi Jackson

5 Unconventional Tips to Improve Depression & Energy Right Now!

Ever wake up and feel like your energy is already spent for the day and that getting out of bed is going to require major effort? Maybe you’re feeling sluggish and with cloudy thinking or have low patience to be with others because you know they’ll ask for more than you feel you can energetically offer. Maybe you find yourself coping with comfort foods or binge watching Netflix more often. This may be how depression looks for you and as a Licensed Therapist who has treated many clients who experience Depression; I know that being depressed can feel isolating, exhausting, and inevitable. In support, I’m sharing 5 unconventional tips to help you improve your depression and energy right now. Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have feel stuck any longer?

Make Up Your Mind

Did you know your mind has the power to produce thoughts that aren’t always true? When depression symptoms increase you may notice that your thoughts include a higher rate of negative thought cycles including anger, isolation, hopelessness, or worthlessness. When your mind increases negative thought patterns, it’s a best time to identify that you’re on the verge or in an active episode of depression.

Once you identify your experience of having depressed negative thoughts you have an opportunity to take action to shift those negative thought cycles to positive thought cycles. You can shift your negative thought cycles to positive thoughts by challenging the negative thoughts you experience with an intentional positive thought. For example if you ever think, “my family doesn’t care about me, what’s the use”, the alternative thought may be “I know my family loves me even though they show me differently than I would like”. Challenge your negative thoughts often in order to improve your depression experience. I know it may not be easy to believe your intentional positive thoughts at first but over time and with practice; thinking intentional and positive is a helpful tool to change how depression feels.

Schedule Your Phone Time

Yes, I know we all love our cell phones, laptops, Internet, and social media. And, what if being continually exposed to electronic devices throughout the day is making you more depressed? The more time you spend consuming media without having a structured schedule increases the probability of developing unhealthy coping behaviors for depression. Giving our screens too much attention can cost us the ability to concentrate, to maintain focus, to remember things clearly, to feel connected to ourselves, or to feel a sense of adequacy.

Scheduling your phone use not only helps you to avoid "ongoing phone in hand syndrome", but gives your mind a sense of order to know when and how long you will be using your devices or using social media. Scheduling time for using your phone can increase productivity. Scheduling phone time also will help improve your symptoms of depression, and boost your energy.

Set Your Home & Work Intentions

Before you’re actively in the midst of your day at home or at work, a great tool to organize your mind and reduce depression and low energy is to set your intentions. If you’re at home or work consider setting your intention for the day to help being home or at work and interacting with others feel mindful. Before opening emails or jumping into work projects think about how you want to experience the day. Setting intentions can be as simple as stating or writing “today will be a day with positive interactions, more laughter, and productivity”. When we practice setting intentions our mindset has the support in place to become collaborative and flexible to experience energetic and emotional success.

Change Your Focus in Nature

It may not always be a sunny day outside but being outdoors is an amazing way to reset your depression or experience of low energy. Many great things happen when you make a habit of going outside routinely. You get access to open space, which allows you to practice mindful observation. Mindful observation is a tool to explore your environment using your 5 senses of hearing, touching, seeing, smelling, and tasting. To make this tip work for depression choose to focus your attention on observing the objects or interactions that you can appreciate, help you feel joy, or that you find interesting.

Going outdoors also has a great benefit of increasing access to sunlight and Vitamin D, which is known to ward off depression and balance mood. Additionally, being outside and away from your primary environment can help your mind to rest from negative thoughts and reset your energy.

Scale Your Mood Daily

Depression is something that occurs on a spectrum of stability to acute intensity. Therapists often ask their client’s to select a number between 1 and 10 in order to better understand the stability or intensity of client symptoms. You can do this practice for yourself as well. Consider locating your depression on a scale of 1 to 10 when you start your day or as needed. Assessing and seeing where your depression is scaled numerically daily helps for you to assign the right coping practice to match your needs intentionally. If you find that your symptoms are low, you have feedback that what your doing is working. If your depression is increasing continually, it’s also helpful feedback to retrace your steps to determine the root issue and to create a plan to reduce your symptoms.

Practicing any one of these tips may be helpful for depression and low energy relief, but practicing more than 1 will definitely give you a greater advantage. As hard as it may feel to tell yourself that you can do much to change how you feel, please know that you can. Depression management means proactive daily attendance. Taking action is the first step. Count reading this article as a good sign you’re already working on feeling better and still have some hope left. Improving your depression may take effort at first and with continued practice and using my 5 unconventional tips you can feel empowered may find eventually your depression management is easy and simple. Don’t give up.

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I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your depression and increase energy. Be sure to share your real life wellness issues below! I will try to share more posts for you to help you keep up a healthy self care practice.

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Sign up for your free ten-minute wellness consultation session if you want dialed in 1:1 online holistic therapy support to help you increase your energy and reduce your stress to have a glowing healthy and happy lifestyle.

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How To Stop a Panic Attack With 4 Simple Tips! Ripped From Real Life : Ask a Therapist

October 22, 2019 Brandi Jackson

Hello Friend!

Welcome to episode number 1 of the “Ripped From Real Life” Ask A Therapist Series where I share a general emotional issue that I have helped my clients address in a live therapy session.

Recently, I had three client’s in one week report having an experience with panic attacks and having difficulty reducing the impact of the panic attack or knowing the best coping tools to reduce anxiety. I thought it may help to share some general suggestions to use so that if you are experiencing a panic attack you can start the work of reducing the duration and or to also reduce the intensity of the attack.

Practice Deep Breathing:

The best way to practice deep breathing is to breath deeply as often as possible. It’s a great practice of defaulting to deep breathing as a regular and daily practice. So regardless to what your doing (unless it’s high intensity exercising) you are regularly practicing taking deep breaths throughout your day not only when you feel stress, anxiety or a potential panic attack coming up.

A best way to practice deep breathing to use the belly breathing method. This is where you will inhale through your nose, allowing air to fill your lungs and to descend down into the base of your stomach. Then exhale the air back out from the base of your stomach, then the air should next travel through your chest and out of your mouth or nose.

Practice Routine Body Work:

Stress is not just held in the mind but also held in the body. You will reduce panic attacks from regular practices to release stress on your body. To reduce panic attack episodes and how long the panic attack will last; practice regular body work to allow your body to release the compound tension and stress you may have relating to your panic attacks. Some body work methods include Emotional Freedom Technique, Acupuncture, Yoga, Massage Therapy, Stretching, dancing, exercise, Tai Chi, Swimming, taking soothing baths and Reiki.

Start Practicing Cognitive Based Therapy

Cognitive Based Therapy is a great tool that allows for review of the emotional trigger causing the panic attack to be linked to the thoughts and fears that happen as a result of the trigger. The isolated thoughts can then be linked to the behaviors that pair with the fearful thoughts that lead to a potential panic attack. From here, you can start to re-develop alternative thoughts and coping strategies when you experience a triggering event. See the diagram below to better see how the Cognitive Behavioral Cycle may look in action.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: How The Cycle Works

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple

Talk with a Therapist to Get Custom Support

For some, talking with a therapist can be a tool of changing how panic attacks feel and how to create a customized approach to self care. Working with a therapist can also help you share your experience and get a safe place to address your experience and create a plan for coping practice with follow up. I have worked with many clients who experience panic attacks and one advantage that happens from therapy is continued practice, accountability and resolving any areas where clients may get stuck or feel limited progress.

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Is Online Therapy Affordable? How Much Does it Cost? Can I Afford it?

October 11, 2019 Brandi Jackson

Hey Friend, I know; Your current question is: “is online therapy affordable?”.

This is the question that comes after learning Online Mental Health Therapy exists, that it’s a real thing, and that people love it and use it. Being that there are several popular online therapy resources that exist currently, there is also a benefit of being able to do some comparison shopping before choosing your Therapist! Yas!

Before we look into affordability, we really must consider how to select your therapist. If you have past therapy experience, you may already know your current therapy needs and preferences based on what you liked and did not like about your previous therapy work and therapy support provider. If you haven’t yet experienced therapy, it may be hard to know exactly what communication style will work best for you; therapeutically speaking.

Good Online Therapy, The Other Side

The other side of searching for a good online therapist includes being clear on what your therapy needs are and determining if the online therapist you’re interested in working with has the not only the skillset to help to you work on your emotional health goal, but also the style of communication that gives you the space to utilize 100% of your session for your emotional needs.

Communication Style is Critical

As you know (or maybe you don’t know) , I’m a Licensed Therapist based in California and I would describe my communication style and warm, relational, direct, practical, and with context based humor. So, the clients that work best with me will appreciate therapy in a way that feels warm, relatable, practical, and clear.

Ultimately, each Therapist has a unique personality and communication style. It’s helpful to speak with a Therapist you are considering working with before you book any therapy sessions. Some therapist’s offer phone consultations so you have a chance before working together to discuss your emotional health goal and to determine if the therapist’s style will work for you.

Remember, Specialty is Important

Additionally, every Therapist has a different expertise and specialty, so it’s important to know your emotional health goal. Your goal will align with certain specialty methods of therapy. For example PTSD pairs well with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trauma Focused Cognitive Based Therapy. Depression goes well with Talk Therapy/ Motivational Interviewing and goal setting. Anxiety Therapy goes nicely with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness. In order to determine which style of therapy will work for you, it’s important to know where you would like to focus your therapy treatment based on your symptoms and mental health diagnostic information.

Cost Matters Too- Insurance and Private-Pay

Okay back to “is Online Therapy affordable?”. The short answer is yes, and there are several different methods to consider. But let’s first address insurance. Some online providers may accept insurance and other’s will only accept private-pay (self-pay) clients. Most Therapists who accept private-pay will provide an invoice for your sessions that can be sent to your insurance company or employer for reimbursement depending on the insurance and your employer.

Who’s Offering Online Therapy?

There’s big name online therapy providers (Talk Space and Better Help), independent and private online therapy providers, and online coaches who are not licensed for therapy but may offer life coaching for mental health disorders. Let’s look at this more closely.

The Big Name Online Therapy Providers: The two big online therapy providers are Talk Space and Better Help. Each program offers different service plans and therapy options.

Talk Space Starting Cost: 260$ monthly

Better Help Starting Cost: 40-70$ per week

The Independent private online Therapy Providers: I’m an Online Therapist and from the client’s I work with, I’ve found most of my client’s want the option of a 1-hour session or a 30 minute session.

Brandi Jackson Wellness Starting Cost: 55$ for 30 Minutes and 110.00 $ for an Hour session

“Mental Health” Coaches: I have to be honest here, I do believe some people who are trained in therapeutic modalities may be excellent for lifestyle coaching but I would not encourage you to work with a MH Coach without having a MH Therapist to support your emotional health work to avoid any “blind spots” in your healing journey.

There is no screening or regulations for mental health coaches, which means it’s important to do your research!

Below, I listed a mental health coach who I think is the real deal.

The Anxiety Guy starting Rates: 220.00$ per hour

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Does Online Therapy Actually Work? Can Mental Health Counseling Online Help?

October 8, 2019 Brandi Jackson

Hi Friend, Are you curious if Online Therapy actually works? This is a great question to consider. Most people reading this, will likely find the article when the concept of “online therapy” feels new; but in all honesty online therapy has been in practice for over 24 years ago back in 1995. This time in history also aligns nicely with the general first wave of “the internet” becoming more mainstream.

The Question:

So let’s talk more about the question “does online therapy actually work”? In order to answer the question it’s a good idea to be clear about what the term and characteristics of what “working” will include.

What Counts as a Therapy Session Actually Working:

For online therapy (or in-person therapy) to work, a client will expect certain things to be in place during and after the session. The basic expectations include:

-The session to be on time.

-The Therapist to be present and focused.

-The Therapist to be in a quiet location.

-Ease of connection via phone or video conference

-To learn tools and coping skills to reduce unwanted symptoms

-To get a chance to talk about the issue that is creating the unwanted symptoms

-To feel safe and respected in the session

-To gain education and insight for any symptoms or possible diagnostics for the clients mental health

Online Therapy and Client Expectations

Now that we have established the basic expectations that clients expect in a therapy session, let’s apply the expectations to the different methods of online therapy to see how they can work together.

Online therapy has two primary ways that sessions will be conducted. One method is over the phone, this is normally called telephonic therapy but is also under the umbrella of online therapy. The other style of online therapy is secure video conferencing. This method is similar to Skype and Zoom video conferencing.

The Reason Client’s Love Online Therapy

If we refer back to our previous list of client expectations above, it should be easy to see that all of the client expectations would be met just-the-same via phone or video conference. And furthermore, it may be a more convenient to:

-Have access to therapy support from home or wherever the client is

-To avoid travel time to and from sessions

-To not have to wait in the waiting room with strangers

-Have access for affordable sessions

Can Online Therapy Help?

The answer is yes! Of course there is still a time and a place for in-person therapy sessions for anyone who prefers to go to an in-person session. The online therapy model will work better with clients based on the level of symptom intensity the client feels and it will also be important to account for client’s who experience psychosis. For client’s experiencing intense psychosis in-person therapy may be best.

Does Online Therapy Work?

Yes, it does work. It’s important to understand that therapy is a tool that helps client’s reduce unwanted mental health symptoms but it’s still the client “driving”the treatment “car”. The client and the therapist will work together to support the client to have emotional clarity and psychoeducation in session. Clarity and psychoeducation helps client’s understand the issue they would like to improve better. The online therapy session will also include recommendations and suggestions for client’s to practice after the session is over. Online therapy works, yes. But, online therapy works best when the client feels ready and safe to work on resolving the emotional goal, is open to suggestion and therapeutic recommendations, and is willing to make time to practice the recommended coping tools.

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What is Online Therapy and Counseling? How Does it Even Work?

October 7, 2019 Brandi Jackson

Hi Friend,

You may be curious to find out more about online therapy and counseling. For starters, you may wish to know “what is online therapy” anyway? How does online therapy even work? To be a help, I’m going to share all about what online therapy is, and also what online therapy isn’t. I also think it’s important to share who is appropriate to provide online therapy sessions with clients and the legal rules that determine who is considered as an approved Online Therapist provider to work with. Shall we get started.

Online Therapy Is:

Online therapy is very similar to in-person therapy. Online therapy will consist of a client generated mental health goal and a trained therapist supporting the goal in online therapy sessions over time. The online model of therapy may include a phone session where the therapist and client complete a session by phone for a standard therapy session. This may be great if anxiety, shame, or judgement feel like a barrier to getting support for emotional health issues. Talking on the phone with a therapist may be calmer option to begin online therapy support.

Another model of online therapy may include Skype or zoom video conferences for online therapy sessions. This method is great because the client can see the therapist and the therapist can see the client, which helps to keep sessions present in the same manner as an in-person therapy session.

You may consider online therapy supplemental support options of secure emails and text messages. As a Licensed Therapist, I recommend phone and video conferencing for online therapy support sessions in order to get the best outcomes for your emotional health goals.

Online Therapy Isn’t:

-Ineffective compared to in-person therapy

-Unstructured chatting on the phone

-Being exhausted from difficult online/ IT connection problems

-Dealing with disconnected out of touch therapy

Who is an Appropriate Online Therapy Provider?

Online Therapy must be provided via someone who is licensed via your state to practice therapy independently. Each licensed therapist is registered with the state as a licensed provider. A wellness coach may not offer therapy services. A health coach may not offer therapy services. A hypnotherapist may not offer therapy services, etc. Only a state licensed therapist may offer online or in-person therapy services. However, sometimes mental health associates or mental health trainees will offer therapy services and sessions with the regular supervision of a licensed therapist.

Legal Rules For Online “Therapists”:

No biggie here but, if you work with online therapist they must be practicing in the same state that you live in for the services to be appropriately considered “therapy”. Being that I’m an Online Therapist based in California, I can only provide online therapy services to people who live in California. I may however provide Wellness Coaching Services nationally and Internationally without consequence.

My preference is to provide a combination of therapy and wellness coaching simultaneously in my online therapy sessions because it gives my client’s practical methods to apply what they are learning from the therapy work that is taking place.

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Ready For Online Therapy? How to Know if Therapy Will Be Effective Before Paying

October 7, 2019 Brandi Jackson

Ready For Online Therapy?

Hi Friend, today we are talking about the 4 basic signs of readiness that will determine if you’re ready for Online Mental Health Therapy support. As a Licensed Therapist, I have worked with many clients and the signs listed below are the primary markers of readiness and success. Recently, I have been receiving more therapy inquiries from potential clients at different stages of readiness. I thought this post may be helpful for anyone who is interested in online mental health therapy to have tools to self-assess therapy readiness.

4 Signs Of Readiness for an Online Therapy Session:

You Know Your Goal for Online Therapy: Before you decide to start therapy, think about what your goal will be while attending online therapy. Do you want to decrease depression symptoms? Decrease anxiety symptoms? Do you want to improve communication with your partner? Do you want to work on finding yourself? Do you want to decrease your stress symptoms? Online therapy and traditional therapy is about understanding and clarifying best practices to address your custom emotional health goals. Think about what you hope to see improved from the time spent in therapy sessions. In an initial session, you may also describe your current circumstances to work with your Therapist to clarify your custom therapy goal with your Therapist’s support.
You Are Ready For Change: This is important! A way to understand “readiness for change” is to think about if the issue you want to resolve in online therapy were to be completely resolved in the course of your online sessions and practice; would you feel happy? Would you feel successful? Would your custom emotional goal be met?
You Are Ready To Practice The Homework: In a good online therapy session you will be provided suggestions and recommendations to resolve your emotional health goal. Are you prepared to practice the suggestions and recommendations that your Therapist shares with you? Of course it’s always reasonable to share any concerns or to simply refuse to do any recommendation that does not feel “safe” or “appropriate” but if you are working closely with a good therapist, they will be recommending safe and proven evidence based therapy best practices for emotional recovery based on your needs.
Your Ready to Make Time: If your considering investing in therapy, please consider making time to attend your sessions in a consistent manner so that your emotional health goal is continuing to improve. You may consider attending sessions weekly, or bi-weekly if you need more intensive support. For other’s you may consider monthly, quarterly (every 3 or 4 months), semi-annual (every 6 months), or annual (once a year) sessions for emotional support and maintenance. You can work with your therapist, your schedule, and consider the intensity of your goal to determine the right amount of time to commit to online therapy sessions based on your custom goal.

The Phases of Readiness:

I created a handy Goal Phases Guide to help you determine the key stages of readiness for changing behavior patterns. Use this guide as a tool to self assess your readiness for online Mental Health Therapy. This guide includes a Beginner Process and awareness of a developing goal.

The second stage is the Intermediate Process where you become certain that the goal is important and will be something to work on.

The third stage is the Advanced Process of working holistically on the goal, being more attuned to practice and opportunities to gain momentum for the goal.

Each phase may look different for different people and there is no good or bad phase of change as all three phases are important. In addition, it’s critical to know that all 3 stages may occur for different spans of time and that repeating any stage more than 1x or cycle is completely natural and normal.

Free Goal Phases PDF

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What to Expect During a (Good) Online Therapy Session - Ask a Therapist

October 3, 2019 Brandi Jackson

Considering Online Therapy?

Hi Friend, today we are talking about the 6 basic processes you may expect during an online therapy session. I have worked with many clients and the basic processes listed below are the primary activities that happen in most of the sessions I have provided. Recently, I have been working with new clients who haven’t had therapy before so, I thought this post may be helpful to reference a first or initial online therapy session as well.

What to Expect in an Online Therapy Session:

1:1 Time with Therapist: During the session it is your time to speak with the Therapist about your goal of treatment. It’s ideal that you be in a quiet or low traffic space for sessions to avoid distractions from the session. The therapist ideally is in a quiet location with no distracting noises, foot traffic, or additional people during your session.
MH Assessment: During an initial and for follow up sessions as well, the online therapist should be able to ask how your mood and symptoms are improving, staying the same, or getting worse. This helps the conversation to return to the larger goal of treatment in every session. In some cases the therapist may create a formal mental health assessment to help organize strengths, opportunities for treatment and diagnostic information.
Discussion: The therapist should help to create a safe space for the client to talk about the way the client experiences their symptoms, symptom management, symptom progress, fear, and positive gains. The therapist should also be mindful of any risk for client safety risks. All licensed therapists are mandatory reporters meaning any risk of abuse to harm others or to harm one’s self requires reporting via the therapist.
Clarification of Issue (Psychoeducation): A good online therapist will practice clarification of the client’s issue and psychoeducation when appropriate.
Therapeutic Recommendations and Suggestions: Your work with a online Therapist will likely include recommendations and suggestions for helpful therapeutic coping practices to consider.
Goal setting and home practice: At the end of the session it may be ideal that the Therapist clarify the therapeutic recommendations for the client to select which methods will be put in practice after the session concludes and prior to follow up.

Online Therapy Method Options:

Phone: The Therapist may call the client for telephonic therapy which is considered a form of online therapy.

Video Call (Skype or Zoom): The Therapist may schedule sessions via video conference with Skype or Zoom for face to face sessions online.

Email or Text: The Therapist may work with client via email or text if clients prefer to have session support made available via email or text support.

I included what to expect in an initial or follow up online therapy session. I hope this article is helpful for you and how you van approach starting therapy if you feel it will be helpful for your health and wellness. If your interested to work together, see the information below. There will information of how to book a free consultation, sign up for the Fit Life Newsletter and to follow weekly posts for wellness, nutrition, and fitness.

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DID YOU LOVE IT?

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GET INSTANT JOY, PEACE, FITNESS, AND NUTRITION MAGIC DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX!

READY FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY/ WELLNESS COACHING, FITNESS COACHING, OR NUTRITION COACHING?

work with me

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join The Wellness Community:

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