3 Best Stress Management Techniques

Stress, being a major part of one’s life, is known for disrupting routines in a way that there’s no going back. Since there is no one reason for it to step into your lives, there is no one way to manage it. There is a wide range of techniques that need to be incorporated in order to get through the phase of stress. Every time you think about kicking off stress, the first thing that pops up in your head is stress management therapy. However, there’s more to it than just therapy. Sure, therapy has a major role to play in helping you get rid of stress, anxiety and depression, but it is important to know that there are few techniques you can get started with in order to manage stress.

Stress often is a result of situations, unexpected events and constant overthinking. It is an unavoidable enemy that often leads to unwanted health conditions. However, there are a few techniques that can definitely help you go easy with your overall overthinking practice and keep a track of your stress-meter. Let’s have a look at the few techniques that ensure a healthy mind and a stress-free routine.

Meditation

As recommended by the best health psychologist, meditation has a major role to play when it comes to helping you get through the rough patch of stress, anxiety and depression. Disconnecting with the world and focussing on your inner strength and deepest thoughts really helps you overcome your unwanted anger, disappointments, frustration and more. Meditation is a tried and tested technique to calm your soul and quiet your inner voice that is constantly beating yourself up to be able to fight the war that going on within you.

Journaling

Every psychological therapy starts with recommending you to start journaling – an ideal technique to keep a track of all your emotions, all your frustration, all your anger and all that you’re possibly feeling in one unusual moment. Journaling has a major role to play in helping you pour your heart out by jotting down every thought one page at a time. If you’re an introvert and find it difficult to talk about your emotions, writing makes for the perfect way to take it all out. Writing is a medium for you to feel better by releasing all the stress in words.

Talking

Talking is one of the most preferred ways to get rid of stress. Every time you talk about stress management, talking is the most useful, yet challenging, way to put it all out in open. While it is difficult to talk about your emotions with your close ones, you can always open your heart to a professional therapist – a skilled expert who knows their way to getting you to talk about everything that you’re going through. There could be a number of things that might lead your mind to feeling stressed and anxious. Figuring out your way out of it is something you need to do at the very initial stage.

Find your way!

Family Counseling Techniques That Actually Work

Each family is a unique social system and unit that possesses its own unique structure and pattern of communication. The patterns are dictated by various factors and aspects of the family like the personality of each member within that unit or parenting styles and values as well as how much or little the extended family influences the members. Over the past few years, more and more people have considered going for and have gone for family counseling for it is seen more as a beneficial option than a taboo. The primary objective of mental health counseling in the form of family counseling is to achieve a healthy level of functioning and harmony within the family unit.

Here are some family counseling techniques that actually work:

Communication – One of the main reasons that families face problems is due to lack of or fault communication between members. Counselors or therapists adapt various different techniques to bring about a better sense of communication amongst members and repeatedly emphasize the importance of sharing, talking and expressing within the family.

Photographs/Throwbacks – Very often, the problem of the moment clouds happy memories that make family members perceive situations as worse than they actually are. When family members forget what it felt like to be happy within that family unit, they also forget that the family can go back to being happy. Reviewing old family photographs or important family events can remind family members of happy and wonderful memories that are associated with those photos or events.

Genogram – A genogram is helpful for the counselor to understand the history of the family. A genogram records important and necessary details pertaining to the family like names, birth dates, anniversaries etc of family members which serves as a record for the family’s history and story. This helps the counselor understand the family better and ultimately help the family better.

Reframing – Counselors offer family members a different, unique and healthy perspective to view their problems and how they can be solved better.

Empty Chair – This is a method of role play offered by a mental health psychologist that allows members to understand the basis of family matters better. Members are asked to pretend to be another member of the family, preferably the one with whom they’re facing an issue and carry out an act. This helps the counselor understand how the member perceives the problem and gather valuable information. 

The Importance of Mental Health Awareness

One in every four Americans are known to suffer from a mental illness. That, of course, is an estimate generated from awareness. In India, most cases of mental illnesses go unrecorded and this makes us realize how unaware people are about the importance of mental health. Why is mental health awareness important? For starters, mental health awareness helps a health psychologist to identify illnesses and provide early treatment for these individuals. Early intervention can help individuals receive the right care for quick recovery.

It has been noticed through research that almost 50% of individuals who suffer from a mental illness or know someone who suffers haven’t sought the help of a professional because they did not know how to access the service. This dearth in access is because of misinformation or sheer lack of it. Mental illnesses cannot be treated by merely hoping for treatment. Any kind of cultural or language barriers need to be eliminated. Mental health counseling needs to be a phenomenon that is widely understood and delivered, especially to those who are least likely to seek it due to stigma or social limitations.

Awareness is also imperative for improvements in the way the mentally ill are treated. Improvements in policies, research and services can only come in through awareness and the demand that arises as a product. Awareness is important for the mere identification of an illness too. Most people who are unaware think that the mentally ill are ‘making up’ their illness or are crazy, possessed, violent, unsafe or out of control. These labels prevent these individuals from receiving treatment and prevents society from becoming more forward thinking.

Community awareness for mental health reduces stigma and facilitates a chance for early intervention and recovery. Individuals suffering from mental illnesses mustn’t be isolated or treated differently. Awareness is education and knowledge are power which only ever affects a society positively. How can we become more aware? Attend fairs or seminars, read up on mental health, get in touch with mental health professionals and then spread what you know to everyone you know so that one day we as a society are AWARE.

Debunking Myths About Mental Health Counseling

In a given year approximately one in every five adults face mental health problems in the United States of America. This means that roughly 18.5 percent of the total population in the United States see a mental health psychologist for their problems. This does not encapsulate even half of the struggles over the world since millions of people across the globe do not speak up about mental health due to the fear of discrimination, stigmatization or isolation from their friends, family, society and employers. This discrimination can be detrimental to the patient’s mental health if their disorder worsens due to delayed diagnosis and no mental health counseling or therapy received by a mental health therapist. It’s time to intervene and diminish the misunderstandings about mental health. Here are a few –

1. Mental illness is a rare phenomenon – Mental health problems are so much more common that people know. 1 in every 5 people are affected by mental health problems and 1 in every 5 people are diagnosed with serious mental health problems that impair their ability to function. Mental health problems affect everybody irrespective of their identification of gender, race, caste, creed or age.

2. Mental health doesn’t reflect your upbringing – Even though mental health can reflect traumas or experiences from childhood, mental illnesses are not a result of poor upbringing. Mental health is mainly a consequence of environmental factors, trauma, genetics and more. Mental health counseling can help with these problems.

3. People pretend to suffer from a mental illness – Just like nobody pretends to have a fracture in their foot, nobody pretends to have major mental disorders, especially not for a prolonged period of time. Sometimes, symptoms of a certain mental illness aren’t extremely obvious or visible, but it doesn’t mean that the illness isn’t present. A mental health therapist does not make diagnosis based on tell-tales. There are tests that are administered – results of which back-up diagnosis.

4. Mental illness doesn’t dictate personal traits – Mental illnesses aren’t a result of a person’s personal weaknesses or character. Mental illness is mainly caused by genetics, environmental factors and choices of lifestyle made by people. Any events that are stressful or traumatic like an abusive marriage, strenuous job conditions or toxic relationships can make individuals more susceptible to mental health problems. Long term abuse of drugs or alcohol can also contribute to the development of mental health issues.

5. Medications are enough, therapy isn’t imperative – People suffering from mental illnesses have different requirements when it comes to treatment. No one method or route of treatment suits everyone. The treatment procedures are customized as per a patient’s needs, mental disorders, medical history and specific requirements. Patients benefit mainly with a combination of medicines and therapy.

6. People with mental disorders can be violent and dangerous – According to studies, individuals who face mental disorders are victims of violence instead of being violent to others. Since most people do not know how to handle individuals with mental disorders, they may resort to violence to try to discipline them if they do not understand.

7. Prayer can treat a mental illness –Spirituality, positive thinking and prayers can definitely be effective as tools for recover but aren’t all a patient need. The only way a mental disorder can be treated is by the integration of medication, therapy by a mental health therapist and self-care. 

WHY SHOULD I SEE A PSYCHOLOGIST?

We all face some or the other types of problems in life. It can be professionally, in personal life, in family or anything else. Usually, human is tuned to solve their problems on their own and end up on a solution to it. Life indeed is about fighting battles and everyday challenges that we face. But sometimes, we may get defeated in them. This might be due to multiple reasons. At times, people get tired of fighting their inner demons so much, that they tend to give up. This is when a health psychologist steps in.

When a person is unable to carve a solution to their problems or the help and support provided by the near and dear ones also fails to help, it is then that they need to see a counselling psychologist. A counselling psychologist may not give a sure shot single solution to the problem, but definitely helps the individual figure out a path for the same. They provide them with instructions of baby steps that they can take towards healthy healing. The main aim for the therapist is that the client in concern should be able to look at his or her problems with a new and different perspective so they can reach a solution on their own.

There are many health psychologists today. But it is important that you choose your psychologist wisely because they are the ones that you open up to and trust all the information with. It is also important that you vibe with your psychologist, that is, you need to be comfortable with them. Once the comfort level and rapport is set, it helps you open up and ease into the process.

In this world full of chaos, it is very important for us to find our peace. It helps you to be centred and conscious of your actions.

The World of Psychological Therapy

The definition which The Oxford English dictionary gives is- “The treatment of disorders of mind or personality by psychological methods.” Though that is the definition that has been used around the world, any psychologist will tell you that it means much more than that. Psychotherapy does not only mean that a therapist has to treat the patient it also means that he has to form a relation with them. It is a relation which is based on trust and a complete secrecy which helps a troubled person with opening up to a stranger. The health psychologist through their training identify the core problem in a person’s behaviour and start working in resolving it and letting it know to the person who might be oblivious to it.

There are more than a thousand different approaches in psychotherapy since the turn of the century dealing with issues in different ways. These approaches tackle the everyday problem a person might face in life, relationships, meeting personal goals, or diagnosing and treating a mental illness. These approaches include but do not limit to- humanistic psychology in which a therapist through sessions makes the person believe that all people are good at their core and teaches them to find positives in negatives. It also takes a holistic approach letting the patient to come to their own conclusions through little to no direction from the therapist. The therapist lets the client speak out whatever it is on their mind and have their own insights on matters without any judgement. The other is cognitive-behavioural therapy which incorporates the idea of changing one’s thoughts through counselling to change a person’s behaviour and emotions. Group therapy is also widely implemented way helping individuals by getting them in a group with the same problems so that they learn from each other.

Psychotherapy had long been a tabooed subject in many developing countries. It was something that was thought of embarrassing to a person as going to therapist was commonly perceived as an illness of mind. This has changed in recent times and people have embraced the idea of therapy and entertained it due to the changes it has brought in so many lives. Psychological therapy has helped people with major issues and helping them solve their personal and general problems. It has helped people through depression and saved many lives. Nowadays parents even take their children or teenagers due to drastic behavioural changes fearing that it would result into something damaging.

There is now a larger focus on the field and many researches and discoveries are being made helping more and more people. There are many youngsters who are keen on helping people by taking up education in the field and training extensively to become a therapist. As the world moves forward and we open our minds to new possibilities it will become more easier for people with problems to have access to a therapist so that they can tackle the problem and lead a happy and fruitful life with their loved ones.

Free Your Mind From Depression

A Health Psychologist is somebody who has studied and practiced enough to become a psychologist, get into your mind, understand your problems and provide you with suitable changes to your lifestyle to change that.

When a health psychologist suggest certain lifestyle changes they could ideally include taking up some form or the other of meditation. If they have the license to prescribe you with medicines then they may provide you with some mood stabilizing tablets that will help keep your anxiety or panic attack and general levels of dopamine and serotonin constant in your body.

When you visit a depression therapist, it is mostly likely that you have accepted that there is something going on in your mind that you would like to fix. Something that is subconsciously bothering you on a chronic level which is making you unhappy all the time and you have taken the first step in deciding to visit a depression therapist.

When you visit a health psychologist, no matter how old you are, it is beneficial for you. You need to feel like you are in a safe and secure environment. This is that one office where you can talk as much as you want without being judged. Infact the more you talk the more beneficial this therapy session is for you because you are now with a health psychologist that has undergone years of training to counsel you. You will be completely heard and members from your family may be involved in order to help you feel better and overcome your problems.

It is very easy to speak to a depression therapist and there are many people that speak of success stories where they have overcome their depression and anxiety issues and have gone on to become successful in their lives.