Tag: pain

Online Resources Vol. 4

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Online Resources Volume 4

If you haven’t seen them, here are Volumes 1, 2, and 3!

  • The Reveri app  – It’s free (of course!) and the BEST actual hypnosis app I’ve ever come across. (And I’m ASCH certified in clinical hypnosis). I’ve previously recommended Comfort Talk, and stand by it, but Reveri is also excellent and covers a lot of great, specific topics – e.g., sleep, anxiety, chronic pain, smoking cessation – the kind of stuff it’s probably ok to work on by yourself without a therapist. 
  • Greater Good Magazine – Honestly, this isn’t a great resource for therapists, as far as I can tell. But I think it’s one of the better lay-accessible internet resources.  It’s mostly research-based and comes out of Berkeley, and has lots of different kinds of content, all focused on well being. Worth a look. 
  • Andrew Huberman Podcast – For nerdy therapists (and maybe clients), Huberman is a neurobiologist and does a lot on mental health related topics – sleep, depression, addiction, stress, etc. – as well as some stuff that’s more like “optimizing wellness.” Easy to listen to, extremely knowledgeable, great sources, smart occasional guests. Honestly, his mental health series was not my favorite, but when it’s outside my direct area, I learn a lot. 
  • Kardia Deep Breathing App – FINALLY!!!! I finally found an app that lets you control the timing of the breathing! Remember the cardinal rule – breathe out longer than you breathe in. The end. But finally, there’s an app that will let clients personalize that, rather than putting them on a strict 5-minute, 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out, rigid program! THANK YOU! It’s $0.99 for the full functionality, but the free version works perfectly well for my personal use and for how I use it with clients.  
  • Spanish & Mandarin relaxation tracks – offered by the University of Texas Counseling Center, There’s a 3-minute breathing and a body scan available in both Spanish & Mandarin – I have a hard time finding resources for clients who, even though they may do their therapy with me in English for various reasons, might prefer or better utilize resources in their native language. These are free and you don’t need to be a student to access them. 
  • Various Downloadable Workbooks – The Govt of Western Australia has a resource that includes free, downloadable self-help workbooks on lots of issues – body image, depression, procrastination, distress tolerance, panic, health anxiety, etc. I haven’t gone through the whole workbook on all the topics, but the ones I have looked at are pretty legit. Maybe a good option for clients who want to work outside of session, or for your own use as smaller handouts or in-session activities if you break them up.

Comment below: As always, if you know of great, free, online resources, let us know, too! These things are out in the world to be shared and used!  

 

 

 

 

Preposterous Quote – Pain Quitting

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Hmmm… no. Pain isn’t always temporary. Pain is often chronic, especially when we overuse our bodies in a relentless pursuit of unhealthy goals. Or when we don’t recognize and honor legitimate limitations. Or when we don’t respect the need for rest or a healing process after injury. 

Also, why would we think that quitting lasts forever? That’s such a genuinely peculiar assumption. What about going back to something you previously quit? Especially after you are well rested or better conditioned or more equipped? Also, I’m not sure it counts as “quitting” when you mindfully stop something and choose a different path? 

I’m noticing that a fair percentage of the preposterous quotes I run across have this mad (hyper-American?) theme … do more, push through, no quitting, be everything, don’t suck! I don’t like it. 

Comment below with some healthy language for encouragement to challenge oneself! 

 

 

 

Best Quick Tips Ever (Vol 1)

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Best Quick Tips Ever

 

There are a bunch of super effective, super-fast, super-easy techniques for stress reduction, emotion regulation, and more that therapists just aren’t teaching clients! Why?! I think it might be because people don’t know about them? Here’s a list of a few of my favorites, each with a little video. Well, except for the really self-explanatory ones. For those, I’m attaching some research because it’s hard to imagine these commonplace little tactics are actually effective! 

(Ethics moment – definitely don’t use these if the underlying theory isn’t already part of your clinical repertoire, please!)

 

  • The Dive Reflex – If you’re a mammal (and you are), and you’re stressed, put your face into cold water for 30 seconds. Instant changes in the stress response, thus calming anxiety and other dysregulated emotions. 
  • The Physiological Sigh – You do this, unwittingly. It’s that sobbing sort of thing you sometimes do in the middle or near the end of a big cry, or you at least do it in your sleep! It’s like taking 2.5 inhales and then a long exhale, repeat 3-5x. The end. Really good for quick emotional calming. (Side note: In real life, when your body does this naturally, it’s more like 1.5 inhales, but when I’ve taught it in therapy, clients are usually breathing very shallowly, and teaching them to do this consciously, 2.5 seems to work better – the first inhale to baseline, the second to what feels like “capacity” or a “deep breath,” and then that last little bit that “overinflates.”)
  • List 3 Things You’re Grateful For – Lots of research about this, but here’s a fun study about how gratitude reduces Repetitive Negative Thinking and thus reduces depression and anxiety. Even a single, small intervention, like listing 3 things you’re grateful for in the moment can change perspective and improve mood. 
  • If you already do EMDR, consider the Flash Technique – it’s like a quickie version of reducing SUDS, without processing the actual trauma (but has some limitations, of course). Remind me one day to do a post on what actually makes EMDR work (which isn’t bilateral stimulation).
  • Call a Thought a Thought – the simplest  of cognitive defusion strategies. Notice you’re thinking thoughts. Then say it to yourself, “I’m noticing I’m thinking XYZ,” or even “That’s just a thought.” Crazy powerful, quick, and accessible anytime. 
  • Controversial but interesting…. Take a Tylenol – Acetaminophen (paracetamol) reduces the pain of social rejection and of making tough decisions. Careful, though – it may also increase risk taking, reduce empathy, and decrease the intensity of positive experiences, as well. (And, of course, mind the risk of overdose!) 

Comment below: Share your favorite, research-based “quick tips” for clients!