Category Archives: Recovery

Relish in Your Accomplishments

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Never be afraid to pat yourself on the back. With having lived the amount of life that you have, you have garnered a lot of cumulative knowledge. You apply that knowledge to assist your lived experience best. To effectively relish in your accomplishments, you can remember the people who assisted you, give yourself the credit […]

What is Solution-Focused Therapy?

solution based therapy

Solution-focused therapy is an evidence-based practice to assist people of all age ranges in dealing with a wide variety of complex challenges. To date, there are over 150 randomized controlled trials supporting the benefits of this practice. It is often a brief intervention to help manage complex situations in a short time frame. This technique focuses on […]

The Healing Power of Exploring the Outdoors

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Have you ever felt stressed and then decided to take a walk outside to calm down? Did it work? Most likely, you returned to the setting you came from in a better headspace. Many reasons explain the healing power of exploring the outdoors. Some of these include a breath of fresh air, the color green, […]

The Basics of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST)

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Problem-solving therapy (PST) is an evidence-based practice to help people work through problems. It involves seven steps. These steps include: Identifying the problem Setting the goal Brainstorming options Weighing the pros and cons Selection of the best option(s) Creating an action plan Evaluating the outcome What to Expect in a Session You will meet with […]

The Iceberg of Emotions

We often experience emotions as an iceberg. In the conscious mind, above the water, we consider our feelings — whether it’s anger, sadness, or joy. However, under the water lies the subconscious and unconscious minds. This is where we store painful memories and patterns of behavior that we have grown accustomed to experiencing. Due to […]

Characterizing Your Thought Patterns

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A key component of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is characterizing your maladaptive thoughts. Maladaptive thoughts are ways of thinking that do not serve a logical purpose but stem from depression or anxiety. Here are some examples of maladaptive thinking patterns: All-or-Nothing Thinking: Also called black and white thinking, this is the belief that a situation is 100% one […]

What is Trauma-Informed Care?

Trauma underpins most major mental illnesses and substance use disorders. When life deals someone with a challenging card, they only have so many ways to cope. There are genetic and environmental factors that guide the decisions we make in the wake of trauma. Some turn to alcohol or drugs, some experience psychosis; others enter significant […]

How to Use Socratic Questioning in Therapy

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You can learn about a person and help them come to realizations about themselves by asking them a series of questions. Named for the Greek philosopher Socrates, this method of conversing helps people get to the heart of the matter. Questions, in this theory, have a particular direction and follow a logical path. Therapists use […]

An Overview of Motivational Interviewing

motivational interviewing

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a tool that a lot of clinicians use to learn more about their clients and the client’s desire for change. Some of the basic tenants include getting to know the client better through reflective listening, determining what underlies the client’s ambivalence about change, and assessing where the client is at in […]