Staying Connected Amid A Pandemic: A Powerful Tool For Resilience And Mental Health
While it is necessary to practice social distancing during the pandemic, it is also important to remain socially connected. What does it mean to be socially connected? Staying connected may not be about the number of hours you and your friends are on a video call, rather it may be letting them feel seen […]
Mindful Media Use For Students: A Useful Tool For Online Self Regulation
For college students, it is almost unavoidable to stay online. Classrooms were shifted to this set-up, and now friends hang out on social media sites. And while we maintain our habits of reaching for our gadgets when we feel bored or worried, media consumption, and the visual strain it gives, can also be problematic. As […]
MANAGING DISAPPOINTMENTS IN QUARANTINE
With many goals and expectations affected by this pandemic, feeling disappointment may be common for students. Some may be feeling discouraged with their performance in their online classes. Some may be ruminating on the thought of what it would be like to return to campus, to hangout with their blockmates after classes, or to graduate on the site where they spent some of their best years in. All of these “losses” may be difficult for most students to process and to accept, as it is truly difficult to not dwell on: “What if things were different?”
A Self Compassionate Way Of Improving Focus On Online Learning
At present, it may be challenging for students to focus and to remain motivated in their studies. It may even be improbable at times to think about academics amidst all that occurs around them. Times like this call for self compassion—reigning self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness over harsh self criticism, isolation, and over-identification with one’s […]
Mindful Listening
First, take 3 deep, transition breaths. Then, listen to all the sounds around you – above, below, left, right, near, and far. Pay attention to the very basic sensation of sounds – pitch, rhythm, volume. As best you can, refrain from labelling the sounds, or interpreting them, or creating a story. Notice as […]
Mindful Eating
Give your attention as best you can to the lunch on your plate. Pretend you have never seen this food before, which in fact, is true! What do you see? Don’t label, just describe colors, textures, shapes. What do you smell? What different scents do you notice? Now take a bite. What […]
Child Anxiety: A Toolkit
Stuffed Toy Breathing: 1. Place a stuffed toy on your belly. 2. Take a deep inhale for 3 seconds and watch the stuffed toy move away from the body. 3. Exhale for 5 seconds and watch the stuffed toy return closer to the body. 4. Repeat 2 more times. Mindfulness Therapies have been found […]
Practicing Empathic Understanding
Have you ever wondered what else you can do to help a friend who has a problem? Take a look at these simple non-verbal ways you can show you are actively listening. 1. Maintain eye contact. 2. Mirror the volume and the rate of their voice. 3. Have a relaxed posture and lead forward […]
Supporting Teens Who Want To See a Therapist
Has your teen asked to see a therapist? If not, are you worried they might ask soon? Here are four things you need to understand to better support your child: 1. Your feelings are valid, however… If you haven’t been to therapy yourself, it is normal to feel confused or frightened. Perhaps you may […]
Narrative Therapy & Personal Experiences
In narrative therapy, clients can make meaning out of their lives through their stories, which include their memories, the present, roles in personal and social settings, and relationships with other people. It aims to separate the person and their problems from each other so that the person can work on their relationship with the problems […]