COPING WITH STRESS
According to Stress Management Expert, Richard S. Lazarus, "stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that their responsibilities exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize." The key to coping with stress is therefore to increase your personal and social resources, while reducing the stressors in your life. Another key to coping with stress is to alter your experience of stressful situations through coping skills such as humor, positive thinking, channeling stress energy into positive actions, and learning to use the power of mind over body through meditation, relaxation, and regular self care.
As a foundation course for treatment success, Old Pueblo Counseling offers a 3 week series called Coping With Stress to help people accomplish these simple goals. All it really takes to succeed in this course is the desire to live a more peaceful and balanced life. Should you wish to register for this group, just give us a call. We will be happy to answer any questions you have, and to meet with you individually so that you can explore the best path to feeling better.
MASTER PLANNING FOR EMOTIONAL HEALTH
To succeed in anything requires us to take the time to plan ahead, think of the goals we wish to achieve, and develop those goals into S.M.A.R.T. goals, which are:
S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Action Oriented
R: Realistic &
T: Time Limited.
For example, let’s say that I want to stop worrying at night, so that I can sleep. In the past, I have found that when I write in my journal, I worry less. I will therefore make writing in my journal part of my routine every night for 6 weeks. I will then measure how many nights I get a good night's sleep to see how writing in my journal really has an impact on my sleeping patterns. If it does, I will continue to write in my journal. If not, maybe I would try something that helps me to not worry in the first place.
At Old Pueblo Counseling, we want to be sure that the techniques we share with you are the ones that will be most effective for you as an individual. Therefore, everyone we see is guided in developing a unique Master Plan for Emotional Health throughout treatment.
MANAGING ADDICTION
Our addictions are really nothing more than habits that we have developed that our brain has reinforced through chemical reactions which increase our sense of pleasure or contentment, and/or reduce our experience of pain. What makes it so hard to overcome the addiction is the Brain's adjustment to the substance or activity that we have used to alter our experiences.
Knowing this helps us realize that to manage addiction really involves the retraining of the brain, rather than raw will power. This is why addiction is often referred to as a disease, rather than an indication of a flaw in character.
The good news is that we are now increasingly able to alter our own brain chemistry and brain patterns by using simple routine techniques such as the practices of meditation, working out, eating specific nutrients, and becoming more mindful or intuitive of the direct connection between our thoughts, actions, intentions, and feelings.
Even those without addictions have found these techniques useful in gaining themselves a sense of balance, security, and stability in life which in turn stabilized their relationships, careers, and overall well being. We therefore like to incorporate techniques for managing addictions into many of our programs, helping you become the master of your own mind, body, and spirit.
