In a CBT session the focus is on a target area. How a patient thinks, feels, and reacts to a situation or thought is causing problems in their life. There may be multiple target areas, but usually only one is addressed in each session. The first step in CBT is to address core beliefs about… Read More Therapy Tuesday: CBT – Core Beliefs
I’ve had a frustrating realization, and I decided to share it with everyone here. My reason for it isn’t to garner sympathy, but to show how I use the skills I write about. This post may be long, and I’ll put a TRIGGER WARNING here that I’m going to be discussing the ways depression and… Read More Freeform Friday: My battle with depression
It’s such an obvious thing, isn’t it? If you’re having trouble with anxiety or depression, find a therapist. Don’t ask me why, even for those of us who have successfully used therapists in the past, it’s not the first thing we think of. What I’ve learned is that it’s sometimes quite a bit harder than… Read More Top Skills Thursday: Find a therapist
Not right this instant, of course. No, wait, come back here! I have more to explain! I mean, yes, wash your face, especially if you haven’t yet. But, why would I label that as self-care or think it’s enough to make a post about? Because some days just getting out of bed is a challenge.… Read More Self-Care Saturday: Wash your face
While you’re feeling extra low and the usual skills aren’t giving you any relief, there’s one thing that is almost guaranteed to at least give you a break from your own headaches. Help someone, anyone, just reach out. When we step outside of ourselves and give a hand to the people around us, it breaks… Read More Top Skills Thursday: Help Someone
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy that first formed in the 1960’s. Aaron T. Beck noticed that his patients seemed to have ongoing internal conversations with themselves, their thoughts were not controlled, and often had a strong impact on the patient. His goal was to empower patients to reframe their thoughts and responses,… Read More Therapy Tuesday: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Over on Twitter I ran into Kasey, who is training to become an EMDR therapist. I thought it’d be a great wrap-up to hear from someone on the other side of the therapy session. (Even in training, there’s a ton of insight and such). She was nice enough to agree, so please, do give her… Read More Therapy Tuesday: EMDR Guest Blog: Kasey Klein
Meditation is one of the things my therapists have pushed me to do throughout my years in therapy. If I’ve been away from therapy and go back, one of the first questions they ask is, “Do you meditate?” I do. I don’t meditate daily, though I wish I had that kind of discipline. I do… Read More Self-Care Saturday: Follow a Guided Meditation
I’ll be sharing a guest post about EMDR next week. I don’t want to move on to the next topic until this one is wrapped up, though. The next topic will be behavioral therapy, followed by CBT, and then a loop back to DBT based on my own insights and experiences. Do something nice for… Read More Therapy Tuesday: EMDR pause
Having given you an idea of what it looks like to have EMDR therapy, and what the research shows about how it works, I thought it’d be helpful if I describe my own experience with an EMDR session. I know not all therapists are created equal, but the sessions will likely be similar.
Kambry Ellis 