A cancer diagnosis — whether newly discovered or long managed — brings a wide and often overwhelming range of emotions. Anger.Rage.Despair.Anxiety.Helplessness.Sadness. All of these are normal. There is nothing “wrong” with you for feeling deeply during a medical crisis. In fact, strong emotions are part of a healthy human response to threat, uncertainty, and loss. There is nothing “wrong” with you for feeling deeply during a medical crisis. In fact, strong emotions are part

The holiday season is a time for celebration, warmth, and togetherness. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills teaches us to use our senses to self soothe, to keep grounded in the here and now, in order to manage feelings of anxiety.

Take care of yourself this holiday season. The holiday season, while often celebrated as a time of joy, togetherness, and festivity, can paradoxically also serve as a catalyst for stress, anxiety, and a range of emotional challenges.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of psychotherapy used to help people control overwhelming emotions, become more tolerant of stress, and improve relationships.

Many of the thoughts that cross our minds each day are automatic negative thoughts (ANT). Over time, this cognitive loop starts feeding a cycle of self-doubt and worry that's hard to break. It can leave you feeling drained, anxious, or disconnected from the things that usually bring you joy.

Creating an integrative plan of traditional talk therapy combined with complementary, or holistic, treatments will tap the mind-body connection, enhance emotional awareness, and improve resilience.

When you feed the energy of the white wolf, you expand the definition of your self, share your gifts and expand the positive energy in the w

DBT STOP and TIP Skills are essential for mindfulness, mental health and managing your emotions,

Originally posted March 23, 2020. Expressive art is a fun way to create flow and relax your nervous system Listening to the Nervous System Through Sensation and Image About 98% of our mental activity…the reasons why we do things…is unconscious (Bargh, 2017). Expressive Art, a right brain activity, is a way to access those wordless emotional messages swirling beneath our consciousness. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could unearth some of your own motivating energy, and chann

The ABC PLEASE skills are the first floor in the house of happiness. Think of the ABC PLEASE skills as extreme self-care, to help you manag

The ABC PLEASE skills are the first floor in the House of Happiness. Train yourself to develop habits of joy and contentment.

The Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) section of Emotion Regulation educates about emotions and provides skills to manage strong emotions

DBT How Skills: Non-judgmentally, One-Mindfully, Effectively Why HOW Skills Matter in DBT Mindfulness skills can be applied to everyday life, used on an ordinary, everyday basis. We continue with learning the subtle points of DBT Mindfulness Skills for daily life. The first post about Mindfulness Skills for Daily Life covered “What” skills:  Observe, Describe, Participate  as in “What” to do as you incorporated mindfulness into the activities of your daily life. The next s

DBT’s Emotion Regulation skills help a person build up a base of positive experiences that helps stabilize emotion

Coloring is a way to practice mindfulness. You can incorporate the DBT mindfulness “What” skills of Observe, Describe and Participate into mindful coloring in order to help your mind and body fully be in the moment.

Originally posted January 9, 2019. Happy reading! Thank you to my loving readers for visiting my humble blog! Looking back at the dynamic range of topics in the BirthTouch® blog, that touch on mental health and mindbody therapies, I thought I’d share the most popular blogs of the year. 1. DBT STOP & TIP Skills: Life is worth living even if there is pain The top top spot was claimed by an article about a very, very popular and evidence-based therapy called Dialectical Beha

This post reflects how I personally use DBT skills during high-stress seasons. It is an illustration of using DBT in a lived experience. Lots of us get flustered during the busy holiday season. If you’re already coping with challenges such as grief, depression, anxiety, PTSD, or bipolar disorder, staying grounded in healthy routines becomes even more important. As I started thinking about cooking for Thanksgiving—something I usually enjoy—I noticed myself feeling unexpectedly

Originally posted June 19, 2018. I wildcrafted dandelion flowers last week. I missed picking the dandelion flowers in my yard! I kept meaning to pick them, but they all went to seed before I could get to them! Dandelions have gotten a bad rap in modern times. How spraying toxic chemicals onto greenery around your home where you and your family live, eat and play became a thing, I just don’t know. Chemical industry, anyone? Makes my eyes red and itchy just thinking abo

ACCEPTS is a DBT distress tolerance skill that offers practical ways to shift attention when emotions feel unmanageable.

The evidence shows that common factors, not specific techniques, are the strongest contributors to successful therapy outcomes.