thoughts

Perspectives Monthly Journal Exercise – January

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Journaling can be a therapeutic exercise.  In therapy, Johanna may encourage you to journal or keep a diary in a specific way, to raise awareness of specific activities, thoughts, or feelings.  This monthly journal exercise is in no way individually prescribed, but meant to offer food for thought that may be useful for anyone.

January’s monthly journal exercise:

It’s a brand new year.  What are your hopes for the coming year?  Take five minutes to free-write without stopping (unless your hand hurts, or you find yourself in emotionally distress, in which case you should engage in another form of self-care).  Consider what you are looking forward to about 2016, as well as what you might be worrying about.  Write it all down without pausing.  This is not meant to be a polished piece of writing or a list of New Year’s resolutions, but rather an exploration of your hopes and fears as we move into a new year.

Perspectives Monthly Journal Exercise – November

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Journaling can be a therapeutic exercise.  In therapy, Johanna may encourage you to journal or keep a diary in a specific way, to raise awareness of specific activities, thoughts, or feelings.  This monthly journal exercise is in no way individually prescribed, but meant to offer food for thought that may be useful for anyone.

November’s monthly journal exercise:

The holidays are coming.  What do the holidays mean for you?  Take five minutes to free-write without stopping (unless your hand hurts, or you find yourself in emotionally distress, in which case you should engage in another form of self-care).  If the holidays are a difficult time of year for you, use this time to write down the things that will help you to get through them.  This is not meant to be a polished piece of writing but rather an exploration of your thoughts on the holidays and your own coping skills.

September’s Mindfulness Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Mindfulness is something that everyone can incorporate into daily life.  Mindfulness involves observing and accepting the things around and within us, without judgment.  In therapy, Johanna may involve mindfulness skills to build awareness of various issues and to develop coping strategies.  Johanna is also running a six-week mindfulness group.  If you are interested in the next group cycle for mindfulness, please call the office.  The exercise below is not individualized to your needs as it may be in therapy, but is rather intended as a general exercise that you may find useful.

September’s Mindfulness Exercise:

Today, when you are going through your daily routine (either at the start or end of your day, or while engaging in a mundane chore such as washing dishes) I want you to bring your full attention to the task at hand.  Oftentimes we act on “autopilot” and wander away in our minds from the activities we are doing.  Today while doing a chore, try to notice every aspect of the chore.  What are you doing, how are you doing it, how do you feel physically and emotionally, what thoughts are going through your mind, and what is happening around you?  You may be surprised how many things you can notice while brushing your teeth.  Try to notice without judging as good or bad.

 

NOTE: This is not intended to replace therapy.  Please contact Johanna at (585)406-3012 if you are interested in individual or group therapy.

August’s Mindfulness Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Mindfulness is something that everyone can incorporate into daily life.  Mindfulness involves observing and accepting the things around and within us, without judgment.  In therapy, Johanna may involve mindfulness skills to build awareness of various issues and to develop coping strategies.  Johanna also runs a mindfulness group – call the office if you’d like to sign up!  The exercise below is not individualized to your needs as it may be in therapy, but is rather intended as a general exercise that you may find useful.

August’s Mindfulness Exercise:

Set a timer or an alarm for three minutes.  Start by taking three deep breaths, noticing how it feels to breathe in and out.  Next, bring your attention to your thoughts.  Just as you might notice clouds in the sky drifting past, I want you to notice your thoughts as they drift past.  Some might hang out up there, some might threaten with an impending storm, and others may drift quickly by.  What thoughts come up for you?  Without judging them as good or bad, just notice what thoughts are there.  If you find yourself drifting away WITH the thoughts, come back to your breath.  Do this until your alarm sounds and then expand your awareness to your surroundings.

 

NOTE: This is not intended to replace therapy.  Please contact Johanna at (585)406-3012 if you are interested in individual or group therapy.

Perspectives Monthly Journal Exercise – July

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Journaling can be a therapeutic exercise.  In therapy, Johanna may encourage you to journal or keep a diary in a specific way, to raise awareness of specific activities, thoughts, or feelings.  This monthly journal exercise is in no way individually prescribed, but meant to offer food for thought that may be useful for anyone.

July’s journal exercise:

For five minutes, try to write without stopping.  Only stop if your hand hurts, or if you find yourself becoming emotionally overwhelmed.  Write about where you draw your energy from in day to day life and where you draw your energy from when facing stress and adversity.  This is not meant to be a polished piece of writing but rather a stream of consciousness from continuous writing.

Perspectives Monthly Journal Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Journaling can be a therapeutic exercise.  In therapy, Johanna may encourage you to journal or keep a diary in a specific way, to raise awareness of specific activities, thoughts, or feelings.  This monthly journal exercise is in no way individually prescribed, but meant to offer food for thought that may be useful for anyone.

June’s monthly journal exercise:

For a week, write down one thing every day for which you are grateful.  Pick a time of day – maybe even set an alarm to remind yourself – and jot down either a sentence or just a word to describe your gratitude.  This can be something big (ie. my family) or something very small (ie. the smell of a new flower in bloom).  Try to get in the habit of doing this every day for a week, and take a moment at the end of the week to notice how you feel when you do this exercise.

Perspectives and Re-framing: Sunrise or sunset?

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

IMG_2053

Is the sun rising or setting in this picture?

The way we think about things shapes the way we see them and the perspective we take.  In this picture, the sun is setting.  However, you might not automatically know that from the picture.  The ways in which we perceive interactions with friends and family, daily events in our lives, and the world around us is influenced by our perspective.

In counseling, you have the opportunity to work on seeing things from different angles; increasing insight about your own perspective, your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; and making change to gain a healthy point of view using your personal strengths.  Changing the way you think about a situation is called a cognitive re-frame, one of many tools you will encounter in a cognitive-behavioral based approach to counseling.