Mental Health Therapy Material

Change is focused on movement from more to less harm. Choose to track one self harm behavior at a time in order to increase the chance that you will be effective in reducing the level of harm. Using a scale of 0-10, where is 0 is no self harm behavior, 5 is some self harm behavior, 10 being the most you've practiced this behavior, rate how often this behavior occurs. Think about what influenced you to choose this rating (current mood, daily events, thoughts, illness, etc). Work on reducing judgments of yourself. Rate yourself on your chosen behavior, and wait a week to evaluate yourself again. During this week, practice one or more of the Distress Tolerance Skills outlined in this module. At the end of the week, write down your observations and experiences. Write down what skills worked, what skills didn't work for you, and why. Rate yourself on the self harm behavior you chose to monitor and consider why you chose this rating. Observe whether the behavior was pra...

Accepting reality with your body. Emotions are partially controlled by facial expressions. By adopting a serene facial expression, people can control their emotions somewhat. Half-Smiling 1) Relax your face from the top of your head down to your chin and jaw. Let go of each facial muscle (forehead, eyes, and brows; cheeks, mouth, and tongue; teeth slightly apart). If you have difficulty, try tensing your facial muscles and then letting go. A tense smile is a grin (and might tell your brain t you are hiding or masking your real feelings). 2) Let both corners of your lips go slightly up, just so you can feel them. It is not necessary for others to see it. A half-smile is slightly upturned lips with relaxed face. 3) Try to adopt a serene facial expression. Remember, your face communicates to your brain; your body connects to your mind. Willing Hands Another way to accept reality is with your body. Standing: Drop your arms from your shoulders; keep them straight or bent ...

Willingness vs Willfulness The notion of willingness versus willfulness is taken from Gerald May's (1982) book on the topic. Willingness is accepting what is, together with responding to what is, in an effective or appropriate way. It is doing what works. It is doing just what is needed in the current situation or moment. Willfulness is imposing one's will on reality - trying to fix everything, or refusing to do what is needed. It is the opposite of doing what works. One metaphor is that life is like a game of cards. It makes no difference to a good card player what card they get. The object is to play whatever hand they get as well as possible. As soon as one hand is played, another hand is dealt. The last fame is over and the current game is on. The idea is to be mindful of the current hand, play it as skillfully as possible, and then let go and focus on the next hand of cards. Willingness Willingness is readiness to enter and participate fully in life and livin...

*For when you cannot keep painful events and emotions from coming your way* What is Radical Acceptance?  - Radical means all the way, complete and total.  - It is accepting in your mind, your heart, and your body.  - It is when you stop fighting reality because it is not the way you wan it, and let go of bitterness. What had to be accepted?  - Reality as it is; the facts about the past and the present and the fact, even if you don't like them.  - There are limitations on the future for everyone, but only realistic limitations need to be accepted.  - Everything has a cause, including events and situations that cause you pain and suffering.  - Life can be worth living even with painful events in it. Why accept reality?  - Rejecting reality does not change reality.  - Changing reality requires first accepting reality.  - Pain can't be avoided; it is nature's way of signaling that something is wrong.  - Rejecting realit...

Distracting There are times when it is helpful to distract yourself from pain. Painful situations cannot always be immediately processed, so you may have to tolerate the feelings. A way to remember these skills is the phrase "Wise Mind ACCEPTS". Activities (a way to fill your short term memory with alternate thoughts, images, and sensations) - Focus attention on a task you need to get done - Rent movies; Watch TV - Clean a room in your house - Find an event to go to - Play computer games - Go walking; Exercise - Surf the internet; Write emails - Play sports - Go out for a meal or eat a favorite food - Call or go out with a friend - Listen to your ipod; download music - Build something - Spend time with your children - Play cards - Read magazines, books, comics - do crossword puzzles or sudoku Contributing (refocuses your attention away from yourself) - Find volunteer work to do - Help a friend or family member - Surprise someone with something nice ...

Harmful behaviors take the form of doing something too little or too much. This means that even practices that we should be doing regularly or can be beneficial to us sometimes end up harming us. A few examples of this are over or under sleeping, over or under eating, over working or being too sedentary. When a harmful behavior becomes a pattern that you are unable to stop, despite negative consequences or your best efforts to stop, it can be considered an addiction. Almost anything can become an addiction and anyone can develop an addiction. Here are some examples of common addictions: - Alcohol - Attention Seeking - Avoiding:________ - Auto racing - Betting - Bulimia - Cheating - Coffee - Colas - Collecting:   - Art   - Coins   - Junk   - Clothes   - Shoes   - Music   - Other:________ - Computers - Criminal Activities - Dieting - Drugs (all types) - Diuretics - Email - Food   - Carbs   - Sugar   - Chocolate ...

Self Harm: Something We Can Change Self harm is anything we do, too much or too little, that has a negative impact on our well being. Self harm can be mindless, not thought about, automatic, or more deliberate, to achieve a specific goal, like coping or self help. Self harm behaviors can: - Ease tension and anxiety - Escape feelings of depression - Escape feelings of numbness - Relieve anger and/or aggression - Relieve intense emotional pain - Regain control over one's body - Maintain a sense of security or feeling of uniqueness - Maintain previous abusive patterns (what we know) - Offer a feeling of euphoria - Express or cope with feelings of alienation - Be a response to self hatred or guilt Treatment includes: - Acknowledgment and awareness of self harm behavior - Learning about their emotions, then impact on behavior and emotion management - Learning distress tolerance skills - Replacing harmful behavior with more effective, helpful...