Stress & Anxiety

How Learn to Live Delivers CBT: Part 10 Take a moment and think of the things you do to try to keep yourself from feeling unpleasant emotions. Consider the things you do so you don’t feel too scared, too upset, or too sad. You might think of all those unnecessary things we do to keep us from feeling too troubled as hacks for our emotions. Researchers often call them "safety seeking behaviors." I just call them “precautions.” It turns out those precautions can often be a big part of why we stay stuck. We may be stuck in our anxiety,…

How Learn to Live Delivers CBT: Part 8 If you tend to worry, you know just how sticky worry can be. Maybe people around you tell you to just let it go. They may tell you to move on. Or they might point out to you just how unnecessary all that worry is. But even though you try, letting go of that worry isn't easy. If that’s you, then the idea of Worry Time might be helpful for you. Here's the idea: even though it seems like worry is voluntary, it isn’t.  Worry doesn’t just show up. In reality, it…

Mindfulness can help you to feel the natural feelings that occur after a traumatic event. It can also help you think about and process the trauma. Mindfulness can help you to be more focused. That can increase your ability to live with the difficult emotions. Here are a few ways you can practice mindfulness:

How Learn to Live Delivers CBT: Part 6 Many times we hear "Don't even think about that!" This is to avoid a bad thing happening or feeling troubled. But we know thinking something does not make it happen. That is magical thinking.  In fact, the opposite is true. Thinking about what we fear can help us become unafraid. This is called imaginal exposure. With it, we think on purpose about things we worry about happening. Some people have used virtual reality to help imagine feared things. Research shows imagining bad outcomes can sometimes work as well as virtual reality.  We…

Going back to school can be stressful for parents. You have a lot to do, like buying supplies, clothes, and signing kids up for activities. Getting the schedule organized for the family can be hard too. Saying bye to the kids at the start of the school year can bring up many feelings, from excited to sad. It's important for parents to take care of themselves to lower stress for everyone during back to school. Here are some tips to help parents right now: Plan ahead: Start getting ready early to avoid last minute stress. Make checklists and prioritize tasks…

How Learn to Live Delivers CBT: Part 5 If you fall off the horse, you better get right back on that horse.  Why do they say that anyway? Have you ever actually fallen off a horse? I have many times. Sometimes it really hurts. But the reason to get back on that horse is because, once you start avoiding that horse, you risk a lifetime of continuing to fear the horse. I also like to say that if it's a little too scary to immediately get on that horse, you might want to at least try getting on a smaller…