Martha Stewart & the Art of Resilience
If I could pass one skill along to all of my clients, it would be resilience. Resilience is the most important trait a human being can have to sustain good mental health and successfully face life. One way to further promote your own resilience is to identify your values and commit to taking actions based on the things that matter to you, a key principle in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I also like to have an actual person to emulate when I’m trying to develop a new skill, so today I propose Martha Stewart as our resilience role model.
5 Best Practice Tips for Treating Clients with Eating Disorders
I recently put on a training where I taught therapists who don’t specialize in eating disorders how to work with clients struggling with eating disorders and body image issues. At the end of the training, I summarized some key takeaways with a list of “Do’s and Don’ts”. Many clinicians shared that this was super helpful for them! I wanted to compile the list here for other therapists who may be interested in treating eating disorders. Presenting! My top 5 best practice tips for treating clients with eating disorders!
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead”
Spoiler alert: this is a terrible plan. But it’s a common refrain you hear on college campuses, in tech start ups with 80 hour work weeks, among new parents, etc. It’s said half in jest, but with an element of- eh, rest isn’t that important. People have so many other demands, this can feel like the easiest one to let up on. The problem is that lack of (or irregular/fragmented) sleep is one of the single best predictors for developing a mental health disorder. You are way more vulnerable to conditions like depression, anxiety and chronic burnout when you’re sleep deprived. Every organ in your body operates on a circadian rhythm, every hormone is regulated by our sleep/wake cycles. So while we think we can push through the lack of sleep, the price we pay is often steeper than people realize.