Trauma Therapy
Is it possible by choosing to be grateful that you could see an improvement in your mental health? If you’re looking to see positive changes in your physical health, read further to get advice from a therapist in Greenville, SC and if being grateful can help you with how you feel and share your emotions.
Gratitude is a characteristic that allows a person to perceive and appreciate the good around them. It opens their eyes and mind to see and feel the meaningful areas of their life. It is choosing a mindset that allows you to look for the good, positive, and meaningful areas of your life instead of focusing only on the hard struggles and what is negative.
Choosing gratitude is a mindset and practice that will help us as we experience life, including the past, hard seasons and challenges of daily living.
There are some wonderful benefits to choosing gratitude. These benefits are good for our bodies, mind, and emotions.
Physically, gratitude can help with:
- Reducing stress and how it manifests itself in our bodies
- Can help to lower blood pressures
- Boosts our immune systems to be stronger
- Can help to improve our quality of sleep
Mentally, gratitude can help with:
- Focusing our mind on a positive experience
- Helping us to look for and experience good
- Start to help us be more present in the moments of our day
- Help to gain momentum in choosing our mindset and not being pulled along by the experiences of the day or the tone set by someone else
Emotionally, gratitude can help with:
- Feeling less sad
- Being able to recognize and appreciate what we do have in our lives instead of focusing on what we feel is missing
- Feeling less worried when you are able to see other concerns have worked out in a positive way previously
- Experiencing more peace during your day
- Feeling Calmer
Choosing to be grateful can start at any time with just one choice.
Choosing today to look for one good thing in your day such as:
- a smile from a stranger
- delicious foods you ate
- a nice text from a friend
- complimenting someone on a task well done today
- a beautiful flower you saw on the way to work
- warm weather for your walk tonight
- enjoying the fall decorations
- and so many more good things that if we can be present for a moment we may see
Once you start to be present and soak in these moments, you will be able to see how choosing gratitude can make a difference in your life in a positive and meaningful way.
How can I choose to practice more gratitude in my day? Here are some suggestions to try:
- Choose each day to see the good around you
- Keep a journal and record each day the good you see. Nothing is too small to record
- Be open to accepting good things. Often, we may love to be a giver, but can have trouble receiving
Keep margin in your schedule to exhale and slow down a bit- Be present in the moment
- Look for opportunities to give kindness to others
- Practice saying thank you
- Be mindful of your 5 senses and enjoy how they enhance your life
- Think about others you are grateful for and share that with them
- Take a few moments at the end of each day and think about the good things in this day. How much good can you count?
Choosing to be grateful can be a difficult change for some who have experienced pain, sorrow, and hard seasons in their life. If this is something you are struggling with, our therapists would love to work with you and help you to make positive changes to encourage and support your mental health needs.
Want to learn more about gratitude and how it can help you? Book now with our therapists in Greenville, SC.
If you’re looking for support in understanding and increasing your gratitude this next season, a therapist at Upstate Restorative Counseling can help, Learn more about Upstate Restorative Counseling in Greenville, SC.
Other Services Provided by our Therapists in Greenville, SC
We know that life is hard, you’re not alone in dealing with it. Upstate Restorative Counseling provides other services that can help you! We provide assistance with counseling in Trauma, Anxiety, Depression, Navigating Life Transitions, Resolving Relationship Issues, and Online Therapy. When you are ready, our team is here to support you.
Trauma Therapy
PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder and can occur when someone has experienced or had exposure to a traumatic event. Often we hear about PTSD from those who have experienced a military trauma, a natural event trauma like a hurricane or flood, or maybe had an experience with violence. While these are some of the situations and experiences where someone may struggle with PTSD there are so many more experiences that can also cause people to struggle with the symptoms of PTSD.
Symptoms that you are struggling with PTSD can affect every part of a person’s life. There are physical, mental, relationship, and emotional symptoms. If you are wondering if you may have PTSD or are struggling with some of these symptoms, we would encourage you to reach out to your family doctor or a therapist to further discuss how you are feeling as some of these symptoms can also be present in other concerns.
What might PTSD feel like physically?
- Easily startled or frightened
- Feeling as if you need to be on guard in all situations
- Looking at circumstances and needing to immediate assess for danger
- Choosing self-destructive behaviors such as possibly over-drinking, driving too fast, taking physical risks that you would not normally take
- Trouble sleeping
- Struggling with flashbacks
- Having nightmares
- Feeling restless and unable to relax
- Feeling irritable
- Unable able to control your anger
- Aggressive behavior
What might PTSD feel like mentally?
- Trouble concentrating
- Trouble working through processes to accomplish tasks you are used to doing
- Memory problems
- Trouble staying focused
- Avoiding thinking about the trauma, your life, or what you may need
- Always thinking about what has happened
- Choosing to be quiet and withdraw from talking with others
What might PTSD feel like emotionally?
Struggling with having negative thoughts about yourself, others, and your circumstances- Feeling hopeless
- Difficulty maintaining close relationships
- Feeling detached from friends and family
- Lack of interest in activities that you enjoyed before
- Feeling numb
- Difficulty expressing positive emotions
- Overwhelming guilt
- Feeling shame
There is help!
These are a few of the symptoms that can be present when you are struggling with PTSD. No one person is affected with the exact same symptoms and there can be other symptoms that can also be present. These symptoms can also be a result of other physical, mental, and emotional concerns.
When you are struggling with any of these symptoms of PTSD you should not try to walk this journey alone. There are many benefits when working with a therapist who is trained in tools that can help you manage your PTSD. That journey begins with having someone who will listen and respect your story. That is the first step with all of our therapists.
Working with a therapist will also help you to better understand and work through your personal story, the events and trauma that you have experienced. They can help you determine the triggers that you are struggling with. Once those are defined, they can help you to see how your physical body, mind and your emotions react to those triggers. They will provide tools that will help you to manage those triggers and allow you to have control back in how you will react and work through these concerns. Our therapists believe in providing individual tools and plans for each client that meets their needs and will help them to move forward towards the life they want to have.
For more information on the services that our therapists provide for PTSD and trauma please see https://upstaterestorativecounseling.com/trauma-therapy/
Anxiety
In this fast-paced, ever-changing life there will be seasons when everyone experiences some anxiety. For some who experience anxiety, trying a more holistic approach is a great way to start to manage their anxiety.
For others who may have more severe symptoms or ongoing circumstances that keep their anxiety at an acute level, seeking professional help along with using holistic treatments will be more beneficial in treating and managing ongoing and deeper levels of anxiety.
What is anxiety? Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It is how it processes something that is stressful to you. It is a natural alert response. Anxiety can become a problem when we feel we are unable to work through the circumstance or trigger that is making us feel stressed. We may not feel we have the tools to diffuse the stress, figured out new situations, or work through the problem or trigger that causes us to feel anxious.
There are many holistic ways to help us manage anxiety. We will share a few in this article that are beneficial for all. Maintaining these practices will help us to create a healthier mind, emotions, and body. Some of those tools are:
Deep Breathing.
When you begin to feel the physical symptoms of anxiety or stress, take a moment to take a few deep breaths. This not only gives your body the additional oxygen it needs but also allows your heart rate to slow down. While you are doing the deep breathing it also provides a few moments to detach from the trigger and think about how you would like to move forward.
Journal.
Journaling is a wonderful way to help record how you are feeling but also why you be feeling anxious moments, which circumstances cause you to feel anxious, and how you have handled these feelings in the past. Knowing your triggers, circumstances and what has helped previously is helpful when dealing with anxiety.
Practice meditation or mindfulness.
These practices will help you learn how to be present in the moment. To be able to notice more clearly what is going on around you, how you are feeling both emotionally and physically, and be able to see things that normally you may miss when you are feeling on alert and anxious.
Being able the see things more clearly, reducing your physical symptoms, and staying in the moment can help to reduce the stress that a circumstance or trigger may bring. This practice can bring calm and contentment that is difficult to have during times of feeling anxious.
Sleep.
A good night’s sleep is crucial to our body and mind getting the rest and restoration that is needed to help us in dealing with all that a new day may bring. If you struggle with any part of the sleep process, there are multiple ways to enhance the routine that is needed for a good night of sleep. Some of those ways that may help are:
- Limiting phone and computer use after a certain time in the evening
- Choosing a relaxing activity an hour before you go to bed to allow your body to exhale and relax a little
- Take a warm bath, have a cup of non-caffeinated tea, or use aromatherapy scents like lavender to help your body relax and prepare for sleep.
- Some not having their office in the same room they sleep in
- Making sure you schedule the amount of time your body needs to sleep on a regular basis
- Keeping a regular schedule of when you go to bed and when you get up
- If you find you have a lot on your mind before bed, then take a few moments to write down those items and put them away till the morning
Healthy Diet.
When we choose to eat the best foods for our body, it provides the fuel and nutrients to allow our bodies to work at their best. Each person may have individual needs depending on their overall health, age, any illness or conditions they may have, so each person will need to learn what foods are best for their bodies. Choosing to incorporate these healthy choices as often as you can into your diet will help it to function the best it can.
Staying Active.
Staying active through movement and exercise is good for both our physical, mental, and emotional health. Getting our heart rate up by moving is good for our physical bodies. Exercising is a terrific way to let go of some the stress we may feel during the day and is wonderful for getting our minds on
something different for a little while.
You do not need to be a hard-core athlete to benefit from staying active. Small steps each day can have an amazing benefit in your health!
While we hope that utilizing some of these holistic tools will help to manage your anxiety, we know that some may need some additional tools. If you are still struggling, our therapists are here to help you learn other ways to manage your anxiety. By working together with an anxiety therapist, they will help you to better understand your body’s response to stress, help to determine what triggers your anxiety, and provides tools that can help you manage your anxiety better. Click here for more information about anxiety treatment In Greenville, SC.
Relationship Issues
We often think about jet lag when we are traveling between different time zones and countries, but we can also experience jet lag in our relationships. Feeling jet lag in a relationship occurs when the relationship is out of sync.
There can be many reasons for feeling out of sync in our relationships. Often as relationships experience change it can create feelings of being out of sync or not being attuned like we may have been in the relationship.
Some of those changes can be:
- time restraints-not being able to hang out as much as we would like due to other responsibilities or personal needs
- distance restraints-someone is traveling or has had a recent move
- changes in activities that one of the friends need to do now
- changes in goals and personal pursuits
- additional new friends or family needing one of the friend’s time or attention
- personal growth in one of the friends which could change the existing dynamics of the friendship
What does jet lag look like in a relationship?
- Struggling to feel connected to the person
- Feeling distracted and unable to focus
- Trouble transitioning in the relationship
- Finding reasons to not engage or get together
- Misunderstanding conversations or situations that previously would not have been a concern
If you are feeling some of these emotions, there are some ways to work on resolving the feeling of jet lag:
Pay Attention.
It is important to pay attention to our friendships and when something about the relationship feels different, take the time to evaluate what may be going on.
Auto-Pilot.
Often, we can become on autopilot in our relationships and when that happens it can become hard to be able to adapt, change and grow in our relationships. We may not always realize we are living on autopilot until someone brings that to our attention.
Communicate.
Choosing to share honestly how we are feeling and what we need in our relationships is crucial to working through jet lags and the natural transitions that come in our relationships.
Take Responsibility.
Taking responsibility for our own thoughts, feeling and actions and how we share those is needed as we work through jet lag and changes that come with relationships.
Be Open.
While it is important to know and understand our self in jet lag, it is equally important to listen and understand what the other person in the relationship is thinking and feeling.
Be Your Best Self.
Continue to work on yourself. Work towards understanding your own thoughts, emotions and needs. Be sure you are taking good care of yourself. Being your best will help you bring a healthy person into the relationship which is needed for the best relationship with someone else.
Compromise.
With all relationships, there will need to be healthy compromise as both people in a relationship work together to have the best relationship for both.
Transitions will happen in all relationships and how we learn to manage them is crucial to maintaining and growing healthy relationships.
Some ways to work through transitions together are:
- Know the best way for you to work through them
- Know your needs in times of transitions
- Be open to the needs of both people
- Listen and acknowledge what the other person is sharing
- Work towards meeting the needs of both people in the relationship
- Be willing to compromise and to try to develop the best solution for both people
If you are struggling with transitions in your relationships, our therapists are here to help. They would love to help you better understand where you may feel jet lag or be struggling in your relationships. For more information please see: https://upstaterestorativecounseling.com/relationship-issues/
Depression
Yes being in nature for even 10 minutes can bring positive changes to your health. Besides helping depression, there are many wonderful ways that you can choose to be in nature and all of them can help with our physical, emotional, social, and mental health by helping with the following:
Physical:
- Can help you to slow down and exhale
- Can allow you to release stress and the physical effects of stress
- Can help you to relax and allow your body to decompress after a hard day
- Can you help you sleep better at night
- Some activities such as walking can help to improve your physical health
Emotional:
- Can help to improve your mood
- Can help to reduce the feelings that come along with stress and anger
- Can help to reduce the feelings of isolation and loneliness
- Feeling connected to nature and your surroundings can be life-giving
Mentally,
- Can help you to think clearer
- Can help with sorting through options and decision making
- Can improve confidence when you are thinking clearer
Socially.
- Brings opportunities to meet new people with similar interests
- Brings opportunities to be part of your community
- Allows you to volunteer in causes and activities that are important to you
- Provides opportunities to step out a little and try new things
For many people, exercise is what brings them out into nature and while that is a wonderful way to experience nature there are so many other ways such as:
Nurture Nature.
- Create a growing space such as a garden or container garden for food or flowers
- Join a co-op with others to work a piece of land to grow vegetables for a community garden
- Visit and when able to support local farms and orchards
- Visit local markets in your area that bring fresh foods to your community
- Join a food foraging group and learn what foods grow naturally in your area
- Enjoying your meals on the porch
Restful Moments.
- Taking a nap in your hammock
- Reading your favorite book on your deck while listening to the birds sing
- Having your morning coffee in your favorite chair on the back porch before you start your day
- Watching the sunrise or sunset from your backyard
Creative Soul.
- Learn more about the stars and check out local observatories in your area
- Put a blanket out in the backyard on a clear night and do some star gazing
- Taking your favorite art project to the beach or park to get inspiration
- Trying your hand at photography and highlighting the unique nature around you
- Displaying some of your artwork in your home or office
- Searching for shells for your favorite jar or to make something with
Animal Lover.
- Talking your dog on a new trail in your favorite park
- Build an animal habit such as a bird box
- Put up bird feeders in your yard
- Enjoy watching the hummingbirds swirl and dance around their feeders in the warmer months
- Take a bird watching walk at a bird sanctuary and see how many types of birds you can find
- Enjoy a day at the zoo and get reacquainted with your favorite childhood animals
Outdoor Venues.
- Try glamping if tent camping is not for you.
- Search for new waterfalls in your area
- Enjoy a slow pontoon boat ride around your favorite lake enjoying all the nature around the lake
- Have an evening of night fishing and see what you can catch
- Take a long walk on the beach at sunset to listen to the ocean
- Try planning your next adventure with geocaching maps and see what treasures you may find
These are just a few suggestions to try to get started. Some of these ideas take little time but will bring great benefits to your health.
If you are struggling with your mental health, our therapists are here to help. For more information on how we can help please take a look at: https://upstaterestorativecounseling.com/
Start small just 10 minutes a day and see how being in nature can bring positive changes in your health.
