MIND YOUR MIND NEWS April 2022, Issue 4
MYM NEWS
Table of
Contents From the Desk of Irene Barton Page 3 January Page 5 Mind Your Mind Recap Page 6 Post-Holiday Blues Page 8 Self-Care Booklist Page 11 Mindful Self-Compassion: Compassion for the Caregiver Page 12 February Page 13 Black Mental Health Page 14 Black and African American Mental Health Resources Page 17 Mindful Self-Compassion: Radical Acceptance and Self-Compassion Page 18 March Page 19 Women’s HERstory Month Page 20 Women’s Mental Health Page 22 Mindful Self-Compassion: Self-Compassion in Anxious Times Page 26 Thank You to our Sponsor Page 27 Resources Page 28
MYM NEWS
FROM THE DESK OF IRENE BARTON Fellow Advocates, Research and surveys continue to remind us of the mental and emotional toll that the pandemic is having on the well-being of many persons. It seems as if every group is impacted in some unique way. For example, a recent CDC report of more than 7,700 high school students reveals teens reporting high levels of mental distress, risky health behaviors, economic instability and abuse. At our TownHall in March that focused on the mental health of seniors, we learned about the impact of the aging process on mental health. And we continue to work with our school systems and post-secondary partners to explore ways to support students and educators' mental well-being. The three goals of our Mind Your Mind mental health awareness campaign remain critical: • Raise Awareness • Promote Resiliency • Reduce Stigma Even if you do receive our newsletter each month, please take the time to refresh yourself on the content that we share. While we do have trainings scheduled each month, we would be happy to speak with you about scheduling a Community Resilience Model, Mindful Self-Compassion or Connections Matter training specifically for your staff members. Please feel free to contact me and let's discuss how we can support your staff and volunteers. Warmly,
Irene M. Barton Executive Director
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“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.
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Check out the infographic for just a few areas of impact in 2021 as part of our Mind Your Mind mental health campaign. Thank you for partnering with us in creating a trauma-informed and resiliency-focused community! We can't believe we're already sending the very first Mind Your Mind Newsletter for 2022. Most of us have now returned from our holiday breaks and have gone full force ahead into this next year. Maybe this new year is off to a great start for you and you returned feeling energized and prepared. But maybe for others, you came back feeling tired, unprepared, and behind before you even started. It is normal to experience that post-holiday frazzle, and invite you at this time to practice being kind and compassionate with yourselves as you continue to map out the year ahead. As we're mapping out our year here at the Collaborative, we are excited to announce that we will shortly be launching a new mental health resource that we hope will be a support to you, and assist you in supporting others and the community as a whole. We are thankful for the ways you all have journeyed with us so far and look forward to building a more Resilient Cobb in 2022!
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Post-holiday blues share many of the same characteristics of a mood disorder: insomnia, lowenergy, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and anxiousness. Unlike a mood disorder though, these symptoms are short-term. If you're experiencing the blues after the holidays, there a few things you can do: 1 . Ta k e c a re o f y o u r s e l f through quality sleep, exercise, a healthy diet, and reestablishing a routine. 2. Schedule time for something you enjoy like a hobby, getting outside, or (safely) gathering with a friend. 3. Practice self-kindness and compassion as you readjust. If symptoms do persist, reach out to someone and ask for help.
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CLICK HERE to check Cobb County library's Self-Care Booklist
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Compassion for the Caregiver The new year often brings a desire for a fresh start and prompts us to think about changes we want to make in our lives. If you look at the January store sales, you would think the way to make lasting change is to buy new workout gear or organizational storage! Our culture tends to talk about change as a “do it all at once, right now” process. But research shows new habits take time to build and they are more likely to endure if we are compassionate with ourselves instead of demanding immediate change. Lasting habit change requires patience, practice, self-kindness, and a willingness to mess up and try again. Here are some strategies to help us implement changes in our habits and routines. 1.
Gentleness and baby steps - This is my favorite mantra for lasting change. Real change comes from looking at our own needs with a caring rather than a demanding lens. New habits are more likely to last when they are motivated by selfkindness rather than self-criticism, perfectionism, and “shoulds”. Practice taking one new step for a while, allow slip-ups and get back on the horse again and again with that one small change. Then as you begin feeling better about that one change, add another small step. Be gentle with yourself and keep taking baby steps.
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Noticing - To take steps toward change we need to notice the obstacles to change, both the obstacles in our environment and any internal resistance that is tripping us up. If my goal is to speak up at work and I continue to avoid it, can I zoom in closer on what is stopping me? Is it my thoughts or feelings or is it the behavior of a coworker? Are there small changes I can make to remove some of the barriers I notice? When we can notice our internal and external obstacles and respond with kindness, it helps!
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Challenge all-or-nothing thinking - This can sound like: “I wanted to do yoga every day this week but I skipped yesterday so I might as well start again next week.” This all-or-nothing mindset is deeply ingrained in many of us and causes us to create a false choice for ourselves between doing things perfectly or not at all. But with practice we can challenge this all-or-nothing way of thinking. For me this sounds like, “I can’t get to yoga today and that is ok. I know I need patience, kindness and to keep practicing. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
Keeping these three things in mind when you undertake any kind of change in your life will help make new habits more likely to stick. Developing new habits is very challenging, so we should always undertake them with a heaping helping of self-kindness. Let’s make 2022 the year of self-kindness! Diane Hilleary, LCSW, CEDS - S Atlanta Center For Self-Compassion 12
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As we close out Black History Month, we honor two Black pioneers in mental health, Mamie and Kenneth Clark. Mamie Phipps Clark was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, while Kenneth Bancroft Clark was born Harlem, New York. Little did they know, being brought together by the dissection of psychology in the black community would bring about some incredible firsts. Mamie was the first African American woman to earn a degree from Columbia University in psychology. Her college experience helped her realize the shortage of psychological services available to the African American community and other minorities. Not long after conducting her master’s thesis, “The Development of Consciousness of Self in Negro Pre-School Children”, Mamie and Kenneth connected. Kenneth was a Howard graduate like Mamie, and lived to become the first ever African American president of the American Psychological Association. With Kenneth and Mamie working together, they were able to further Mamie’s thesis which then turned into their famous “Doll Study”. With this study, the Clarks were able to provide evidence in the supreme court case Brown vs. The Board of Education, citing that school segregation was psychologically harmful to black children. The Clarks then opened The Northside Center for Child Development where there was a full-time child guidance center offering psychological and casework services to families in the Harlem area. To read about more Black Pioneers in mental health, . For more information on Mental Health, visit our Mental Health Digital Toolkit. [Source: Mamie Phipps Clark, PhD, and Kenneth Clark, PhD. (2012). American Psychological Association. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/ pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/psychologists/clark]
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CLICK HERE to access mental health resources for Black and African Americans
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MYM NEWS
RADICAL ACCEPTANCE AND SELF-COMPASSION The other day I was late to an appointment I had been looking forward to. I felt frustrated with myself for missing something I actually wanted to do. I was angry at my dog for delaying me, angry with the other cars on the road: It was an unpleasant drive! Moments like these
But when we notice ourselves saying “It shouldn’t be this way” or “I shouldn’t be this way,” we have an opportunity to practice radical acceptance.
remind me of a skill I teach to clients: “radical acceptance.”
change, a move, or a death, can feel difficult or impossible. One small place to start is by reminding yourself that “loss, change, and death are a part of the human experience. You aren’t feeling this way because you are doing life wrong. There is no way to live a human life without heartbreak and suffering.”
Practicing radical acceptance with bigger life transitions like a break up, a job
On my drive, I tried to practice radical acceptance by pausing and noticing that my anger was only making me feel worse and it was likely to spoil the rest of my day. I validated the anger, telling myself: “It makes sense that you are frustrated and disappointed about being late.” Then I turned on some music to shift my attention away from the angry loops in my head. For the rest of the drive I slowed my breathing and listened to music and felt calmer. By the time I arrived, I was able to accept the time I had missed and be present for the time I had left.
You can use your body to help practice acceptance by sitting with open hands on your lap or breathing in and out deeply and slowly. Ask yourself, what would I wish for a friend who was in this situation? Or What do I need right now? We don’t have a choice about when life pulls the rug out from under us but do have choices about how we respond. When we can be gentle with ourselves and our pain, we may find that radical acceptance can help us get unstuck and keep us moving forward.
Radical acceptance is particularly needed as we enter year three of this pandemic. The personal and collective suffering I am hearing about from my clients and loved ones is intense and overwhelming. It feels like everyone I know is is suffering in one way or another. And much of the suffering
Diane Hilleary, LCSW, CEDS - S Atlanta Center For Self-Compassion
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March is a celebration of women and as we close out Women's History Month, Cobb Collaborative celebrates Dr. Marsha Linehan, a pioneer in psychology who made many strides in the study of Mental Health and introduced a new form of psychological treatment that is still in use today. Dr. Linehan’s doctoral work at Loyola University in Chicago focused on suicidal behavior, and as part of her program she offered treatment for those who were at risk for suicide. Linehan was accepted as a postdoctoral fellow at Stony Brook University where she studied behavioral therapy. While there, Linehan researched Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), an evidence-based treatment for chronic suicidal behaviors and borderline personality. Two important mental health concepts developed by Dr. Linehan were: 1.
To achieve meaningful, happy lives, people must learn to accept things as they are.
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Change is necessary for growth and happiness.
As developed, these concepts comprise the dialectical principles of change and acceptance, both of which are significant to the techniques employed by DBT. These approaches seek to improve mindfulness skills, coping and emotion regulation. Linehan continued to pursue approaches to DBT as she published books and manuals for practitioners. She founded many organizations including the Behavioral Tech LLC, Linehan Institute, and Behavioral Tech Research, Inc to advance the practice and knowledge about DBT today.
Linehan’s contribution to
mental health and advocacy for treatment was a major advancement for the field of psychology . For this reason, we recognize her work in this field. For more information on Mental Health, visit our Mental Health Digital Toolkit.
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SELF-COMPASSION IN ANXIOUS TIMES We are living through a time of unprecedented anxiety and uncertainty. For those of us who struggle with anxiety even in more normal times, the current state of the world can feel overwhelming and paralyzing. Many of us are searching desperately for some measure of control because we want this agonizing feeling to go away. But sometimes we can’t change the world around us. Though we may be powerless to end a global pandemic or a war in Europe, we are not powerless when it comes to dealing with our own anxiety. There are tools we can use to help us manage our feelings of fear and depletion. One place we can start is simply pausing for a moment to name how we are feeling. It may seem simple, but managing our emotions begins with noticing and naming them, especially if we can label the feeling with a gentle internal tone rather than a harsh one. Once we pause and gently name the anxiety, then we can remind ourselves that being anxious is part of being human. We are not overwhelmed and apprehensive because there is something wrong with us. In fact, we are feeling exactly the way our bodies are designed to feel when there is danger or uncertainty. What a difference it would make if we all blamed ourselves a little less and cared for ourselves instead. When a child has a cold or flu, we wish we could make them better, but we recognize it is out of our hands. Instead, we make the child soup or rub their back or read them stories. We do these things not to heal them, but to offer them comfort and love as their body heals itself. One of the key questions of self-compassion is: can I offer myself that same kind of care when I am suffering? Can I be good to myself even if doing so doesn’t make things better? We may not be able to make anxiety go away, but we can offer ourselves kindness and support while we feel it. When I am feeling anxiety or any painful emotion, I get back to the basics - grounding myself with routines of self-care. I have a list on a small whiteboard in my office that includes all the things that help me feel cared for and comforted. It is a challenge to make space for these things but one that I am always working on with gentleness and baby steps. Here is a sample: Take a walk, notice beauty in nature, call a friend, listen to a guided meditation, dance it out, do something creative. What are the ways you can offer yourself “soup” in the midst of these anxious times? I hope you too will make a list of the care you need and take a baby step of offering yourself something on the list.
Diane Hilleary, LCSW, CEDS - S Atlanta Center For Self-Compassion
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MYM NEWS
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR
Resilient Georgia's mission is to lead a state-wide coalition to develop a closelyaligned and traumainformed public and private network working toward a united vision to create a birth through 26 year old integrated behavioral health system. Key components to be implemented by their partners include prevention, early intervention, research, advocacy and policy, and System of Care implementation and coordination. Click here to learn more
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MYM NEWS
RESOURCES
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MYM NEWS
My GCAL App
The S Word
https://tinyurl.com/545j3znv A suicide attempt survivor is on a mission to find fellow survivors and document their stories of courage, insight and humor. Along the way, she discovers a rising national movement transforming personal struggles into action.
A Crisis Has No Schedule. That is why the MyGCAL App is designed to help young people in the state of Georgia access the Georgia Access and Crisis Line (GCAL) via chat, text, or phone call 24/7/365.
Mindful Self-Compassion
Mind Your Mind Speaks
tinyurl.com/mymspeaks Check out our podcast series where guests can share valuable insights to raise awareness, share mental health resources and inspire action throughout our community. Diane Hillary talks the mental health benefits of practicing self compassion. We are all overwhelmed, and we can all benefit from this 6 minute session of encouraging support. 29