Pursuing health and wholeness
- Caregiving, Mental Health, Mental Health Advocate, Mental Health Caregiver, Not Alone, Pursuing health and wholeness, Suicidality, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention
The Caregiver of Mental Crisis Needs Support & to Be Seen.
The caregiver of mental crisis needs support. They need someone in their corner uplifting them and saying “I see you. You are not alone. The work you are doing to keep your loved one alive matters.” They need tools and resources to know how to navigate the deep, murky waters of suicide caregiving, as they advocate for and come alongside their loved one struggling. They support their loved one day after day and need support themselves. My book: “Battle Forged & Battle Ready: A Message of Hope & Resilience for the Caregiver of Suicidality, Trauma, & Persistent Mental Illness” is for you the caregiver. It comes out of my personal…
- Beauty, Bible, Choose Joy, Coping strategies, Encouragement, faith and psychology, Fighting for Joy, Focusing on Truth, intentionality, Life Battles, Life Storms, Mental Health, Mental Health Advocate, Not Alone, Pursuing health and wholeness, Truth
The act of noticing beauty is a powerful antidote to mental health struggles
The act of noticing beauty is a powerful antidote to mental health struggles.It doesn’t remove the struggles from our life, but it uplifts and brings goodness into the difficult. ❤️ I stopped in my everyday moment to see beauty right there.Flowers still blooming though fall has come.One of my favorite flowers… The purple coneflower What beauty have you found today in your everyday life?Share in the comments ⬇️ This act of noticing beauty in your everyday life is a powerful antidote to mental health struggles. If you haven’t noticed something yet, stop, find something, and comment here. It can be a hot cup of coffee, a smiling face, or anything…
- Anxiety, Bible, Caregiving, Coping strategies, Faith, Fear, Focusing on Truth, Overcome anxiety & worry, positive self-talk, Prayer, Pursuing health and wholeness, spirit of fear, Trauma
How to Deal With Fear and Anxiety Part 2- Focus on Powerful Truth
I learned how to do life with fear alongside.Not leading the way, not overtaking me… but fear in its’ proper place- as a tool to give information, and as an emotion to acknowledge. In caregiving for my child with a life-threatening diagnosis, I clung to the powerful truth found in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I prayed it. I told God I didn’t want the spirit of fear and asked Him to help me have His power, His love, His sound mind. It wasn’t a one and done conversation. It was…
- Anxiety, Anxiety tips and tricks, Caregiving, Coping strategies, Fear, how to decrease fear, Medical diagnosis, Mental Health, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Trauma, Truth
How to Deal With Fear & Anxiety Part 1- Do Life With Fear Alongside
Fear and anxiety can be ever present with us, but I learned a powerful truth about fear as I walked thru caregiving for a life-threatening diagnosis for my child. I have a powerful truth for you to hold onto in the midst of difficulty and fear. Grab these 2 free powerful printables- just for you- 2 FREE 8.5 x 11 Printables- To Empower & Encourage You. You will also get on my email newsletter which you don’t want to miss. Stick around to see part 2 of Fear & Anxiety. I learned how to live life with fear alongside.And it was empowering & life-changing for me. “Live life with fear…
- Choose Joy In the Midst, Coping strategies, EMDR, Fight or Flight Response, Mental Health, Not Alone, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, therapy, Trauma
How Can You Decrease Your PTSD or Trauma Response? It is, in fact, Possible.
You Don’t Have to Be Stuck in Your PTSD or Trauma Response. There are ways to decrease and dial down the response in the moment friend. There is hope. The intensity of your responses to trauma can be dialed down. How? The first step is self-awareness. Being aware of what is occurring and what specific things trigger you. (A trigger is something associated with the trauma memory. A trigger is not something you choose, but something your amygdala has connected to the trauma. An object, a similar situation, a sound, a smell, etc.) I know it’s likely not something you want to think about or focus on because avoidance of…
- Choose Joy, Choose Joy In the Midst, Coping strategies, Fight or Flight Response, Mental Health, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, Trauma
Choose Joy In the Midst of PTSD & Trauma Responses
You may be wondering how on earth can both phrases “Choose Joy In the Midst” and “PTSD and Trauma Responses” be connected? I believe we *can* in fact find Joy and choose joy in the midst of very difficult trauma responses we face. We can choose joy and fight for goodness in our lives by pursuing healing and finding ways to positively cope and decrease our trauma responses. Read on, friend. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can ensue from trauma and cause your body to go into a fight or flight response when switched on (or triggered) by something that reminds you of that traumatic event. ➡️ Triggers can be…
- Breathing technique, calming techniques, Coping strategies, Fight or Flight Response, Mental Health, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, Trauma
Use Breathing To Regulate Your Nervous System & Decrease Your Stress
Using our breath to help decrease our stress in the moment is incredibly helpful and important. Follow the prompts in this picture. Breathe in for a count of 3. Hold for 3. Breathe out for a count of 3. The breathing out slowly helps brings online the parasympathetic system (to rest & calm & settle the body & nervous system). This technique has a name called: Boxed breathing- a technique of breathing in for 3 seconds, holding for 3 seconds, and exhaling slowly for 3 seconds helps regulate anxiousness or triggered moments, stressful moments. You can do it multiple times as long as you don’t get lightheaded. I also strongly…
- break the stigma, Choose Joy, Choose Joy In the Midst, Mental Health, Not Alone, Overcome anxiety & worry, PTSD, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, Trauma
You Are Not ALONE In Your Battle.
You are not ALONE in your battle. Do you believe it? Do you have anyone in your corner, supporting you, coming alongside you in the battle(s) you are facing? Have you opened up to anyone and shared the silent or secret battle you face? Have you let anyone in friend? Do you have someone in your life who feels safe and you can trust to share what you are battling? I believe community is *vital* to making it through the battles we face. Safe, trustworthy, confidential, supportive community. Did you know “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). This is talking about Jesus. Jesus is…
- Amygdala, break the stigma, EMDR, emotional intelligence, Emotions, Fight or Flight Response, Free Resource, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, therapy, Trauma
The Amgdala
Do you know what the amygdala is?If you’ve heard of it, it’s probably in reference to the fight or flight response related to stress responses or PTSD.That is true. The amygdala’s importance goes far beyond that though.The amygdala is the emotional processing center. It works alongside other parts of your limbic system to process your emotional memories, good and bad, and store them.You can’t access these emotional memories easily with cognitive thinking. This is incredibly important to understand for trauma healing as trauma memories are processed here.This is also why I’m a big proponent of EMDR therapy for emotional and trauma healing.I will share more on that later though.Follow me…
- break the stigma, faith and psychology, Fighting for Joy, Free Resource, Life Battles, Life Storms, Mental Health, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, therapy, Trauma
Break the Stigma. Normalize Therapy. Download my Resource.
Break the stigma. Normalize therapy. Grab my free resource ➡️ Here’s the link! There is no shame in mental health therapy, in fact there is freedom. So, let me ask— What valley are you walking through? Has your joy been stolen like the song “For My Good” by Maverick City Music says? Are you dealing with relational struggles? The impact of past trauma? Depression? Changes in life you hadn’t planned on? Grief? Loss? Anxiety? PTSD (A response following trauma) ? Manic and depressive changes? Stress? Disappointments? Alcoholism? Addiction? The list goes on… These and so many more topics are reasons to find a therapist— to help you process through the…