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Enough of the stuff about doing more, and trying harder. I am sure you are doing more than enough. So here are ten things you are doing right during this pandemic pandemonium Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), New Jersey (USA) and the UK www.exploretransform.com +1-201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com Ever wondered what EMDR involves, and why it is so effective for so many issues including trauma, phobias, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and so many more issues? EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy and it is recognised as an "A" level of treatment for trauma (World Health Organization), and it is recognised by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence as one of two empirically supported treatments of choice for adult PTSD. Here is a fantastic video explaining everything you need to know about EMDR. It was created by Lola Perez-Gavino, Clinical Psychologist at Mindmadesimple. Find out more about how I can use EMDR to help you work through whatever may be holding you back. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), New Jersey (USA) and the UK www.exploretransform.com +1-201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com With everything going on, who has the time to read articles and blog posts? Certainly not me! So here is an audio version of an article previously published. Even if you are social distancing, you can still stay connected. To protect our mental health, we need to see faces and hear voices. Here are a few imaginative ways to do this. Book online today https://www.exploretransform.com/ Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Explore, Transform Psychotherapy | New Jersey, USA & the UK Specializing in Anxiety, Depression, Relationship Conflict, and Men's Therapy. We also offer EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy) Even if you are confined to your home, there are ways you can establish freedom from within. This is a podcast version of the article I recently released...just in case you didn't get time to read it! Hope you find it useful. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), New Jersey (USA) and the UK www.exploretransform.com +1-201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com Explore, Transform Psychotherapy is now accepting patients in the US (New Jersey) and UK via online therapy. We specialize in anxiety, depression, relationship conflict, and men's therapy. We also offer EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy) for survivors of trauma. Book a free online consultation today Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), New Jersey (USA) and the UK www.exploretransform.com +1-201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com  Without awareness, food can offer the illusion of escape as much as it can become a trap. Sometimes when we are stressed, we turn to food to manage our emotions. This might be the result of habits that were formed very early in our childhood. But habits can be broken, no matter how long we have lived with them. I have recorded a Mindfulness exercise to help you to develop awareness around your eating habits. With greater awareness, you can make informed choices about what and how you eat. You may even end up enjoying the food a little more! If you would like to find out more about anxiety, you can view free resources here. Book online today, telephone, or send us an email. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), Northern New Jersey www.exploretransform.com 201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com #findatherapist #northernnewjersey #beyondtheblue #mentalhealth You are doing a brilliant thing by staying home; you are saving lives. But knowing this does not help when you crave for human connection. We are built to socialize, and some days can seem so very long. We need to keep connected to others, so it is great that we have our phones. But plain old conversations can quickly run dry. We are all pretty much in it together, so our experiences overlap; once we have established which Netflix series we have caught up on, and which home-baked recipe we have tried (and failed at), there isn’t much more to say. There is a danger that we will bore the pants off each other (assuming we are wearing pants…and the likelihood is, we aren’t). So let’s try and establish a new way of connecting with each other. We need to include faces and voices in our connection because these give us the richness of variation. Without a face and a voice, how can we watch for facial cues, and how can we hear the nuances in different tones of voice. There are so many shades of emotion that can be expressed in a simple ‘Hello’. So we need things like Zoom and Facetime and Google Hangout. But once we are on there, staring at each other, ready to hear what is on offer, what then? Here are some ideas –
Glazing over the cracks We are dealing with so much right now, that our eyes are bound to glaze over. Other people have called this ‘numbing out’, and it is a survival instinct. If we tried to process everything that we are experiencing, we might become overwhelmed. So, in a way, it helps us. But it only helps in the short-term. Eventually, we need to shake ourselves free and become aware of the present moment. To help with this, start gently. Just notice your breathing, and then widen your attention to different parts of your body. Eventually, you will be able to widen your attention to your surroundings and start to become aware of more and more of the present moment. There are mindfulness exercises to help with this ability to just ‘notice’. And the key thing is to just notice without judging yourself. Just accept your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. On my Audio Therapy page, you will find lots of free mindfulness exercises. https://www.exploretransform.com/audio-therapy.html Another therapist, Licia Sky, also offers free online resources, and here is a link to just one of her offerings called Widening the Walls of Perception: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-I2uR6Axq0 Let me know if you have found others that you prefer. We are all in this together! Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), New Jersey (USA) and the UK www.exploretransform.com 201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com  Confined to your home, you are bound to feel a little stir-crazy. Piled on top of that, if your home-life contains endless conflict, you can end up feeling like there is no escape. Your instinct is to flee, which is your fight or flight response (your sympathetic nervous system), as primal as the stone-cold cave. But physical escape is not an option. Instead, you need to find ways to establish freedom from within. One way to do this is to move your body. Physical movement and deep breathing can activate your ‘rest and digest’ system (the parasympathetic nervous system), and you can start to feel freer, and more in control. At the moment, you may not think there are many opportunities for movement, but there are more than you realise. Start with some of these free exercises, and let me know if you need more –
I know it is not a great situation to be confined at home, but I hope you get at least some relief from these suggestions. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), Northern New Jersey www.exploretransform.com 201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com 
To manage anxiety, you need to believe in your inner resources. To believe in your inner resources, you need to become aware of, and accept, your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations.
​ To help with this, there is a mindfulness exercise called the Body Scan. During this exercise, as you scan your body, you become aware of your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. A key component of mindfulness is acceptance: 1. You accept the thoughts that arise 2. You accept the emotions that you are aware of, and 3. You accept the bodily sensations that you notice You do not have to do anything about the thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations, just notice them and accept them without judgment. The idea is that the more we judge, or try to reject unwanted thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations, the more power we give them. Sometimes if we just notice them, the thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations can peak and then subside. I have recorded an audio version of the Body Scan, so have a listen and see what comes up. With a little practice, you will become aware of, and accept, your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. And in time, this will give you the resilience to manage your anxiety. To find out more about anxiety, check out my additional free resources here. https://www.exploretransform.com/help-for-anxiety.html Book online today, telephone, or send us an email. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), Northern New Jersey www.exploretransform.com 201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com​ #findatherapist #northernnewjersey #beyondtheblue #mentalhealth
Relationships can endure pressure, and sometimes the pressure builds so much that they are fractured. If this has happened to your personal or work relationship, here are a few steps to take -
1. Decide if you need or want to repair this relationship. If you weigh up the pros and cons of having this person in your life, you may realise that it is not worth continuing with the relationship. 2. Assuming you want to keep this person in your life, or you have no choice, you need to figure out how to repair that relationship. This can be hard if someone has hurt you, or you believe that they have wronged you. You need to develop compassion for this person, and one way is to try and empathise with how they may have viewed the situation. Try and understand why they may have behaved in such a way. You don't have to agree with someone to empathise with, and understand where they are coming from. 3. Even if you can understand where someone is coming from, it can be hard to truly repair the relationship. The final, and most essential, step is to develop compassion for that person. To develop this compassion, there is a mindfulness exercise called the Loving Kindness Meditation. This encourages you to hold the image of the person in your heart, as if a parent were holding their child. This often takes time to master, but it is worth it. I have recorded an audio version of it, so you can listen to it whenever you like. I hope you find this useful. If you would like to find out more about anxiety, you can view free resources here. Book online today, telephone, or send us an email. ​ Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist, (Licensed Professional Counselor), Northern New Jersey www.exploretransform.com 201-779-6917 chris@exploretransform.com #findatherapist #northernnewjersey #beyondtheblue #mentalhealth |
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