> JUMP TO DOWNLOAD < The Emotion-Sensation Feeling Wheel WHAT IS IT: It’s an adaptation of the “feelings wheel” that many therapists and educators use to help people learn to better recognize and name their emotions. HOW THE EMOTION-SENSATION WHEEL IS DIFFERENT: The two inner rings of this wheel are emotions, the…
The original version of this illustration was intended as a professional resource, but as Social Distancing entered the global vocabulary and #quarantinewithkids started trending, I wanted to create a resource for parents who are helping kids process the experience of being a kid during a pretty scary time. There is a great visual floating around…
This originally eight-part doodle on ways to manage mental-health highlights several research-backed adjunctive therapies for low mood and depressive symptoms. Before I had the opportunity to publish the eight-part comic, COVID-19 pandemic ushered many of us into intense social distancing practices. In reviewing the original comic, I decided to edit it down to the…
Our lives have changed significantly in the past few weeks as Covid-19 has spread around the globe and into our communities. In the space of a month we shifted from life-as-usual to- if our jobs and lifestyles allowed it- nearly complete isolation. For all of us, this is a challenge. For individuals struggling with mental…
For the past few months, I’ve been researching RO-DBT. Traditional DBT helps develop emotion regulation and impulse control in people who struggle in these areas, but Radically Open (RO) DBT is an adaptation of DBT targeted towards people struggling in the opposite way: those with an overabundance of self-control and who struggle to express emotion.…
Right now it’s hard to know what is & isn’t overreacting- but self care is a lens that may help bring some clarity. It’s normal to be worried. It’s smart to stay up to date, But how can we gauge whether our response is “not enough” or “too much”? Self Care is the frame I’m…
Even if you’ve never been to therapy or studied psychology, you’ve probably heard of “breakthroughs” in therapy. It’s a word that Hollywood loves – but doesn’t really exist in real life. In media depictions of psychotherapy– where therapy is often used as a gimmick to advance plot rather than a realistic representation- a breakthrough is shown…
Reviewing the policies that protect client/patient privacy is a regular part of staff training in healthcare settings- but often when we encounter information we’ve seen dozens (or hundreds!) of times before, we often “zone out” a bit rather than focusing in on reviewing critical information. Our familiarity with procedures can sometimes make it difficult…
You’ve seen my Halloween themed ghost attachment styles doodles, now here’s the valentine version! Purchase Digital PDF: Origins During my first year of graduate school, I managed to sneak into an elective intended for students later on in the 3-year program. The course was Interpersonal Neurobiology: the study of how brains change within the context…
Culturally we are doing a really good job of normalizing the use of therapy and medication, but I wonder sometimes if we underemphasize that therapy takes time and effort to work. It’s not unusual for people entering therapy for the first time to expect rapid results or that they can use therapy to recover…
Writing long-hand about my own experience in therapy helps me continue to develop self-awareness and integrate my emotional/sensory experience with my thinking-brain. Recently I’ve been thinking about how I could help others access the benefits of journalling about therapy if they aren’t the sort of person who enjoys long-format journalling. This article features tips on…
Often, it can feel like time has stopped when we are in a high anxiety or much-dreaded situation. Having a countdown on your watch or phone that shows that hours, minutes, and seconds really are ticking by can be a helpful tool to ground yourself and get through it. If appropriate to the context, music…
Demonstrating our trustworthiness builds relational bridges that self-advertisement cannot. If you sense that your friend, partner, child, client, etc feels hesitant to trust you, let them hesitate. Stay present, validate the experiences that led them to be cautious about who they trust, take responsibility for any of those experiences that you played a role in,…
A flowchart for getting to sleep. We all know how elusive sleep can be, but quality sleep is essential for physical and mental health. When sleep feels hard to come by, “sleep hygiene” the go-to remedy. While some sleep and insomnia related issues need specific treatments including medication or longer-term psychotherapy, psychoeducation about sleep hygiene…
Why Mindfulness? In a culture where life is often lived digitally, mindfulness matters. While our brains increasingly adept at sensing fake news deciphering complex texts based on emojis, but increasingly we struggle to orient ourselves to more physical, embodied, aspects of the world. Mindfulness is one way to train your brain to be present in…
Dismantling mental health triggers often involves a little detective work. Although awareness of “being triggered” can be very obvious, for many people, figuring out specific triggers can be a puzzle. Solving the puzzle requires developing a capacity to seek to know ourselves better, then noticing and tracking backward chronologically to begin to locate exact triggering…
The nature of crisis is that it’s (1) overwhelming, and (2) inevitable. Whether you are a clinician in the helping professions or a person in relationship with other persons, crisis will show up eventually. When it does, we can all be a little more ready to handle potentially overwhelming experiences by planning how to…
