https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog daily 0.75 2024-05-16 https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/five-tips-for-living-well-with-anxiety monthly 0.5 2024-05-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/dffe60c5-9415-47a9-b91e-8ab5f64b6b22/The+best+thing+to+do+when+anxiety+spikes%2C+is+to+let+it+be+there..png Blog - Five tips for living well with anxiety - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/accessibility-in-therapy-adhd monthly 0.5 2024-04-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/60ff367e-94c9-4e37-818a-863e1769b3ba/ADHD+quote.png Blog - Accessibility in therapy: ADHD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/the-therapy-relationship monthly 0.5 2024-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/fd39602d-b8ac-40ff-adc2-5878a7abc3d9/the+therapy+rship+then+and+now.png Blog - The therapy relationship - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/50edf07b-991e-4283-861c-900a6bdb6235/therapy+rship+number+2.png Blog - The therapy relationship - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/96dfa8c7-9fb8-438f-acc3-3402639adcf7/learning+to+be+you+therapy+rship+quote.png Blog - The therapy relationship - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/what-is-self-care monthly 0.5 2024-02-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/205e064d-2fc9-4f76-8f84-a2de940ca43f/You+don%E2%80%99t+have+to+grow+your+garden+alone%21.png Blog - What is self care? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/5cfdf965-b54d-4d98-9035-7ac91ddc3053/1.png Blog - What is self care? - Make it stand out Have you ever put a lot of effort into self care activities, only to find yourself become more tense and rigid? There is a lot of talk these days in mental health communities around self care. Let’s have a think about what it actually means. The dictionary defines self care as “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health”. A quick google on self-care tips suggests tips such as: have a cold shower, have a bubble bath, breathwork, have a cold bubble bath. Okay I made the last one up, but you get the idea. What is wrong with this narrative of self care? In short, self care can become just another coping mechanism, and another way that we try to control and eliminate difficult experiences. When you have a difficult thought, feeling or sensation, the problem lies with the desire to wash it away, whether that be by having a bath or by having a drink. This teaches our minds that difficult thoughts, feelings and sensations are to be avoided, and as we know, avoidance paradoxically leads to more of what we don’t like. Instead, we can learn to accept and love whatever experience arises. Intention matters. A bubble bath is a lovely thing, but if you spend the whole time ruminating and trying to think your problems away, this is in fact the opposite of self care. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/1c3b63d1-7f2f-4c56-8bc4-3fb4ba945737/bath+rumination+image.png Blog - What is self care? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/managing-chronic-pain-using-tools-from-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-values monthly 0.5 2024-02-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/66e377f3-ddbd-467b-98ae-cf8bae805c26/establishging+values+3.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - values - Make it stand out So what are values? Your values inform behaviour and actions. They give our lives meaning and help to determine what we do both in our internal world (thoughts) and external world (actions). Russ Harris (2019, p213) defines values as an ‘inner compass’ which are ‘our heart’s deepest desires for how we want to behave; how we want to treat ourselves, other people, and the world around us’. It is easy to confuse values with goals. Think of goals as one-time achievable actions – for example, you may have a goal to bake a cake at the weekend. Your values, which you can decide, would be how you want to bake that cake. Do you want to do it with love and mindfulness? Those would be values. Sometimes when living with pain or illness, it can be difficult to pursue certain goals as you may not know how you will feel down the line. Values on the other hand can inform how we navigate our here and now life in the context that we find ourselves. Can’t bake that cake at the weekend anymore? No bother! How else can you bring love and mindfulness into your present moment? The point is that we rely on our pre-decided values for action, rather than on our thoughts and feelings. This is a more intentional way of living. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/3c4ef194-fd85-4b32-9049-8ab1d7209e44/Values+poem.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - values - Make it stand out How do I define my values? Start by having a think about the kind of person you want to be. - How would you want other people to describe you? - What qualities do you want to bring to your relationships? - How do you want to treat yourself and body? - What qualities do you want to bring to periods of pain and difficulty? - What really matters to you given the context you are in? Have a go at making a list of your top five values, and experiment with making choices based on your values for a few days. Remember to be gentle with yourself. Values are not a stick to beat yourself with, they are a support with which you can be playful and light. How does this relate to chronic pain or illness? When life is affected by pain or illness, values may need to be adjusted. The wonderful thing about values is that they can be held lightly, and we can focus on different values depending on our context. For example, if your feelings of pain or illness are not constant but flare up from time to time, you can create values that are accessible for these times. - How do you want to treat yourself and others when in pain? - What values will inform how you navigate these periods? - What values will you need to let go of for a while during difficult periods? Remember, these are totally upto you and you don’t need to justify them. Deciding your values in advance will save energy – you have already decided the attitude you will be taking when relating to yourself and others, so less time will be needed on making decisions when you may already be fatigued. For example, if your value is one of looking after your body, that value will inform how you treat yourself when in pain – hopefully gently and restfully. I wish you all the best cultivating your inner compass! Any questions? Let me know! https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/lgbtq-identities-and-therapy-the-history monthly 0.5 2024-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/634daa9f-491c-44ca-90c7-cbb76e3731d9/LGBTQ%2B+history.png Blog - LGBTQ+ identities and therapy: the history - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/bf853e7c-f300-4f8d-bbf1-9984937bc0ed/creates+trust+lgbt.png Blog - LGBTQ+ identities and therapy: the history - Make it stand out The term "gay affirmative therapy" was developed by Alan K. Malyon in 1982, and is based on the fundamental concepts that homosexuality is not a psychopathology and that gay people do not suffer from mental illness as a result of their homosexuality. Central to this approach is the attempt to create a supportive and accepting atmosphere in order to enhance the dignity and self-respect of gay clients . Gay affirmative practise has led to an increased focus on how transgender identities can be depathologised (Istar Lev). Trans affirmative practice refers to a non-pathologising approach to clinical practice that accepts and validates all experience of gender (Austin and Craig, 2015). Research has consistently shown that LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy creates trust in the therapeutic relationship and is key to the client’s sense of mental health and wellness. The history of pathology from the systems that are created to support those in need is one of the reasons that LGBTQ+ affirmative practises are so important: therapy should never become a place where more harm is done. I hope that LGBTQ+ affirmative attitudes will become the norm across the board for all healthcare professionals. https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/managing-chronic-pain-using-tools-from-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-defusion monthly 0.5 2024-02-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/795fb8ba-48d4-426c-bcea-91e39a369007/cognitive+defusion+2.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - defusion - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/08381d29-f54b-4506-be5a-8cc8aba21f7a/cognitive+defusion+1.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - defusion - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/contacting-the-present-moment-for-chronic-pain-management monthly 0.5 2024-02-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/9680ff80-1157-4f65-8ee0-6652e41faffa/managing+chronic+pain+1.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - contacting the present moment - Make it stand out What does contact with the present moment mean? Essentially, this is all about your ability to notice your here-and-now experience and actively choose where you are putting your attention. This can be hard at first but is absolutely a skill that we can train and develop. How will that help if the present moment is full of pain? This is a common question. When living with chronic pain or chronic illness, there are two responses that seem very natural: to either turn away from the pain through distraction or avoidance, or to over focus on the pain, forgetting the broader elements of our here-and-now experience. Both of these responses reinforce the messaging to our brains that pain is a monster to be defeated, which adds a second level of suffering: not only are we in physical pain, but we are hurting psychologically too as we put all our energy into judging and avoiding sensations. By getting curious about our present experience, we can begin to relax around the pain, and decide where our focus goes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/67ff3675-e5ec-4435-88e3-d6d310262e17/managing+chronic+pain+2.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - contacting the present moment - Make it stand out The how The biggest tool to cultivate when working on this is mindfulness. The attitude to employ with mindfulness is curiosity. Pretend you are a curious scientist, observing your present experience and sensations with an eager interest. This adds a layer of separation between you and your pain. Mindfulness is a skill you can be practising all the time. Of course, formal meditation exercises will help very much. But remember, we are always training our brains, and we have many opportunities in the day to practise mindfulness rather than distraction. For example, practise doing an activity that you are able to do and really bring your full attention to doing that activity, rather than multitasking. Once you start to train in mindfulness, you will be able to direct your attention more easily. If chronic pain is the main issue, it will be most useful to be able to broaden your attention. Broadening your attention When we are in pain, it is very natural to focus solely on that pain, tensing up around it. The antidote to this is to get in touch with the broader elements of your experience, for example your other senses and the environment around you. By doing this, pain becomes one sensation in a sea of sounds, thoughts, smells, tastes, sights, etc. In this way, the pain monster loses its power. The steps to do this (choose any or all that seem accessible to you): 1) Take three deep breaths into your belly and allow yourself to relax on the exhale. Notice the support of the chair/bed. 2) Start to become aware of any sounds around you, and see if you can label three of them. Notice your body relax a bit more. 3) Gently look around the room and label three things that you see. Notice your body relax a bit more. 4) Become curious about your sense of smell. Can you smell anything? If so, label the smells. Gently come back to your body and notice any areas where it has relaxed. 5) Become curious about your sense of taste. Can you taste anything? If so, label the tastes. Gently come back to your body and notice any areas where it has relaxed. 6) See if you can stay with this broader sense of awareness for another thirty seconds and reflect on what impact the exercise had. Do this as many times and as often as you need. Remember it is a skill to practice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/d61833d5-1489-43a4-bec7-0815af0ff6c1/managing+chronic+pain+3.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - contacting the present moment - Make it stand out Have fun experimenting with this, and remember to be curious! https://www.georgiadickinson.com/blog/managingchronicpain monthly 0.5 2024-02-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/2daa576d-8b68-4782-872a-45ed0e52715e/pain+2.jpg Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - an introduction - Make it stand out 1) Contact with the present moment. This is all about being here now. When we are in pain, it is very natural to be solely focused on that pain, but it can be useful to practise being flexible with our attention. Can you notice your belly rising and falling? Are there any areas of your body that feel more comfortable at the moment? What sounds can you hear? Have a go at intentionally relaxing around the pain and noticing what else is happening in your present moment, even if just for thirty seconds. 2) Defusion Traditionally cognitive defusion is about learning to take a step back from our thoughts, rather than being completely hooked by them. This works well for pain too – we can learn to take a step back and observe the pain, holding it lightly with a sense of curiosity and compassion. Get really curious about the sensations of the pain: is it just one sensation? Do the sensations move? How far is it radiating? This curiosity puts distance between you and the pain, and can help you defuse from it. 3) Acceptance Accept your monsters! This is about making room for the uncomfortable sensations, and accepting the pain and all that comes with it, rather than resisting it and pushing it away. We allow the pain to come and go as it chooses. There is relief in realising it is out of our control. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65b23eab307d1219135b4292/6355bab8-e312-4b7b-92ee-d538942515a0/Your+pain+monster.png Blog - Managing chronic pain (using tools from acceptance and commitment therapy) - an introduction - Make it stand out 1) Self-as-context As you begin to accept your pain and create some space around it, you will become more familiar with the part of you that notices your experiences. You are not your pain, you are the noticer of your pain. 2) Values It is really helpful to actively consider what matters to you in life. What is it, given your context, that you want to do and give in this very brief life? Our values are our compass, guiding us into action. By knowing our values, we can build the life that we want to build, rather than getting swept away by our thoughts and feelings about the pain. 3) Committed action Committed action is about taking action guided by our values, and this can be either physical action or action that we do in our heads. When you are in pain it can be difficult to do anything at all – this is not about putting pressure on ourselves or forcing ourselves to do things. Being kind to your body, for example, is a very useful value, and many times resting may be the committed action. What can you do, in this moment whilst allowing the pain to be there, that will contribute to you growing the life that you want to grow? Summary Through the core processes of acceptance and commitment therapy we can learn to do what matters to us with the scary pain monster by our side. 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