In today’s episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit, we are talking all about the 5 Mistakes We Make When Managing Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Depression, Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB’s) and any other mental health struggle. This podcast episode got me all fired up and I loved sharing with you bite-sized concepts to consider and marinate on. My hope with this episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit is to help you identify the specific areas where you might be falling into the anxiety trap, and then find ways to manage anxiety more effectively and purposely. We talk about Mindset, Mindfulness and strategic skills you can practice just about anywhere.
As a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders such as Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Social Anxiety, Health Anxiety, Eating Disorders and Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB’s), I often see my clients engage in behaviors that prevent them from properly managing their anxiety. It is common for us to get stuck in compulsive and compensatory behaviors that cause us to continue to live in fear.
In today’s podcast, I go through the 5 Common Mistakes We Make When Managing Anxiety. Some of these points might surprise you. Others may not. This is not a list of the only mistakes we make. There are lots of ways we can get stuck in the turmoil of anxiety, intrusive thoughts, sensations, panic, urges, obsessions, and compulsions. Please note, that these are 5 mistakes I make when managing anxiety also. I don’t want anyone feeling like they are alone in this. I make these mistakes also. I think we all do, mostly because they are very easy traps to fall into when it comes to the management of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
I hope you find this helpful. Thank you to everyone who has left a review for the podcast. This is super helpful and increases our chances of getting really wonderful guests on the show.
The truth is, achieving this thing called “recovery” depends mostly on your definition of recovery. There can be a very big difference of opinion when it comes to what is considered “recovery.”
In today’s podcast, we talk all about recovery and what I like to call, “The FLOW of recovery.” Finding your own Flow of Recovery is what I think will help you so much with the speed and ease of your recovery, not matter what your definition is. I have seen this idea of FLOW of recovery to be a huge part of OCD and Anxiety recovery for many.
As you may know, last week we had the amazing Kristin Neff on the podcast (Ep. 87) where she shared her brilliant research and practice of Mindful Self-Compassion. She shared about the importance of including self-compassion in our everyday lives and different compiments of self-compassion that can help us live a better life. Some people have the faulty belief that self-compassion is for sissys. Some hold onto the huge misconception that the practice of self-compassion will make us weak or lazy or fat or a loser. Many of my clients have told me that they are too afraid to practice (or even consider) practicing self-compassion because it might make them snap and turn lazy and never get out of bed again. So typical of anxiety, isn’t it? Kristin Neff talked about the Yin and Yang of self-compassion (go to that episode to hear more). She believes that self-compassion must include both the Yin of self-compassion, which is like a mother tenderly comforting her crying child and the Yang of self-compassion, which is the mother bear that shows up for ourselves, ferociously protecting her cubs (and us) from harm.
As we mentioned before, many of us struggle with fearing becoming too Yin, and some people do the opposite and are afraid to step into the Yang of self-compassion. As a result, they avoid getting their needs met. They avoid everything. So, when we talk about “The Flow of Recovery” we are talking about using both the Yin and the Yang of self-compassion to help you FLOW. The Flow of Recovery is moving from action to gentleness and rest. The Flow of Recovery involves slowing down sometimes and other times the flow of recovery involves speeding up. Sometimes, the flow of recovery involves moving back and forth between the Yin and Yang quite quickly.
Today, in this podcast, I want to inspire you to begin using both the Yin and YANG of self-compassion. My use of the term the flow of recovery is all about doing the hard things (YANG) and then slowing down to be gentle (YIN). You are going to use these tools, not once, but over and over again. And you are going to find a flow where you swing back and forth and back and forth between action and rest, action and rest.
The action could be ERP, setting a boundary with someone, starting therapy, sharing your struggles with a friend, and the rest is where you get really quiet and ask yourself what it is that you need and make sure you find a way to give that to yourself.
The Flow of Recovery is also the gentle swing of saying really gentle and kind things to yourself and then speaking almost as a coach. “I can do this hard thing!” And “I will get through this” and “I have my own back, unconditionally.”
So, to sum it all up, the principle of Yin and Yang is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, and this is so true for recovery.
I urge you to check in and see if you have a Yin and a Yang. How can you add more Yang if you rely too much on Yin? How can you add some Yin if you are stuck in a cycle of all action and no self-care?
And lastly, please note that ERP School is open until February 18th! Shhh…we kept the cart open a few more days.
ERP School is our online course that teaches you all the most important components of ERP for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Exposure and Response Prevention School (ERP School) is an online course that teaches you the tools and skills I teach my clients in my office. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
The course is a video based course that includes modules on
The science behind ERP
Identifying YOUR obsessions and your compulsions
The different approaches and types of ERP, including gradual exposure, writing scripts, interoceptive exposures and how to get creative with ERP
Mindfulness tools to help you manage anxiety, panic and uncertainty
Troubleshoot common questions and concerns
BONUS 6 videos of the most common subtypes of OCD
The course also includes many downloadable PDF’s and activities to help you navigate how to best apply ERP to your specific obsessions and compulsions.
We are so excited to share ERP with you and would love to have you join us and the CBT School Community. It’s a beautiful day to do hard things!
If you are worried about doing it alone, please don’t fear. We meet bi-monthly on the Facebook group and on Instagram to talk about questions you may have.
This week we have a SUPER exciting episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast to share with you. If you are someone who is hard on yourself, this is THE episode for you. If you are someone who beats yourself up, this is the episode for you. If you need help being self-compassionate, THIS IS THE EPISODE FOR YOU!
I am so thrilled to share with you this week’s podcast guest, Kristin Neff.
Kristin Neff is a pioneering self-compassion researcher, author of one of my favorite workbooks called The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook, and is a wise and informative teacher of self-compassion. Kristin Neff developed an 8-week online program that teaches self-compassion skills to those who struggle in this area. The program, co-created with her colleague Chris Germer, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, is called Mindful Self-Compassion.
In this episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast, Kristin Neff addresses what self-compassion is and what it is not. I found this to be incredibly informative, especially for those who struggle to differentiate between self-compassion and self-care. Kristin Neff also addresses why some people struggle with practicing self-compassion, and specifically addresses the cultural and political aspects of this topic.
What I loved the most is how Kristin Neff explains whay self-compassion practices look like, feel like, and sound like. For those who need a most literal description of self-compassion, this conversation will be right up your alley. We also address the Yin & Yang of Self-Compassion and how we often forget the Yang component of Self-Compassion (listen to the full description).
Lastly, for those who find that their negative self-talk increases when they practice self-compassion, Kristin Neff addresses a concept called Backdrafting, and how this is a normal (and even positive) part of Self Compassion.
For more information on Kristin Neff, visit the links below:
And lastly, please note that ERP School is available for one more week!
ERP School, our online course that teaches you all the most important components of ERP for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is BACK. Act fast because it is only available until February 14th, 2019!
Exposure and Response Prevention School (ERP School) is an online course that teaches you the tools and skills I teach my clients in my office. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
The course is a video-based course that includes modules on
The science behind ERP
Identifying YOUR obsessions and your compulsions
The different approaches and types of ERP, including gradual exposure, writing scripts, interoceptive exposures and how to get creative with ERP
Mindfulness tools to help you manage anxiety, panic, and uncertainty
Troubleshoot common questions and concerns
BONUS 6 videos of the most common subtypes of OCD, including Harm OCD.
The course also includes many downloadable PDF’s and activities to help you navigate how to best apply ERP to your specific obsessions and compulsions.
We are so excited to finally share ERP with you and would love to have you join us and the CBT School Community. It’s a beautiful day to do hard things!
If you are worried about doing it alone, please don’t fear. We meet bi-monthly on the FB group and on Instagram to talk about questions you may have.
The Science of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Welcome back to another episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast.
Today we are talking about the science behind Exposure and Response Prevention. I know a lot of you have a lot of questions about why we would ever put ourselves in a position to be MORE anxious and MOST uncertain. But, there are many reasons why and today we are going to dive into The Science of Exposure and Response Prevention .
To put it simply, we instinctually we run from fear. We go into fight, flight and freeze when we are faced with serious, dangerous events. In emergency situations, this is the most sophisticated human response. We are so lucky we have this response, as it keeps up alive and well.
However, in our era, we are often bombarded by THOUGHTS of serious, dangerous events and this causes our brain to make mistakes about the imminence of danger. We experience the thought as if it were an imminent threat – right here, danger in close quarters, etc.
The problem is that we react to this thought or sensation or urge as if it IS an imminent threat. We run away, we fight it or we freeze.
What happens when we do this is that we reinforce that the thought IS dangerous and, because we responded in this way, a cycle that is created. Fear –> avoidance response –> fear….and the cycle continues.
So, what can we do instead of fight, flight or freeze? We can stare our fear right in the face. We do this by performing Exposure and Response Prevention. Exposure and Response Prevention includes changing our behavior, or response, to the original thought or obsession and exposing ourselves to our feared consequence. Now, if you hate the idea of this, you are not alone.
In this week’s podcast, we address the science behind Exposure & Response Prevention to help motivate and inform you of WHY ERP is so important and HOW it changes our brains. If you need help with this, now is the time to act.
ERP School, our online course that teaches you all the most important components of ERP for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is BACK, but act fast because it is only available until February 14th, 2019!
Exposure and Response Prevention School (ERP School) is an online course that teaches you the tools and skills I teach my clients in my office. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
The course is a video-based course that includes modules on
The science behind ERP
Identifying YOUR obsessions and your compulsions
The different approaches and types of ERP, including gradual exposure, writing scripts, interoceptive exposures and how to get creative with ERP
Mindfulness tools to help you manage anxiety, panic, and uncertainty
Troubleshoot common questions and concerns
BONUS 6 videos of the most common subtypes of OCD
The course also includes many downloadable PDF’s and activities to help you navigate how to best apply ERP to your specific obsessions and compulsions.
We are so excited to finally share ERP with you and would love to have you join us and the CBT School Community. It’s a beautiful day to do hard things!
If you are worried about doing it alone, please don’t fear. We meet bi-monthly on the FB group and on IG to talk about questions you may have.
