Cope Well

Regulating our breath shows that we are in control. We can regulate our breath by taking slow, intentional breaths in order to feel calm or simply to help shift our emotions. This happens when the nerves connecting our lungs to our brain get the signal to slow down, calm down, increase awareness, etc. This lowers…

Nonjudgment is one of the main skills in DBT. It is HOW we practice awareness skills. DBT uses the concept of a reasonable, emotional, and wise mind to describe a person’s thoughts and behaviors. Wise mind is the middle ground between the emotional mind (decision making and judging based entirely on our emotions, or the…

It’s simple really. When we regulate our breathing, the nerves that connect our lungs to our brains, send a signal to slow down, calm down, and focus. There is a brain/body connection, and it’s powerful. We control our breath. We control our bodies. We control our behavior. Awareness leads to Emotion Regulation Once we notice…

Q: How Can I Support My Child? A: It All Begins with Building Awareness. Awareness Activities from Mindful Behavior Therapy If you happened to join one of my group sessions focusing on helping children with DBT skills, you’d likely hear phrases like “Check in with what your body and brain need right now,” “Is that…

This is the goal of DBT, a type of cognitive behavior therapy rooted in mindful awareness of our emotions and choices. This program was developed to reach individuals that didn’t respond well to other interventions, targeting emotional regulation. To help individuals cope more effectively and improve mental health, I have taken skills taught in DBT…

We are in a mental health crisis. Depression and anxiety are at an all time high. We feel disconnected and have lost purpose. We lack clarity and are more stressed than ever. We scroll social media and binge watch shows, missing opportunities to be in the present moment and enjoy life. We act without thinking…

Mindful Behavior Therapy (MBT) is a concept I encountered while doing research for my Ph.D. As I read about it, I realized, this is what I’ve been teaching to young people who struggle with challenging behaviors. To dive deeper, I attended a training on Mindful Behavior Therapy, and every single idea or tool that the…

If emotions aren’t processed in a healthy way, being integrated with our nervous system, they can build up and stay stuck in the body. Bringing awareness to our bodies, pausing to notice the emotions, is a very effective way to process and manage big emotions. It begins with awareness. Notice what is happening in your…

In a recent training to support the community I shared strategies for more effectively dealing with stress and anxiety. Stress is closely related to fear. Think about it: when we fear something might happen, we get stressed, or we stress over a current situation because we worry what could happen. This is fear. And, anxiety…