Doing the Work

Yesterday I treated myself to a hot stone massage, my first ever. The stones were really hot, but it felt like they melted away the stress and tension I was holding onto. I think that this is a good metaphor for therapy. We have to do the difficult, uncomfortable work in order to get the relief from the pain. We all take shortcuts to relieve the pain- I myself have struggled with eating lots of chocolate when stressed out at work. (For the record, I believe nothing is wrong with eating chocolate for enjoyment, I just have better coping skills.) As a nation we self-medicate with drugs and alcohol or the internet/social media to numb out the pain. But the pain doesn’t really go anywhere until we deal with it. I wish we could leapfrog the work and just get straight to the healing, the feeling better. However, there are some really amazing breakthrough therapeutic techniques to address and process trauma and pain. I’m trained in accelerated resolution therapy, an evidence-based treatment utilizing eye movements and the clients own mind to process through trauma.

Here’s a few pics I took at the desert botanical gardens today #mentalhealth#depression#stress#therapy#anxiety#trauma#pain#healing#treatment#copingskills