Kelley Counseling and Wellness

We all deal with anxiety every day in some shape or form.  Sometimes it is a minor stress or worry, and other times it can be a major distressing event that causes us to lose sleep and worry constantly... Being under constant stress is unhealthy for our minds AND bodies, therefore, we often try various techniques to relax, which are wonderful and effective.  HOWEVER, have you ever thought about grabbing a can of play-dough when stressed?  Well, play-dough can actually be extremely useful!  Think about the use of a stress ball... just having something in your hand to squeeze when you are feeling tense can give some relief.  So the use of play-dough can be very similar.   You could also go about this in a different way and even find that inner child, and use the play-dough to distract yourself for a few minutes, and build something out of the play-dough.  Anything that distracts your mind from the constant worries/stresses can be ...

What Exactly is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience. How Do We Do it?    This concept is one that we share with many of our clients, and it truly is not as easy as it sounds. Every day we trudge through countless sensations, experiences and thoughts that are either subconscious, seemingly happening to us or pretty much out of our control. So with all of those challenges how does one "do" mindfulness. Well first let's make the distinction between the two types that can be practiced.  Informal This method of mindfulness can be done anywhere, anytime and in the midst of any activity, really! It can be practiced when walking the dog, washing the dishes, flossing your teeth or even pla...

Ever feel like the very thing you are trying not to think about you become or do? Many people are stuck with anxious thoughts and feelings that they just cannot seem to get rid of!  Any time a client or friend brings up being stuck I like to bring up the analogy of riding a bike. You know the feeling ... hands on the bars, two feet firmly planted on the pedals and off you go. Moving swiftly forward we aim stay on the right path, often straight, in order to stay safe and get where we want to go . Now what if when you were on this bike I told you " do not look at the tree to your left!" well often times even being told not to   do something puts your focus on it. You may look at it directly or even just out of the corner of your eye and if your looking at the tree there is a good chance you will drift towards it, even if you did not want to. Anxiety, depression, bad habits and other feelings of being stuck in life can be  very similar to the tree when yo...

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. " - William James This quote seems appropriate for the start of our new blog, seeing as this quote inspires me personally, to be highly aware of my own thoughts.  James was definitely on to something. The ability to focus on, understand and modify one's thought processes is now a major practice in a number of counseling theories and techniques today.  To name a couple of the evidence based theories that we use regularly at Kelley Counseling - Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).  Both therapies have a component of becoming aware of our thought patterns and learning to choose healthier, more positive thoughts, which in turn leads to less emotional distress.  Though James was not around to see CBT and DBT flourish and become increasingly important in the counseling world, it is evident that he was aware of the importance of examining our...