Kelley Counseling and Wellness

    Written by: Amelia Kelley, PhD, MS, LPC Many people with ADHD find it hard to manage their symptoms of brain fog, forgetfulness, distractibility and physical agitation. Most want to know how to manage their symptoms and, some would like to do this without medication. The HIIT for ADHD Program discussed below has been researched and proven to help reduce ADHD symptoms and improve general wellbeing and focus. Scott, 35-year-old male who suffers from adult ADHD was excited when he tried this program and told his wife, “I feel more awake and alive then I have in years. Even more then when I tried ADHD medication last year!” How did Scott find this alert, excited feeling that helped him become more focused without using medication? He found it by using a home-based, exercise program using high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that he easily accessed on a free website and only had to commit a few minutes a day to completing. To truly under...

Thus far we have touched on developing a sleep schedule and a before bed routine so you are really ready to fall asleep when your head hits the pillow. But what if you are doing these two things already but still having trouble falling sleep? If you get in bed and it takes more than twenty minutes to fall asleep you should get back out of bed. That might sound counter intuitive but there is a good reason to do so, a couple in fact.  First your body and mind need to associate your bed as a place of rest and relaxation. Likely if you have been struggling with sleep your bed may consciously or subconsciously be associated with stress, exhaustion, anxiety, or frustration. To help break that association you need to be sleeping while in your bed rather than laying awake wishing you could sleep. So after twenty minutes if you are still awake, get up.  Now that you are up you need to do something slow down and relax so when you return to bed you can sleep. Maybe that wou...

Last week we touched on the importance of developing a sleep schedule. That is a great place to start but that is not the only thing that will help you get the healthy sleep you need.  Developing an evening time routine that helps with winding down can also be very beneficial. This will look different for different people, the important part is to develop a routine that works for you. Individuals that are struggling with not being able to "turn off" their brain to fall asleep may benefit most from developing a wind down routine. Do you need to start winding down 30 minutes before bed? An hour? Two hours?  Find what works for you, it might take some time to find that sweet spot but it can make a big difference in the quality of sleep that you get.  As I said this will look different for each person but here are some ideas to get you started: - take a hot shower - do some light stretching - bedtime yoga practice ( here 's a great 7 minute ...

In this mini-series we will explore strategies that can improve sleep. One thing my colleagues and I hear often is that people are struggling with sleep. Sleep is essential to functioning at ones best! So if you aren't getting the sleep you need, you aren't able to be the healthiest version of yourself. Sleep impacts many aspects of mental and physical wellbeing, from metabolism to judgment to immune system health. WHERE TO START? Develop a sleep schedule! Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day will strengthen your body's natural tendency to regulate your sleep-wake cycle. This means that on weekends, weekdays, vacations, etc. you should be going to bed at relatively the same time and waking up at relatively the same time. Once you have started purposefully trying to do this you will eventually notice that you start to become tired at that predetermined bedtime and you will start waking up without that alarm because you body has learned the patter...

My passion is working with adolescents but I also work with adults and a common struggle I have heard is never having down time due to the constant needs of family. Having kids and a family can be wonderful but it can also be very draining if you are not getting the rest you need. When kids don't get enough down time they can become cranky, overtired, and generally difficult to handle. When adults don't get enough rest, patience is more difficult, stress levels rise, and managing even simple tasks can be a chore. There are many ways that this can be addressed but my favorite way and a fairly effective intervention is implementing feet on the bed time in your household. Feet on the bed time is exactly what it sounds like. It is a given period of time each day during which your feet must be on your bed (and preferably the rest of you). Each family member is to be on their own bed for whatever amount of time you decide engaging in a quiet activity or napping. Obvio...

Do you constantly worry about the needs of others?  Are you so flexible with your schedule that it leaves you with absolutely no free time? Do you constantly feel like you are running from one place to the other with no breaks? Do you skip breakfast because you are too busy to eat?  Are you sacrificing everything for your friends, family, job, education, etc.? If so, it is time to learn what the word "self-care" means.   Self care is defined as "care for oneself" (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, n.d.).  That seems simple enough, however, after considering all of the examples above, are you really doing a good job of taking care of yourself?   Self-care is also defined by what you consider to be important for your own well-being. This can be broken down into basic areas of concern. The following chart is a great representation of some of the various aspects of self-care.   So after looking through those aspects of self-...

There is not a whole lot to add to this post.  The above image really says it all.  We must face the very thing that brings us the most distress in order to move on and live a happy and fulfilling life.  Otherwise, we will continue to go about life being fearful, anxious, depressed, confused, resentful, hurt, angry, lonely, etc.  This will be no small feat, it will be a journey with bumps along the way, however, the destination is well worth it.  Allow one of our therapists at Kelley Counseling to be your comforting and supportive companion and guide for the journey.  Sometimes, there is no need for elaborate therapy techniques or theories, you simply need a supportive, therapeutic bond with someone who will be there, while you explore your deepest fears.   The therapeutic relationship is all you need.   So contact us today, if you are ready to free yourself.  We look forward to joining y...

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 ...

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...