Aman Gahunia Counselling

06/16/2016

A good understanding of cognitive behavioral therapy will help you understand your therapist better and give you a better idea of what to expect in therapy. This will leave you with an open-mind about what counseling is and what counseling is not.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-best-strategies-managing-adult-adhd/201402/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-7-effective-tips

Maximize the benefit of CBT!

06/16/2016

5 Ways to Experience Emotion Constructively

• When feelings are uncomfortable, most commonly we look for ways to avoid what we are feeling. Give yourself permission to experience the emotion fully with no interruptions or distractions. Sit down once or twice a week to ask yourself: How am I feeling at this moment? It may take some time for the feeling to surface, but face the emotion.
• Place a name to the emotion. Sometimes we are unaware of what we are feeling because we haven’t identified the emotion. Keep a list of different types of emotions close by so you are able to acknowledge the feeling. Make connections with how you are also feeling in your body.
• Connect your feelings with your thoughts. Sometimes we are disconnected from our feelings and thoughts. When you feel intense emotion, it is always best to join associations between your feelings and thoughts to form greater insights. Ask yourself, is what you’re feeling consistent with what you are thinking? If not, where is the disconnect? Locate it and try to find patterns of your thought process and your current emotional state.
• Connect your feelings with other situations. Sometimes we prevent ourselves from realizing that our feelings could be linked to similar situations where we experienced the same emotion. Ask yourself where have I felt this feeling before? Doing this might help you tackle whether your current emotional state is reflective of the current situation, or of another time in your past.
• Now that you have experienced your emotional state by looking inwardly, focus attention outwardly on how to cope with emotions constructively so that coping becomes a skill, a way of living. Writing, journaling, creating quotes or self-affirmations, finding music that inspires you, reading and learning from people you trust are all ways to make sense of your feelings.

06/16/2016

Carl Jung developed 5 major personality traits that most people generally fall under. Read about which trait best describes you.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201605/the-5-major-personality-traits-and-what-they-mean

Plus: What some people resent about each type of person.

06/16/2016

Learn about how your teenager develops higher executive functioning and how you can help with guiding your child through healthy decision making as they get exposed to peer pressure.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201606/the-blog-your-teenager-must-read

05/11/2016

Creative Expressions of Yourself

When life hurdles and challenges hit us hard, deep into our hearts we need to find an outlet to allow for the process of healing and recovery. These tools are used as a way to express yourself- to be able to lose yourself in the moment and concentrate on strength, empowerment, and confidence to embark on a new window of enlightenment. These are some to help.

Poetry – Find poems related to your own unique experience to find meaning, lift your spirit, and bring inspiration to your soul. Read the words and the powerful message. Try to find your own message. Reflect on your own life experiences and think about how you could relate. Does the poem offer insight? Does the poem challenge your beliefs or values? Does the poem provide you with courage to fight negative emotions causing you distress? Does the poem offer a different perspective about the event, experience, or situation?

Scrapbooking – Collect old pictures or take new pictures of positive people in your life to elicit feelings of happiness and hope. For example, there may be a role model or mentor in your life that helped you and provided guidance/direction through difficult times. The pictures could help with remembering their wise words of encouragement. Collect pictures of beautiful scenery, images of artwork, add your favourite colours and be creative with your imagination to make the book apart of you. In other words, let the book be an extension of yourself.

Journaling – This is a great way to give meaning and understanding to thoughts or feelings that you might have had toward a situation, event, or person. Journaling is a way to unload your mind with extra baggage that you have carried. In many ways, our thoughts or feelings do not make sense to us in our mind, but when we write it out on paper it is easier to process.

Everybody goes through difficult and hard times. Sometimes we need a place where we can go to create greater understanding even if it is for a little while. Try these tools to find your own way of healing.

05/11/2016

To understand your unique experiences, learn to make connections with your body, mind, emotions, and actions. Understand how all of these elements are influenced by situational/environmental factors.

05/11/2016

Do not let negative self-talk become the truth to the way you conduct your interactions with others. Learn to evaluate your faulty thinking and decide whether there is any credibility to these thoughts. In many cases, the answer is no, but decide for yourself. Empower yourself to make the change you want to see in you!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201510/5-ways-mentally-strong-people-conquer-self-doubt

What's the worst that can happen? It's probably not as bad as you think.

05/10/2016

'Diffusion of responsibility' means in many social situations when there are bystanders, the next person will look to the other person assuming they will ask/call for help. This article motivates students to become 'upstanders' when confronted with a bully to break the pattern of not speaking up.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pride-and-joy/201305/defeating-the-culture-bullying

How can we help children become "upstanders" to bullying?

05/10/2016

Transitioning from childhood to adolescence to adulthood can bring about certain emotions that are difficult to manage as your child is desperately trying to form their identity independent of parental values and beliefs. This is a challenging milestone for your child as they address the unique developmental changes that are present. Encourage yourself to be patient with supporting your child through this adjustment, as it may come with resistance at first.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/201110/parents-adolescents-and-the-nature-conflict

Conflict is how parents and adolescent need to get along.

05/08/2016

You may feel this way, however it is not the truth to your reality. You can learn the skills/tools to shift your thinking and turn your life around.

05/08/2016

You can choose the positive thought that gives you the power to direct your mood. The key is differentiating between the thought that is 'doing absolutely nothing for you' and the thought that will ignite positivity within you.

05/01/2016

Encourage yourself. Motivate yourself. Inspire yourself. Yes! You can do that for yourself. It is possible.