Room to Grow Therapy and Consulting LLC

09/07/2025

September is su***de prevention month. Having a crisis plan is very protective...use this template for yourself or sit down with a friend experiencing suicidal thoughts and help them fill it out. We at Room to Grow offer su***de- specific therapy (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality) and would be happy to help.

https://988lifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Brown_StanleySafetyPlanTemplate1.pdf

📝 How to Create Your Crisis Safety Plan
Having a plan written down can make it easier to stay safe when suicidal thoughts feel overwhelming. Use this template (from 988lifeline.org) and fill it in step by step:

1️⃣ Warning Signs
Write down your personal red flags—thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that signal a crisis might be building.

2️⃣ Coping Strategies
List healthy things you can try on your own to get through tough moments (deep breathing, walking, music, grounding, prayer).

3️⃣ Distractions
Name people, places, or activities that can shift your focus when things feel too heavy.

4️⃣ Support People
Write down names + phone numbers of those you can ask for direct help.

5️⃣ Professional Help
Add your therapist, doctor, local urgent care, and the 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline.

6️⃣ Make the Environment Safe
Plan steps to limit access to anything you could use to harm yourself (secure meds, sharps, fi****ms, etc.).

✨ Finally, write down the one thing that keeps you going—what’s worth living for.

Keep your plan somewhere easy to find (your phone, wallet, or bedside table) and share it with someone you trust.

08/30/2025

🌱 Mental Health is a Daily Drop 🌱

Recovery and growth don’t usually happen in giant leaps. They happen in the quiet, steady moments:

taking your meds even on the days you don’t feel like it

practicing one grounding skill when anxiety rises

reaching out to a safe friend when you feel low

waking up at the same time each morning to steady your rhythm

journaling or reflecting for a few minutes instead of bottling it up

showing up to therapy week after week

One drop may not seem like much… but over time, those drops carve out real, lasting change.

💧 Consistency beats intensity. Healing is built in the little things you do every day.

08/29/2025

08/09/2025

🌿 What’s “Spoon Theory”?

Imagine you start the day with a set number of spoons.
Each spoon = a unit of energy you can spend.

For people with chronic illness, pain, fatigue, or mental health conditions, the number of spoons you start with may be smaller—and every task (big or small) takes one or more spoons.

🛁 Shower? That’s 1 spoon.
🍳 Making breakfast? Another spoon.
📞 A phone call? Yep—spoon gone.

Once you’re out of spoons, you’re out for the day. That’s why planning, pacing, and saying “no” sometimes isn’t laziness—it’s survival.

💡 Why it matters:

Helps explain invisible struggles to others

Encourages pacing & self-compassion

Reminds you to budget energy like a valuable resource

You can’t always get more spoons, but you can protect the ones you have.

07/22/2025

🧠📱 12 Mental Health Apps That Can Actually Help 📱🧠

Real support. Right on your phone. These apps are great tools to support therapy, build healthy routines, and track what matters to your mental health.

🔹 1. DBT Diary Card & Skills Coach
A go-to for learning and practicing DBT skills like distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and mindfulness. Track urges, emotions, and skill use between sessions.

🔹 2. eMoods
Created for bipolar disorder, but great for anyone tracking mood, sleep, meds, and symptoms. Clean design and exportable reports make it ideal for sharing with your care team.

🔹 3. Daylio
An easy, no-typing mood and habit tracker. Just tap to log your day and view long-term trends. Helps build insight into what’s helping (and what’s not).

🔹 4. Finch: Self-Care Pet
A fun and low-pressure way to build daily self-care habits while caring for a cute little bird avatar. Great for motivation and gentle check-ins.

🔹 5. Headspace
Well-known for meditation, mindfulness, and sleep support. Use it to reduce stress, focus better, or wind down at night with guided exercises.

🔹 6. Insight Timer
Huge library of free meditations, sleep music, and talks from psychologists and mindfulness teachers. Excellent for trauma-sensitive or spiritual users.

🔹 7. Woebot
A smart AI chatbot trained in CBT strategies to help you challenge unhelpful thoughts and manage emotions. Supportive, evidence-based, and available 24/7.

🔹 8. Sanvello
Blends CBT tools, mood tracking, guided journeys, and peer support. Great for managing stress, anxiety, and depression in a structured way.

🔹 9. Bearable
A super customizable tracker for mood, physical symptoms, energy, habits, sleep, and more. Great for connecting the dots between mental and physical health.

🔹 10. Mindfulness Coach
Developed by the VA for veterans, but helpful for anyone. Learn and practice mindfulness at your own pace with audio guides and progress tracking.

🔹 11. CBT-i Coach
For anyone struggling with insomnia. This app teaches Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) strategies to help you fall and stay asleep—science-backed and user-friendly.

🔹 12. HabitShare
Build healthy habits with social accountability. Share progress with friends or support people in real-time—perfect for collaborative self-care or therapy goals.

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📲 These tools don’t replace therapy—but they do help you stay accountable, track progress, and practice skills between sessions. Try one or two and see what sticks.

Which apps have helped you the most?

07/08/2025

Did you know? Through the MnFIRE Assistance Program, every member of a firefighter’s household—including kids living away from home—can get up to five free counseling visits per issue, each year. No insurance needed, no cost to you.

This support is part of the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program, funded by the State of Minnesota and administered by MnFIRE. The program year runs from July 1 to June 30, so now’s a great time to reach out.

Firefighters and their families give so much. Let’s make sure they get the help they need too.

06/08/2025

💬 Wise Advice from Therapist

🧠 On Emotions and Thoughts

“Feelings aren’t facts, but they are important data.”

“You don’t have to believe everything you think.”

“An emotion is a wave—if you don’t fight it, it will pass.”

“Avoiding a feeling often gives it more power than it deserves.”

“You can hold more than one truth at the same time.”

🌱 On Growth and Healing

“You’re allowed to outgrow people, places, and patterns.”

“Healing isn’t linear, and neither is grief.”

“Progress is sometimes just not falling back as far.”

“You can’t hate yourself into someone you love.”

“The goal isn’t to never struggle—it’s to struggle differently.”

🛠️ On Boundaries and Relationships

“No is a complete sentence.”

“Boundaries aren’t punishments—they’re protection.”

“You’re not responsible for other people’s feelings—just your own behavior.”

“Some people will be upset by your healing. Do it anyway.”

“Being kind and being honest are not opposites.”

🧭 On Identity and Self-Worth

“You are not your diagnosis.”

“Your worth isn’t up for debate.”

“You are allowed to take up space, have needs, and change your mind.”

“There’s no ‘wrong’ way to be a person.”

“You’re already enough, even as you work to grow.”

🔄 On Change and Acceptance

“Acceptance doesn’t mean approval—it means reality-checking.”

“You can be scared and still move forward.”

“If nothing changes, nothing changes.”

“Change feels like loss, even when it’s good.”

“You don’t have to wait to feel ready to start."

05/23/2025

Welcome summer with some of these great options from Dawn! ☀️ We would appreciate this being shared to reach more people in our community.

05/13/2025

Sound Bath TONIGHT at 6:30! Free will offering.

Sit/lay under the old shade trees and listen to the birds add their song to the stress reducing vibrations of the crystal bowls! 🦋

04/30/2025