10/10/2024
Today is World Mental Health Day.
For me, every day is Mental Health Day.
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a psychologist. Probably before I could spell it correctly! This October, I’m celebrating 23 years of being a licensed psychologist. I’m grateful to have an occupation that I love to wake up to, and that this occupation supports people, often during their most difficult times.
I love sharing my framework for positive mental health, The 4 Ps, with individuals as well as colleges, businesses, and hospitals.
Prioritize. Plan. Practice. Prosper.
It’s simple, doable, and powerful.
Prioritize your mental health.
Plan health-promoting behaviors.
Practice them often.
Prosper, even during difficult times.
Positive mental health doesn’t just happen. It takes practice. All practice means is focused attention and repetition. The good news is, it feels good while you’re taking care of your mental health.
When you engage in health-promoting behaviors, you feel good in the moment, and you’re setting yourself up for the best possible future.
You can’t control what difficulties or tragedies come your way. But what you do today helps you to cope and builds resilience to help you manage difficulties in the future.
People have always asked me what I do to be a happy person. I continued to receive this question after my fiancé and father died in 1994. I gave it great thought, and I realized that so much of what I do started in childhood.
A surprising, yet crucial component in true happiness, is allowing yourself to feel, process, and express sadness and other painful emotions.
I was influenced by my father, a beloved child psychiatrist, and my mother, who provided a loving home that consistently served as the foundation that encouraged exploration, discovery, and growth.
So that’s what I did – I explored different activities, I discovered what made me feel good, and I grew.
These health-promoting activities are so simple that you may be tempted to call them “too rudimentary” or “too basic” and discount their power. That’s where the brain science and research in psychology come in.
What started as exploration as a child led to studying these ideas in my doctoral training, which led to teaching these methods with my clients, which led to the publication of these methods in my book, Feeling Good: 35 Proven Ways to Happiness, Even During Tough Times and sharing them during my speaking engagements.
My favorite of all of the methods is gratitude. Gratitude doesn’t cost anything – it’s free!
Gratitude doesn’t require any objects, only your brain! Gratitude doesn’t require scheduling – you can do it at any time! Gratitude doesn’t require much time. You don’t have to wait for the benefits – gratitude improves mood immediately!
Gratitude is free, is accessible to all, is accessible at any time, feels good in the moment, and has long-term benefits for mental health.
Here’s a short video I made with fun, creative ways to elevate joy through gratitude and connection. Which will you try today for your mental health?
Bonus! With each of these 3 methods, you're having a positive impact on someone else's mental health too!
Here are 3 activities that combine gratitude and human connection. Practicing gratitude leads to happiness. Human connection is associated with happiness. Th...
