Midwest Mind Body Health Center

04/21/2025

https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/baby-boomer-women-aging/

I've been writing for The Good Trade for a year now and last week my piece about "A Psychologist Explains How the Baby Boomer Generation is Redefining Aging for Women". Whether you are a baby boomer or not, this article will give you ideas about how to maintain your health and wellness throughout your life. If you're part of the baby boomers like me, let me know your tips for aging well. If you're part of a younger generation, both my daughters are Millenials, tell me if this info was helpfult. As a psychologist specializing in women's health across the lifecycle, I always say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." And, of course, take good care of yourself always.

Our resident clinical psychologist explains how women of the Baby Boom generation ushered in social change — and how they're doing it all again as they age.

07/01/2024

Check out my latest Stress Less Live Better newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/9f1741fc3cbe/stress-less-live-better-newsletter-13554286

And subscribe here: https://drdianesanford.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=161c2273125c0c8958185b769&id=0c3ca228ba

05/10/2023

01/10/2023

Mindfully Yours

Today when I woke up, I felt sad that the holidays and winter vacation were over. A common feeling for many of us this time of year. Then I spoke to my boyfriend who suggested how I could stop myself from feeling bad. Fair enough. When you love someone, you don’t want to watch your loved ones feel and stay sad. As an overthinker, I would be the first to admit that dwelling on negative feelings is a treasured habit which I work effortfully to keep in check. LOL.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long. Can you guess what happened? First, I spoke to a friend who reminded me that each day is a gift without even knowing what I was going through. Then a counseling client came in and described a “light bulb” moment she’d had after she experienced some recent losses and intentionally decided not to get carried away with feeling bad. The universe moves in mysterious ways indeed.

The takeaway: Experience is always changing. Moments of positive, negative, and neutral feelings, thoughts and sensations, are just that. Moments. Until some other experience comes along and we feel differently. I am not talking about clinical depression or anxiety which are health conditions that require treatment. This week notice what’s on your mind and how it affects how you feel physically and emotionally. To help you with this, listen to my mindfulness exercise on “noticing.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmHn_YMsp8&t=6s

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Namaste.

This 5 minute Mindfulness Exercise will show you how to use your breath to reduce stress and worry, and improve health and well-being. Practice 5 minutes eve...

11/06/2022

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunity:

Join us on Friday, December 2nd, 2022 from 8:30-11:30am CT, for Women’s Changing Lives, Moods and Bodies: Understanding and Treating Women’s Health Across the Lifecycle, a virtual professional development workshop through the Washington University Brown School of Social Work.

During major life transitions, including child-bearing or menopause, women often experience simultaneous changes in their lives, moods, and bodies. This creates a period of increased stress on their mind-body health and greater susceptibility to a clinical episode of a mental health condition.

This workshop will help you understand the effects of hormone and brain-related changes on a women’s body, mind, and moods. It will give you an overview of what most women experience situationally and psychologically during pregnancy, postpartum, peri-menopause/midlife, and menopause.

Learn more and register here:

Women's Changing Lives, Moods, and Bodies: Understanding & Treating Women's Health Across the Lifecycle Friday, December 2, 2022 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM Central Brown Page Content 3Diane Sanford, PhDOwner & Health Provider, Midwest Mind Body Health CenterRobin Androphy, MDPsychiatrist, Mercy Hospital, St...

05/23/2022

Whenever my clients tell me that after they started feeling better, suddenly they feel worse, I ask them if they’ve been practicing their healthier lifestyle habits including self-care and stress reduction which were helping them feel better. Usually, they say “No.” Most of them tell me they thought they didn’t need to practice any longer because they felt better and just expected it to last without committing themselves to making these changes part of their life. They are truly shocked when they learn that routinely practicing self-care and stress reduction is key to feeling good. But…it is.

Well, this past week, I decided to disregard my own good advice about self-care and managing stress wisely. You’d think after 35 years of advising clients to ABSOLUTELY NOT stop practicing their stress reducing skills once they began feeling good, I’d know better. Wrong!!! When I realized I’d fallen back into my lifelong habit of overdoing and not taking enough time to rest and recharge, I knew it was time to make a different choice. Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”

I reminded myself that if I wanted to keep feeling better, I needed to slow down, rest more and push myself less. After all, I’m still recovering from my temporary hearing loss but as human beings we are creatures of habit and old habits die hard. But, we can learn new habits that support our health and well-being if we choose to. Over time, these healthier choices can become our way of responding rather than our old unhealthy ones. With attention, effort and practice, change is possible. If not now, when?

For more info on how to Stress Less Live Better, follow me at drdianesanford.com and listen to my guided exercises on stress reduction. https://drdianesanford.com/media/youtube/

Visit the post for more.

05/02/2022

I can’t tell you how much it’s been a comfort to me that so many of you reached out after my post 2 weeks ago with words of encouragement and love. You inspired me to remember how to keep from gett…

03/30/2022

Good morning! Rachel is now accepting new clients. Check out the post for more information on her personal experience with mental health and information on how to contact her to schedule an appointment!

Hi followers! Rachel Sanford here. Sanford 2.0, the younger Sanford, or just Rachel—whichever you prefer. I’ve always been interested in psychology and mental health—not just because my mother is a…

12/06/2021

Hello! I am so excited to share this wonderful news with you!

My daughter, Rachel Sanford, will be joining my practice in January. Rachel completed her Master’s in Social Work in 2018 and her licensure as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in June of this year.

Check out Rachel’s bio and more here: https://drdianesanford.com/rachel-sanford/

We wish you and your families a happy and healthy holiday season, and we look forward to working with you in the New Year!

With Warm Regards,
Dr. Diane Sanford (and Daughter)

http://drdianesanford.com/2021/12/06/time-to-celebrate-introducing-rachel-sanford-msw-lcsw/

Hello! I am so excited to share this wonderful news with you! My daughter, Rachel Sanford, will be joining my practice in January. Rachel completed herMaster’s in Social Work in 2018 and her licens…

09/23/2021

It's Fall: Time to Reflect and Reconnect For many years, fall has been a contemplative time for me. The leaves on the trees are turning and the days are growing shorter. We celebrate holidays including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the start of the Jewish New Year; fall equinox which marks the end of the growing season and beginning of when the land becomes barren; and this year, we commemorated the 20th anniversary in the US of 9/11....

It’s Fall: Time to Reflect and Reconnect For many years, fall has been a contemplative time for me. The leaves on the trees are turning and the days are growing shorter. We celebrate holidays…

10/19/2020

It’s been a crazy ride the last few months in both my psychology practice and personal life so I haven’t posted much on social media. Social media is one of the first things to fall off my list when life becomes more stressful. With our current COVID crisis, I'm never certain how my day will go or how I’ll feel. Maybe some of you are having that experience too. [ 233 more words ]

It’s been a crazy ride the last few months in both my psychology practice and personal life so I haven’t posted much on social media. Social media is one of the first things to fall off my list whe…

10/15/2020

A little humor for those of you helping your kids with virtual learning 🤣