Posts by Laura K. Schenck, Ph.D., LPC
Top 10 Instant Relaxation Techniques – Part Two
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Baba Ram Dass In my previous post, Top 10 Instant Relaxation Techniques – Part One, I explored five helpful relaxation tips highlighted in a recent WebMD article. During times of intense stress or heightened emotional states, it is important to feel capable of calming oneself…
Read More
Top 10 Instant Relaxation Techniques – Part One
“Light be the earth upon you, lightly rest.” – Euripides There are moments in life when it feels like everything is hitting you all at once. Perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed by worrisome thoughts, intense emotions, or general overstimulation from the world. In stressful moments, it is important to feel confident in the knowledge that…
Read More
Choose to Live According to Your True Values
“‘Cheshire Puss,’ asked Alice. ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to go,’ said the Cat. ‘I don’t much care where,’ said Alice. ‘Then it doesn’t matter where you go,’ said the Cat.” – Lewis Carroll Values provide us with…
Read More
How to Practice “Everyday Mindfulness”
“Nothing is worth more than this day.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Mindfulness is “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). When we begin to make contact with the present moment using the tool of mindfulness, the world gradually begins to look and feel…
Read More
5 Signs You Are In a State of “Flow”
People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy. – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi When we are in state of “flow” there is often a sense of losing track of time and feeling completely immersed in…
Read More
Choose to Make Contact with the Present Moment
“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson No matter how focused we are on memories and worries from the past or hopes and fear of the future, the fact remains that it is always now. We cannot escape the truth that we live…
Read More
10 Simple Truths to Maintain a Healthy Relationship
“The giving of love is an education in itself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt Relationships have the capacity to provide us with emotional support, nurturance, friendship, and love. The very same relationships are also capable of causing emotional distress, deprivation, and loneliness. The difference between those two types of relationships is that the healthy relationship rests upon…
Read More
Acceptance in a Nutshell
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” – Carl Jung Mindfulness-based therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) infuse the concept of acceptance throughout treatment. The idea behind acceptance is the notion of surrendering and opening yourself up to all aspects of your internal and external experience in their entirety. This means…
Read More
“Leaves on a Stream” – Cognitive Defusion Exercise
“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provides us with the tools to practice cognitive defusion, which is the willingness to let go of the attachment and over-identification with thoughts that cause suffering. When fusion to thoughts becomes problematic, those thoughts become “true” and “real” in…
Read More
Identify Cognitive Fusion
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” – Swedish Proverb Cognitive fusion takes hold when we become so attached to patterns of thinking or specific thoughts that they get in the way of leading a full, rich, and meaningful life. In order words, we are fused to our thoughts when they cause significant…
Read More