After a workshop I facilitated on working with kids who have been abused, an elderly woman approached me to ask me a question. She shocked me with the simplicity and depth of the question. Here’s what she said, “I love the kids in my community but I don’t know how to connect with the. I [...]
Archive for the ‘Anxiety’ Category
What Are We Saying When We Don’t Say Anything?
Posted: June 28, 2011 in Anxiety, Self-Injury, Teens, Youth MinistryTags: Daniel J. Siegel, Facial expression, Mental health, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, Youth
“When we block our awareness of feelings, they continue to affect us anyway. Research has shown repeatedly that even without conscious awareness, neural input from the internal world of the body and emotion influences our reasoning and our decision making. Even facial expressions we’re not aware of, even changes in heart rhythm we may not notice, [...]
Shame
Posted: February 28, 2011 in Adolescent Development, Anxiety, TeensTags: Anger, Forgiveness, God, Men, People, Relationships, Shame, Thought
Shame is both a feeling and a belief. The feeling is very unpleasant. People usually talk about noticing their face getting red, wanting to run away but finding themselves virtually paralyzed, being unable to maintain eye contact with anyone, losing all their strength and becoming incredibly weak and powerless, feeling totally exposed to people’s scrutiny and criticism, and [...]
Examining False Core Beliefs
Posted: August 18, 2010 in Adolescent Development, Anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders, Mental Health, Parenting, TeensTags: Albert Ellis, Belief, depression, Happiness, Health, Mental health, Self-esteem, Self-Help
Research has found that a number of core beliefs identified by the psychologist Albert Ellis are consistently linked to self-dislike and depression. I see these in many young people today and they go largely unchallenged by adults because many of the adults in their lives are handicapped by the same irrational beliefs. Below is a [...]
What’s a Trigger?
Posted: June 14, 2010 in Addiction, Anxiety, Mental Health, Misc.Tags: Addiction, Anxiety, depression, Eating Disorder, self injury, Teens
Often, we as youth workers, parents, teacher, etc. don’t realize the impact our words can have on our students. When a student has experienced trauma or substance abuse problems they can be “triggered” by elements in their environment that leads them back into their pain or negative behaviors. We, as caregivers, need to understand what [...]
When a person senses danger, the body prepares itself to either fight (defend itself) or flee (run away from the situation). The body’s fight or flight mechanism causes the heart rate to increase, the eyes to dilate, and the body to prepare itself for a dangerous situation. These responses allow a person to protect him/herself. [...]
What’s a cognitive distortion and why do so many young people have them? Cognitive distortions are simply ways that our mind convinces us of something that isn’t really true. These inaccurate thoughts are usually used to reinforce negative thinking or emotions — telling ourselves things that sound rational and accurate, but really only serve to [...]
