As a Holistic Psychotherapist, I believe that we cannot achieve emotional health by focusing on only on our thoughts, but rather on the interaction of our mind, body and spirit including all our senses.  One of our most powerful senses is sound.  Our ears are bombarded by all kinds of sounds all day from traffic and street noise to the noise in our heads. Music has the power to help you fight stress and even manage pain, and healing music works whether you prefer heavy metal, country, opera, or something else entirely.

 

If you haven't created a personal favorite relaxation playlist, here's a good reason to do so: Healing music can help you fight stress, find comfort, and manage pain. And if you want an additional release through music therapy, put down your earbuds and pick up a drum! Getting your groove on enhances the effect of healing music.

 

Healing Music: Creating Your Personal Playlist
Start by identifying music that soothes you and helps you feel comfortable. Feeling obligated to include a little classical music? Only do so if it really works for you. Whether you like Mozart, Johnny Cash, or Aerosmith, the music that most helps you relax is a highly personal decision.

"What people say soothes them, soothes them, even if it's heavy metal," says music therapist Joanne Loewy, DA, director of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. "The most important aspect is how it is incorporated in your life."

 

Healing Music
If you aren't sure what healing music suits you, find a therapist who uses music as part of their treatment and can help evaluate your taste and interests and make some recommendations.

 

For example, says Loewy, a shy person might benefit from "lilting" music that can be integrated with breathing rhythms, while a more expressive person might want to include vibrations such as gongs or drumming in their music therapy. As a personal test to see which personality type you more closely fit into, Loewy says you should ask yourself what you do when you stub your toe: Grin and bear it or curse and yell!

Does colder weather get you down? For many people, the shorter days and long, dark nights of fall and winter can lead to a mild or severe depression known as seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Anyone of any age can develop SAD, although women in their 20s are especially vulnerable. If you notice symptoms like weight gain, daytime sleepiness, increased irritability and anxiety, and social withdrawal in yourself or a loved one, it may be time to seek treatment for SAD.

 

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of seasonal depression triggered by the change in seasons, primarily winter. More than half a million Americans experience a winter depression but are better come summer. It is important to treat SAD, because all forms of depression limit people's ability to live their lives to the fullest, to enjoy their families.

 

Symptoms of SAD include:

Weight gain: Cravings for sweet and starchy foods lead to excess weight. 

 

Daytime fatigue: People with SAD are tired during the day and have less energy. They may also find themselves sleeping a lot, but getting no relief from their fatigue. With SAD, you eat more and sleep more - It's hibernation-like.

 

Increased irritability and anxiety: People with SAD worry more about everyday events and can be easily irritated. They can have trouble concentrating, too.

 

Social withdrawal: Those with SAD prefer to be alone; they shun the company of friends and family and do not participate in activities they normally enjoy. Often their social behavior is hard to understand.

 

SAD is treatable - more on the various treatment methods in the full article.

 

Step 1: Check with insurance
If you are employed and you do have medical insurance, this is the first thing you should do. Check with your insurance provider to find out exactly what is covered. If your insurance pays for mental health visits, then this is something you should consider. 

Step 2: Consider unemployment insurance
If you are unemployed you may want to consider getting a temporary insurance policy designed for those who currently don't have jobs. Make sure the policy has mental health benefits and that you understand the ins and outs of the policy before you commit.

Step 3: Consider taking calming herbs
If you are feeling stressed about the economy, use herbs to try to prevent your mental health situation from getting bad. Having trouble sleeping at night? Does your nervous system feel frazzled? Gentle herbs like chamomile, stinging nettle and oatstraw can really help calm your nervous system.

These herbs are gentle enough to take each day in the form of a tea. Just don't take nettle if you're taking medication to thin the blood like Coumadin; the Vitamin K content in nettle causes blood clots.

Step 4: Consider counseling
If you do need someone to talk to about your mental health, consider making an appointment with a counselor. Counselors are highly trained and can maybe help you work out what's bothering you.

Step 5: Get financial help
Chances are, a lot of your stress might be caused by money. If this is the case, you might want to consider getting financial help. If you're unemployed you could be collecting unemployment, for example. Also take advantage of any other government programs you might be eligible for such as disability or food stamps (see Resources below for some links to financial help options).

Step 6: Check with the state
What kinds of unemployment benefits are you actually entitled to? Some states may allow you to get counseling or offer some kind of mental health support. Determine what kinds of options are available if you are unemployed.

 

Staying mentally healthy isn't just about treating illness - far from it! There are lots of things we can do to help prevent ourselves getting ill in the first place, and plenty more we can try if we (or those around us) do encounter problems.

So, to get you started, I've put together these Top Tips for Positive Mental Health. Don't keep them under your hat either - tell your family, friends and colleagues. Everyone should know this stuff!  Here's the list, for more information, read the complete article.

Talk about your feelings
Write it down
Keep active
Eat well
Sleep well
Drink sensibly
Keep in touch with friends and loved ones
Get the knowledge, take control
Get professional help
Look beyond drug therapies
Change the scene
Time for another cuppa?
Hold that thought
Go for green
Let there be light
Listen up!
Improve your coping skills
Set realistic goals
Keep an eye on personal stress
Three good things...
Get involved
The long way
Find a hobby
Do good
Ask for help

Do you find yourself with your shoulders hunched up around your ears, letting out a great big sigh, noticing that you're so tense and tight that you've forgotten to breathe? Breathing has a powerful effect on our emotional as well as physical well being.  

 

For some people, just the thought of making a New Year's resolution throws them into a "tizzy".  For others, setting unrealistic goals has the result of making us feel like failures when we don't reach them. Here are a few tips to see that your resolution actually makes a difference:

The holidays are here and, for many of us, so is holiday stress. Reduced budgets can mean stressing more this year over how much to spend on gifts and what to get. Planning parties or family gatherings can feel overwhelming. It can be hard to find the holiday spirit. Here are some tips to prevent stress through the holiday season.

Psychosynthesis is composed of two Greek words; "Psycho," meaning Self or Soul, spelled with a capital "S", and "synthesis" meaning bringing together. Psychosynthesis is a philosophy for living, a set of principles and a dynamic, open-ended approach to personal and transpersonal integration and synthesis. Wherever applied, Psychosynthesis seeks to enable the person or group to discover and take the next step toward greater inner freedom and responsible expression in the world. The Psychosynthesis process prepares one to choose consciously to cooperate with a natural growth and unfoldment, which leads to order and harmony within the individual and in society.

My practice is based on the principles of Psychosynthesis.  Psychosynthesis is a philosophy for living, a set of principles and a dynamic, open-ended approach to personal and transpersonal integration and synthesis. Psychosynthesis seeks to enable you to discover and take the next step toward greater inner freedom and responsible expression in the world. This process prepares one to choose consciously to cooperate with a natural growth and unfoldment, which leads to order and harmony within the individual and in society.

Sometimes you need someone to talk to, someone who can help... When you feel like you can't do it alone... When you feel trapped, like there's nowhere to turn... When you worry all the time, and never seem to find the answers... When the way you feel is affecting your sleep, your eating habits, your job, your relationships, your everyday life... When even the advice offered by family or well-meaning friends doesn't really help you feel any better.