Great Medical Practice: Making the Most of Therapy
BCA Therapy Founder Brynn Cicippio shares how to make the most of therapy and shares a few questions to keep in mind.
Protect Yourself from a Narcissist!
What is important to a narcissist is CONTROL. A narcissist needs control over the situation they’re in. Whether that’s in a relationship, in a social scenario, or something else, a narcissist will manipulate the circumstances to maintain control.
Here are ways to handle a narcissist:
- Set Boundaries. Make sure to let the narcissist know what you are comfortable with and what you are not comfortable with. Just because they don’t care about their boundaries, doesn’t mean you don’t care about your own boundaries. SET CLEAR BOUNDARIES!
- Don’t Engage Emotionally. It is easier to protect yourself from a narcissistic rage if you are out of their reach. You just block a narcissist on social media and change your phone number. But unfortunately, it’s not always possible for everyone, such as ex-spouses who are stuck in co-parenting. If you are in a similar situation hold your inner composure. Stay calm and don’t take it personally. Image you are separated by a mental wall from a narcissist and only use dry facts when talking to them. [1]
- Ignore them. Ignore their rudeness, it gives them no satisfaction, and then they won’t be rude to you and move onto someone else.
- Protect yourself. It is your right to protect yourself and your happiness. Don’t feel wrong because you blocked a narcissist out of your life. They hurt you and did not care how you feel in the first place. Remind yourself that!
- Don’t fight them, it will make the situation worse. Don’t fight a narcissist, as there is no win when fighting a narcissist. They enjoy fighting, and their goal is to control you. They won’t let you have an opinion, and they are always right. Fighting a narcissist is a win for them, and a loss for you.
- Remind yourself that you deserve to be treated with respect. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. Be an example for your kids, friends and family. [2]
How can therapy help you with narcissistic abuse recovery?
- Therapy can help you address acute symptoms (self-care, boundaries, and cognitive dissonance).
- It can help you with a divorce from a spouse, who was/is a narcissist.
- Therapy can help provide you with tool and homework for your recovery.
- It can also help identify narcissistic behaviors that are causing problems in your life.
- It will help you exercise your mind.
- It also can offer guidance to help you heal.
If you are looking for therapist that treats narcissistic abuse recovery, gaslighting, trauma, and PTSD. BCA Therapy has therapist that specialize and treat this. Visit BCA Therapy, to learn more about our therapist and schedule an appointment today. Let’s DO THE WORK and recover. We are here with you every step of the way during your recovery.
Sources:
[1] How To Protect Yourself From A Narcissist | Arcadian Counseling
[2] 8 Tips to Protect Yourself From a Narcissist | Psychology Today
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Self-Care For Parents Is Crucial!
Self-care for parents is not selfish, it’s crucial. You deserve to take care of yourself because, you deserve it! Each of us has a right to strive towards happiness and to value ourselves.
Taking care of your physical, spiritual, psychological and social needs will help you feel your best so you can be the best parent you can be. It’s important to set aside a little bit of time for self-care even when you feel like you don’t have a single second to devote to yourself. While there are many different self-care strategies for parents. It’s important to experiment with them to figure out which strategies work best for you.
1. Spend Time in Nature
Nature and forest therapy is a research-based framework for supporting healing and wellness through immersion in forest and other natural environments. You can participate on a guided nature and forest therapy walk.
2. Set Time Out of the Day to Be Alone
It’s important to give yourself a few minutes of alone time. Even if it’s 10 minutes each day that you set aside to relax by yourself, a little solitude can help you unwind. That can mean waiting for your child to take a nap or waiting until a friend or family member is watching your child, give yourself permission to charge your batteries with a little alone time.
3. Schedule Time with Friends or Family
If you schedule a future social activity for yourself, it gives you something to look forward to. Which is a good for your mental health and is a good self-care strategy in itself. Then, actually engage in social activity will give another boost to your psychological well-being.
4. Get Out of the House
That doesn’t mean going out to food shop or commuting to work. We need more than just our office space and our kitchens. Going out for a walk, walking your dug, riding a bike can reduce the feeling of confinement and clear your head. Consider having a parent night out once or every other week.
5. Treat Yourself
From time to time, it’s okay to treat yourself. Our kids get treats but shouldn’t parents sometimes as well. We can treat ourselves by buying a new pair of sneakers, going to a sporting event, going to the movies, or going out to get desert for yourself. Parent need treats too!
There are many ways to practice self-care for parents, we hope these ideas can help you think about how you can bring self-care into your daily life as a parent.
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Tips For Overcoming Anxiety Related Procrastination
Do you struggle with procrastination? Is it causing you more anxiety? Here are some tips for overcoming anxiety related procrastination.
- Improve your decision-making skills. Having good decisions making skills can help you avoid procrastinating when you have a difficult problem to deal with.
- Head off fear that might lead to procrastination. Fears about falling can cause some people to procrastinate. By working on this fear, you may be able to reduce the urge to procrastinate.
- Break your tasks down. Taking larger tasks and breaking them down into smaller, more manageable actions steps can help you beat your anxiety related to procrastination.
- Focus on the progress not perfection. Rather than ending up bogged down in not attainable expectations of self-inflicted perfection, continue to build upon the progress that you made moving forward in whatever it is that you are doing. Finish the task at hand, and then, time permitting, go back to make it as close to perfect as possible.
- Set boundaries for yourself. No matter how much you want to accomplish, sometimes you have to know when to say “when”. If you find yourself taking on the weight of the world, at one point or another you will probably find yourself at the bottom of it. Before you try to take care of anyone else, try taking care of yourself first.
How to Prepare Your Mental Health As You Transition to College
If you are heading to college with a diagnosed mental health condition, you are not the only one. Many new students are in therapy, take medications, receive support services through college, private tutors, guidance counselors, or other agencies. Planning ahead for your mental health and academic support needs will make your transition to college healthier, easier, and more comfortable. Know the steps to prepare your mental health before stepping onto a college campus can help you so much.
- Time management– College can be more demanding than high school, plan to devote more time to your studies. Plan out your days and create a routine that you stick to every week. Having an assignment book to mark important assignments and tests can make your experience of college so much easier.
- Socializing– It can be fun to meet your roommate(s) and others on the floor in your building. Just remember that some people thrive on social interaction while others may struggle with that, so be kind to one another.
- Independence– Now that you’re on your own, you may feel the need to test your limits. Don’t make bad decisions based on peer pressure. Say “NO” to things you don’t want to do. Setting boundaries is very important and do not let people step over your boundaries and respect other people’s boundaries.
- Resources– Be sure to use to familiarize yourself with the resources on college campus. Consider joining a student organization and being involved. There is also learning assistance and resource centers, and student health services and counseling centers that can assist you if needed.
- Stress– Being aware that some amount of stress and anxiety is normal. You are in a setting with new people and new challenges. You can do this!
Sources:
Family Matters: Making the Transition to College – West Chester University (wcupa.edu)
Planning Ahead for Your Mental Health Care as You Transition to College | The Jed Foundation
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