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Gulfside Counseling

Relaxed, professional counseling on the gulf side of Pinellas County, Florida.

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Category: blog

N+O

How can two simple letters like N and O come together and be so intimidating?

June 17, 2019 by Gulfside Counseling

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The couch across from me may be empty day-to-day, but being able to connect with my clients over video 💻 and continue our work together in spite of this pandemic has been incredible. My clients, at any given time, range from 13-70 years old...how this has impacted each of them differs as vastly as their ages, but ALL of them have gotten creative, stayed resilient, and found new ways adjust and cope with this new normal. . . Therapy is not canceled! 🛋 👩🏾‍💻💕. . . Keep showing up (if you can), keep doing the work, and keep growing through adversity one session at a time 🌱

Today my son got to see a butterfly hatch from its cocoon 🦋 We almost missed it since our chicks have gotten all the attention lately! Look how cute they are, how could you blame us? He’s been patiently waiting, asking every day when the butterfly will come out, the excitement in his voice makes me tear up just thinking about it. I don’t always love change ((give me my comfort zone)), but I am so very thankful for the little reminders Spring gives us of the beauty that can come from change.

Raise your hand if you’ve felt overwhelmed this week 🙋🏾‍♀️. . 5 THINGS is a GROUNDING exercise — “Grounding” is a skill therapists teach to help bring you into the here-and-now ✨ If you find yourself stuck in your head 🧠 starting to spiral 🌀or just plain overwhelmed 😖grounding offers a way to intentionally relax, refocus, and get through an anxious moment. . The 5 Things Exercise typically starts with a focus on your breath. There are different variations, but this is how I teach it 👍🏾 here we go! . . ✨ Shut your eyes and take three deep, completely filling your lungs and slowly exhaling A L L the way out type of breaths. When you open your eyes you can resume to breathing as normal and start to look around. At this point, you will mindfully acknowledge your environment using your 5 senses. As you look around your environment, identify and acknowledge in your mind 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Take your time, only focus on that moment and the grounding task. If you get distracted, go back to the 3 deep breaths and start again. . . When you finish, you should feel calmer and more at ease! If you like a challenge, do the exercise twice and try and find new things to acknowledge. Another variation changes the last 1 to name one thing you like about yourself 🥰 which I’d encourage if part of your spiral was being too hard on yourself. . . I hope this helps reduce some of the COVID stress out there. You aren’t alone and it’s ok if you’re STILL overwhelmed by all of this. I am too 💙