Lifestyle Medicine
Replacing unhealthy behaviours with positive ones can help you improve your wellbeing
Increase physical activity
Regular & consistent physical activity that can be maintained daily
Healthful eating
Food is medicine. Increase plant based foods that are rich in fiber & nutrients
Avoid risky substances
Stop smoking & limit your alcohol intake less than 10 std drinks per week
Manage stress
Recognise negative stress responses & develop lifestyle coping mechanisms
Develop relationships
Relationships are crucial for wellbeing, prioritise positive connections
Improve your sleep
Identify lifestyle habits than can support healthy sleep patterns
Therapy
How therapy can help
Therapy is a process of becoming more skilful with your emotions.
Become skilful with your emotions
Let go of unhelpful thinking patterns & resolve emotional pain
Empower meaningful engagement in your life and work
A short film about Psychotherapy
from The School of Life
Develop capacity for being present and having presence
Build courage to create a life that really works for you
Find clarity on important decisions and take action
Understanding emotions
Why emotions are important
There are 3 basic functions of emotions
We have emotions because..
1. They tell us what is important to us
2. They tell us what we need or want and that helps us figure out what to do
3. They give us a sense of consistency and wholeness
There are three main kinds of problems that people have with their emotions
1. Sometimes the emotion that is most obvious is not the most important emotion, which is underneath or inside it. When that’s the case, we have to find the most important emotion.
2. Sometime the level of emotion is not right: It’s either too much or too close and overwhelms us. When that happens, we need to get it to the right “working level” or distance.
3. Sometimes we get stuck in an emotion because we are missing an important piece of it, either what it’s about, or how we feel it in our body, or because we aren’t able to put it into words, or because we can’t connect it to what we need to do. When that happens, we need to figure out which piece is missing and fill it in.
It’s hard to work on emotions in the abstract, so therapists rely on the person to bring in a particular problem or task, and then work on helping the person to use their emotions more effectively in relation to that problem.
Note. Adapted from Learning Emotion Focused Therapy: The Process-Experiential Approach to Change (p. 274), by R. Elliot, J. C. Watson, R. N. Goldman & L. S. Greenberg, 2015, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Copyright © 2004 by the American Psychological Association.
a film about emotions
This is an educational film about emotions. The script is written by psychologist Anne Hilde Vassbø Hagen, with support from Dr. Leslie Greenberg.
What to expect from your first session.
Finding the right fit with a therapist is really important. Knowing what to expect from the first session can help you feel more comfortable starting out.
SESSION OUTLINE
Your therapist will give you an outline of how the first session will run. The main points to cover are what you need help with and how the process works.
HOW THERAPY WORKS
Your therapist will discuss the therapy process, and your role in this. It’s important than you highlight any expectations or concerns that you have.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU
You will have time to talk about what has brought you to therapy and what you would like support with.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
With your therapist, you will work out what next steps will be. Therapy is a tailored process designed to suit each client individually.
All sessions are now conducted by telehealth due to Covid-19.
Medicare rebates may apply.
The task we must set for ourselves is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity.”
Erich Fromm
Psychoanalyst & philospoher