A BlountifuL Experience

Happy Holidays!! We look forward to serving you all in the New Year! Stay tuned for new and exciting projects.

Is it personality or pathology!?

Mental health illness is real! There are a number of illnesses that interfere with an individual’s daily functioning! However, it’s important to note that every negative emotion and symptom is not always a mental health illness.

I believe that we, especially mental health professionals, need to stop pathologizing every single uncomfortable feeling or emotion that we/clients feel.

It’s great to be self-aware, but I think we need to be careful when we begin to pathologize every emotion and feeling as this may cause more harm!

STOP self-diagnosing!!!!! More to come.

We all have issues!! This week's focus is being more aware of how you respond to said issues. Learning how you respond based on your personality versus a mental health illness is key to self-awareness! Stay tuned for more information.

Learned Helplessness! And it goes a little something like this!!!

Anxiety is annoying but now that it’s here, time to start learning how to regulate it!! 🎯Stay tuned for “real” footage examples. ✌🏽🤪

On October 10, 1981, the world changed. Wishing one of the BEST therapist who has ever graced the world of counseling a happy birthday! Happy Birthday, Angela!

Listen here 🗣🗣

Noise-cancelling headphones are heaven-sent for several reasons. I'll just share one today. Many people, including myself, are challenged with noise sensitivities. This can be for several reasons. Today we will talk about misophonia.

🤔 What is Misophonia?

Glad you asked. Misophonia is a recently proposed disorder characterized by extreme sensitivity to “patterned based sounds.”

Many people thought misophonia only dealt with an individual's inability to hear other people eat/chew.

Reactivity to aversive sounds includes heightened autonomic nervous system and negative emotional arousal. Pattern-based auditory stimuli often cluster around noises generated by others.

Many say mouth sounds, like the sounds made when eating, serve as their biggest triggers. Other common triggers include:

whistling
sniffling
pets licking, scratching, or grooming themselves
clicking or tapping
fabric rubbing
metallic sounds
breathing or sighing

While misophonia literally means “hatred of sound,” people living with the condition might experience a range of emotions when hearing trigger sounds.

Anger tends to be the most common, but others include:

anxiety
irritation 👀 - boy, is this familiar
aggravation
disgust
impatience

It never hurts to connect with a therapist when you notice any symptoms that cause lingering mental or emotional distress. They can offer guidance on coping tips and potential treatment options for misophonia. Even though misophonia has no known cure, several strategies appear to have a positive impact on symptoms.

You can also begin exploring possible changes that might help you avoid or tolerate sound triggers in your daily life. These might include things like:

using white noise or wearing headphones
using grounding techniques to manage your response to triggers
setting up quiet zones at home
self-care strategies to improve overall well-being

#ablountifulexp

You're allowed to feel what you feel! Validation is accepting a person’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Invalidation, then, is just the opposite — when a person’s thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors are rejected, judged, or ignored.

Validating an emotion doesn't mean that folks agree or think your emotional response is warranted. Rather, they demonstrate and accept your feelings without trying to convince you that what you're feeling is wrong or shame you for feeling.

An emotionally validated person feels that others not only see and hear their emotions but also accept the existence of those feelings. A person who feels that their emotions are not "wrong" or inappropriate is more apt to have a solid sense of identity and worth and can manage emotions more effectively. Therefore, they feel Safe, Secure, and Significant.

Stay tuned to learn more about how we are affected by invalidating spaces.

My success in counseling is not the fact that I know all the theories in the books or the knowledge about treating diagnoses. It's not because of grades or the degree(S)I hold! People wonder about the "strategy" or "marketing plan" I use to get and, more importantly, retain clients.

While I am well-versed in my theoretical orientation, the truth is, it's the salt I sprinkle on it that keeps me BOOKED and BUSY! I am my true authentic self in the space I create for my clients. I tried it another way when I started, and THAT WAS NOT IT! So, I made a promise (to myself) that I would show up being true to who I am as a person and therapist! I guess it's safe to say.....It's working!

Listen here 🗣🗣🗣

Some of us have been left "on read," and we have taken this personally. Rightfully so! Who wants that? Talk about rejection and lack of regard, especially when you dig that individual and wish to communicate with them.

Those who struggle with anxiety may experience intrusive thoughts about what went wrong, especially when they thought everything was going well. Then suddenly...BOOM! No response. You don't have any answers; you know they read the text/email, but unfortunately, you did not get a response, and now your anxiety is out of control.

You may feel rejection, abandonment, or even judgment. What makes it worse is when others tell you to "just get over it" or "you'll be okay." Now your emotions are invalidated. Great!

How can you get through this? Glad you asked. First, allow your inner thoughts and feelings to occur without trying to change or ignore them. Acceptance is an active process. Feel your sadness, disappointment, rejection, anger, etc. Next, learn ways to be “less fused” with the thoughts. Separate your thoughts from who you are as a human being. Treat them simply as thoughts. Learn to see your thoughts about yourself as separate from your actions and core beliefs. So these negative thoughts are just thoughts and don't have the power to dictate your mood or belief about yourself. Stay present by breathing and commit to engaging in activities contrary to the former behaviors that did not serve you well. So this time, you're not going to do a drive-by, slit his tires and throw eggs at his front door OR isolate yourself from family or friends because you are upset about this. Continue your therapeutic journey, and eventually, this will pass. You "feel" defeated, but in reality, you're NOT defeated. Go with the truth! See the truth through the fog of emotions. You can stop and grieve. But don't stay there.

It was all good just a week ago 😭😭😭😭

Now, you, my friend, are left on read! How did you get here? Let's learn tips about overcoming the anxious thinking that follows when they leave us on read! Stay tuned 🤔

Let's have a Conversation🗣🗣

When I was directed by a therapist a few moons ago to blow bubbles, I was like, GIRL BYE. I didn't really say that to her, but I definitely said it in my mind. I was too stressed, and blowing bubbles was the last thing on my mind. Next thing you know, I found myself at the dollar store purchasing bubbles because she had me curious.

I purchased the bubbles, claimed they would be for students and clients, and then one day...BOOM. I took a whirl because I live for nostalgic vibes. Ever since then, I have kept a bottle of bubbles! YES, they work. Blowing bubbles...

1. Relieves Stress 😵‍💫
2. is a way to engage in deep-breathing
3. Calms anxiety as the exhaling releases any tension that your body has built up and helps your body keep from tensing up.

So while you're looking at this post with the 👀, go and get some bubbles 👉🏽

Got Bubbles? 🤔
💡 Stay tuned for the benefits of blowing bubbles!

Listen here 🗣🗣🗣

STOP. DROP. And CELEBRATE the "small" stuff. Nothing is small in my book; however, this might not be true for others. In fact, once upon a time, I NEVER acknowledged the small stuff. Small stuff, where? Oh, that! Fast forward to today; I periodically overlook the small stuff and have to do a self-check when that happens! 🤔🤔

Here's how it happens:

"I lost one pound BUT"
"That submitted project was okay, but it could have been better."
"I ate healthy at the beginning of the week, BUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED was"
"I know I NEED to be doing more in that area..."

Either you're focused on what and how you did "it" in the past, OR you're preoccupied when doing "it" better.

💡 Chile, please STOP🚫 and smell the roses, cookies, pesticides, or whatever it is that you can smell now.

Don't be so distracted by what has already happened or what you think might happen in the future. Celebrate all that is happening in the present. If you woke up, drank a cup of water, said hello to someone, or listened to Ms. Betty, the receptionist, while she complained about her uncle despite feeling lousy and wanting to stay in bed - CELEBRATE! Celebrate the one pound loss, the ONE item you sold in your business, the two chapters you read in the book, the putting on exercise clothes and walking five minutes on the treadmill.....

Celebrate it all! 🥳🥳🥳

Listen here🗣🗣🗣

You go to work full-time, cater to your significant other (if you have one), do the most in one-sided relationships, bend over backward for everyone else but yourself, and by the time you get home, you're completely burnt out 🤔🤔.

Why is it that we people please to that degree? Many say that they do not have time to journal, vlog, or engage in deep breathing; however, they seem to find time to do everything else but invest in themselves.

If you're internally irritated for no reason, grumpy, withdrawn, feeling hurried all the time, complaining daily about being tired, chances are - YOU'RE BURNT OUT. And guess what? Your trauma responses won't let you be great! You can't say NO; otherwise, you'll feel guilty for many reasons that logically don't make sense, but in your anxious, people-pleasing brain, 🧠- it's real.

I think it's time to pull out your adult diary, aka journal, and tell the pages all about it. Then get online and schedule an appointment with your therapist favorite therapist! 🔥🔥

🗣🗣 Mental Health Matters 🤔🤔

We often hear this statement trending. However, many people struggle with carving out time to intentionally take care of their mental health. If you were raised in a household that believed mental health illness is "not real" or something that doesn't require a significant amount of focus, then you never learned how to care for your mental health. Therapy may not have been an option. Likely, when you were sad or felt "off," someone told you that your issues weren't that serious or to give it to God and move on. They may not have known how invalidating those responses was for you. You learned how to just be grateful that you have food, shelter, and a job and journeyed through life wondering "what's wrong with me," however, your brain was sending you an alert to begin taking care of your mental health. Because you take care of your physical health by going to the doctor, dentist, specialist, etc., the same principle applies to how you care for your mind 🧠💡❗️

A BlountifuL Experience updated their business hours.

A BlountifuL Experience updated their business hours.

Yes!

Get a new hobby!! There literally shouldn't be enough hours in the day for petty.