Change your Brain with your Mind

Did you know that it is normal to talk to yourself? People experience a private internal dialogue all the time. What you elect to think affects feelings, which in turn influences your behaviors. Choosing to reflect negatively on matters by focusing on fears can create pessimistic reactions that result in undesirable outcomes. For example, telling yourself you will be unsuccessful at your new job may produce a sense of worthlessness. When we believe our value is low, it can create an apathetic mood. Lack of effort may very well result in a poor job performance. The internal dialogue might be, “I will fail anyway, so why should I even try?” At a subconscious level, our beliefs and expectations influence our actions. So when we tell ourselves that we will fail, it often results in a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Perfectionism in our Culture

What is perfectionism? What it is not is merely having high standards or striving too intensely to achieve a goal. What drives perfectionism is an erroneous belief that one is inherently flawed and then works hard to cover up what they think are their defects.

People who cannot accept mistakes may act in the following ways:
1. Have to always set their own rules
2. Blame others for their mistakes
3. Say unhelpful things about themselves
4. Have trouble making decisions
5. Make a project way too complex in trying to make it be ‘the best’
6. Procrastinate until the last minute, as they feel their work won’t be good enough
7. Always take over and insist that things be done their way
8. Pay more attention to what is wrong instead of seeing the positive side
9. Give up too soon without really trying

Celebrate National Play Therapy Week (February 6-12, 2022)

You may find it interesting to note that play is our first language, according to the (click link) Association for Play Therapy (APT). Just as words are used to communicate, young and older people can use play to express thoughts and feelings that might otherwise remain hidden. For instance, in my clinical work with traumatized adults who cannot easily find their words to express unspeakable experiences, play techniques are used as a vehicle to unlock verbilization. Once deeply hidden impressions are expressed, problem solving and healing can begin.

Perhaps you can relate to play in your experiences with a pet and have undoubtedly noticed how important playtime is to your dog, cat or bird. In my house, both German Shepherd (Hans) and Border Collie (Willow) eagerly await our evening games. It seems more important to them than food, which underscores its value. Personally, I must admit that this creative experience with my pets uplifts mood, offers a release the day’s cares and leaves a feeling of satisfaction. Play is essential to the well-being of all two, four and eight-legged creatures; both domestic and wild.

Mental health professionals throughout the USA want to remind everyone about the value of play during (click link) National Play Therapy Week. The act of playing is actually used to therapeutically assist clients to describe and manage their behaviors and mental health problems. Play therapy credentials are considered a specialty field that requires specific clinical training and supervised experience that goes beyond general mental health licensures. This unique credential (RPT or RPT/S) enables clinicians to publicly advertise their Play Therapy expertise. Working with play is truely an art.

I invite you to view the following interesting video from (Click Link) Dr. Stuart Brown highlighting play as a universal prescription essential for good health (click link) Tedtalk with Stuart Brown, MD.

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National Psychotherapy Day - September 25, 2021

Suzette Turner-Clark, LCSW-S, RPT/S, RYT-200