One Valuable Strategy For Emotional Regulation

Sierra Dator walking using One Valuable Strategy For Emotional Regulation

Ready to learn one valuable strategy for emotional regulation? Do you want to learn a practical tool you can start using today? Perfect!

We all have a window of tolerance. Sometimes our ability to tolerate things is big. We can handle a lot. Sometimes our window is only cracked or feels completely closed. These are days we cannot tolerate much.

When we get out of our window, we can become hyper-aroused, meaning anxious, energetic, and moving quick without intention. Or we can become hypo-aroused, meaning slow, down, depressed, tired, or numb.

When we use the theory of the window, we can assess how much we can tolerate and move about our day accordingly. We can also use tools to help us get back into our window or make the window wider.

My tools include alone time, walking, exercising, reading, or talking with a very close friend. On the other hand, being super social, around lots of noise, or enmeshed in clutter are sure ways to kick me out of my window or not allow me to get back in.

I encourage you to use this one valuable strategy for emotional regulation to bring awareness to your own life and how you function. This theory helpful and tangible. I use it regularly and hope you do too!

The Window of Tolerance theory is developed by Dr. Dan Siegel. He is an amazing clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA.

In closing, if you would like to schedule an appointment to learn how to emotionally regulate with more ease, then go ahead and reach out to me here.

Mental Health Matters

quote on mental health

While mental health matters, it can be really hard to be honest with oneself when it comes to it. Facing depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, or other mental health challenges can feel daunting, embarrassing, and even shameful. Denial, projection, substance abuse, over working, or other defense mechanisms come to the rescue, but their aid only goes so far.

While one might want to push their mental health away from them, it’s always there. It shows up in every relationship one has, from romance to friendship to parenting to work life to name a few. Mental health matters because it is a major aspect of overall wellbeing.

If you recognize you’re holding your mental health as a secret, the place to start is to be honest with yourself. To say yes, I think I might be depressed. To say yes, I’m smoking too much pot to not deal with my break up. To say yes, I’m avoiding dating because I’m anxious. To say yes, that sexual assault in my teens is still effecting me. To say yes, I’m f*ing up my kids because I’m checked out. I know it’s hard to be honest with oneself but the flip side of not is detrimental to you and those you love.

Addressing one’s mental health takes courage. The outcome can be life changing for you and those you love. You deserve to feel better, and so do all the people that love you!

Help and Resources

In conclusion, your mental health matters. In fact, it matters a lot. Please feel free to reach out to me schedule here. Fore more information about depression and anxiety, head to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Check out the International OCD Foundation for information about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Great trauma resources include the Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center and The Trauma Foundation.

How To Get Rid Of Anxiety

Sierra Dator in Yosemite thinking about how to get rid of anxiety

Want to know how to get rid of anxiety? Great! I’d love to be of help to you. First, let’s look at the equation for what causes anxiety:

an increased threat

+ an inability to cope

= increased anxiety

For example, what if my boss doesn’t like the proposal I submitted (increased threat)? What if she chooses someone else for the promotion (threat getting bigger) or even fires me (and even bigger)? I don’t know what I’d do (inability to cope). Now I can’t think about anything else (now your anxious).

In this situation, what we want to do is flip the script. In fact, this is how we get rid of anxiety. We want to decrease the threat and increase the ability to cope.

a decreased threat

+ ability to cope=

decreased anxiety

Here’s an example: What if my boss likes what I submitted (decreased threat). What if she chooses me for the promotion (threat still decreasing) or even has bigger plans for me (threat is decreased). Even if she doesn’t like the proposal, it’ll be ok. Maybe I’ll get some good feedback (ability to cope). I guess I’ll just see what happens. It will work out (no anxiety).

When we can change the equation of anxiety, we can improve our mood and overall mental health. As a result, we can even learn to live well with anxiety!

Get help now for anxiety

Want some help learning to flip the script of anxiety? Want to learn tips, tools, and strategies to learn to tolerate anxiety better and even eliminate it? If so, go ahead and reach out to me for support. You can send me an email here.

Also, check out other great resources on how to treat anxiety including the National Institute for Mental Health, the Mayo Clinic, or the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

In addition, for the general feeling of worry, Wise Girl Workshops some amazing toolkits to help girls and parents.