Stress and Mental Health

Stress is very hard on our bodies. It has been shown that stress can increase digestive issues, headaches, chronic pain, acne, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, libido changes, and can increase the chance of the onset of depression. We have definitely had many reasons to feel increased stress in 2020 so far. I hope that the following skills (usually taught as a beginning part of EMDR therapy) can help to manage and lower distress if needed.

Skill #1 – Calm Place

            To begin this skill you will need to use your imagination. You will be creating a calm and peaceful place in your mind that you can go to anytime. This will help increase feelings of peace, calm, comfort, and relaxation. Close your eyes and use your hands or toes to tap back and forth from side to side (left to right). Think about a place that is real or imagined. This place can be any place you want to be but please make sure it is not connected to any negative, sad, or stressful feelings. Then bring it to life in your mind. Do this by using all of you senses. What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel (tactile and emotionally) there. After you have shaped this peaceful place in your mind and feel as if you are there, give it a name or identify a statement that goes with it. For example- peaceful sunset or I am strong and loved, etc. This statement will help to bring the image up more easily the next time. Practice this once a day for a few weeks and connect to the calming feelings that come with it. After practicing this, you will be able to do this better and better and can use it anytime or anywhere to help you increase your feelings of peace and calm.

Skill #2 – Create a Resource Team

            To begin this skill you can identify several people, animals, spiritual figures, or fictional characters that you feel have very nurturing, comforting, loving, wise, and/or protective qualities. Each figure can have each quality or more than one. Create another place in your mind separate from or even in your calm place. The goal is for each team member to individually or as a whole to be easily accessed as needed.

          Close your eyes and think of each team member one at a time.  When you begin to feel the quality that the first team member brings you, begin to tap from left to right. (On your knees with your hands or with your feet on the floor). Do the tapping several times until the feeling is strong. Do this with each figure that you have identified to be on your team. Then do it with all of the figures as a whole. Practice this once a day also for a few weeks. This will give you a great resource team to access as needed when you want or need to feel safe, comforted, nurtured, confident, and find answers to problems you do not feel you can solve. With the help of the resource team you can decrease stress, manage stressful situations, and lower anxiety.

Note: The tapping is very a very helpful tool used in EMDR. Notice if after you have been tapping if your anxiety increases. If anxiety happens to increase, please do not use the tapping with the exercises. Just do them without this step.

Sue Rosenbaum, LCSW