Intervention Spotlight

Intervention Spotlight

We have compiled a list of our favorite interventions to use in therapy. We often like to describe a problem during our chats and sometimes we forget to give an intervention or how to potentially solve something. Today we want to remedy this and talk about our most used and most effective interventions. As therapists we acknowledge that what sounds very simple is not EASY. There is a big difference in talking about solutions or interventions and knowing something you can do and actually doing it in real time. That’s where it can get dicey and why therapy isn’t a quick fix. It takes time and patience and trial and error. Every person has a system of defense mechanism (all aimed to protect you) that may tell you that something new is scary or that discomfort is bad. It may be telling you that it’s someone else’s fault so you don’t need to change!! It may say that if I stay vigilant then I’ll be safe so never put your guard down. If I joke about something then someone else cannot hurt me. It can tell you to avoid the conversation because it’s not going to end well. Or feelings and vulnerability are weaknesses so don’t express them. This is what every therapist is up against and will help you wade through so you can dream big and feel empowered enough to get there. (shameless plug for therapy) But here we are and we want to tell you about the best things to DO and to consider doing to improve your life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbeysamide.substack.com [https://abbeysamide.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Radically Honesty in a Filtered Social Media World

Last week we discussed radical honesty and took the challenge of only posting on our social media unfiltered day to day business. Not making posts that misrepresent our lives. Social media feeds into our feelings of shame, embarassment and the need to be accepted/admired. Hence the lying on social media misrepresenting situations, spouses, children to gain acceptance and admiration. We are exploring what happens when you post the reality. We are on a 10 day challenge of posting the real day to day things we may struggle with not the triumphs. The reality post have generated more comments and likes than the post of success. It has been a great learning experience being vulnerable to others seeing your daily fails and the second thoughts that happen when you post the fail. Stay tuned today as we review our journey posting the reality, the comments and the post that got the most likes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbeysamide.substack.com [https://abbeysamide.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Practicing Radical Honesty for 10 days Straight. 10 days of real life struggles that we will post daily.

Perfectly curated posts from influencers, dream vacations and everyone living their best life. All of it can make you feel like you are missing out on something or are behind the curve of life as you watch other people hit milestones, new jobs, kids, marriage, proposals, fun parties, events and fundraisers and awards. You are not alone, no one really posts those raw moments of despair or disappointment, what if people posted their real life challenges and vulnerabilities online for everyone to see. What if we all practiced radical honesty about how hard parenting is or marriage, or relations at work. Why do we all feel a desire to hide our challenges in life. Why do we prefer the masks of perfection when it really seems to turn other’s off. Today we are going to start a 10 day series of truthful posts about our challenges in life to normalize that even therapists don’t have it all together. Good news we are just as human as anyone else and plan to post only the challenges and daily musings about the hardships in life. We are going to get really vulnerable with real thoughts, frustrations, challenges, and daily battles that other people do not get to see. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbeysamide.substack.com [https://abbeysamide.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ozempic Conversations and Quick Fix Culture

I was at a fundraiser in October and a person started talking to me as if they knew me. I have no re-collection of this person. I walk away confused and ask my table who is that? One person answered it was your co-chair from the summer bash in July. It was a completely different human. They had lost 50lbs at least, different hair color, cheek were plumper and smooth forehead. The person I did the summer bash with was not even close to this person. I was flabbergasted. This is not to bash the person if they feel better about themselves, but the short period of time it took them to completely transform was insane. Ozempic didn’t create quick-fix culture — it just exposed how deeply uncomfortable we are with slow progress. We live in a culture where people want abs, emotional healing, financial stability, and closure by Thursday. Personal immediate gratification. We are living in a culture where everything is at our fingertips. How does this impact our ability to work for something and have a long term goal? Are people less likely to participate in activities that take time and effort to accomplish? How does this play into anxiety? What happens in the brain when needs are not immediately met? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbeysamide.substack.com [https://abbeysamide.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Why do I feel bad all the time?

Shame and guilt often are misunderstood concepts, but something that comes up all the time in therapy. Consider this: when I was maybe 8 years old, I stole a piece of candy from a store. I was with my mom and she saw me chewing on something. She asked if I took it without her paying for it and the look on my face said it all. (Guilty as charged) We marched back into that store and she made me confess. I felt bad about taking the candy (Guilt) I knew it was the wrong thing to do and I did it anyway. I felt guilt confessing. I felt better afterwards because we paid for it. Now, let’s look at shame. Let’s think in terms of the same scenario- but shame works on an even deeper level- “i’m bad,” not “I did something wrong.” Shame speaks to who you are- where guilt speaks to what you did. You can do something wrong and not think you are a bad person. In fact, more often than not this is the case. People often do things that are incongruent with their morals or values, They lie, to themselves to others- “no, nothings wrong, I’m fine”- to bigger lies. SHame exists in secrecy, it requires it and feeds it. Now, onto better understanding shame and how you can combat it. Today’s podcast is all about guilt versus shame. Behaviors do not equal who you are and are small parts of a whole. A mistake, poor choice/decision does not define you but your self talk might try to convince you otherwise. Today we battle this and shed the shame. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbeysamide.substack.com [https://abbeysamide.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]