Picture a Healthier You Through Art Therapy

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It’s commonly said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Art can move us, inspire us, and it can be either a satisfying hobby or a very rewarding profession for a talented few. But it’s not widely known that art therapy is an effective treatment used to help individuals with mental illness or substance misuse. I was pleased to be able to talk with Fran Belvin, an experienced licensed professional art therapist and colleague in Lexington, Kentucky. I asked …

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Your Time to Shine Will Happen

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Suzan Roberts-Skeats This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked Suzan Roberts-Skeats about her history of mental health challenges and about some of her current activities. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about when you first started becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment? SR-S: I guess I was aware I had …

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20 Life-Changing Benefits of Psychotherapy

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Have you ever considered seeking psychotherapy to help you manage or overcome a personal or emotional concern? Or perhaps you’re engaged in therapy currently or you have participated in the past. We know that psychotherapy works. In a previous post, I wrote about some of the considerable evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy. But what are some of the tangible benefits of psychotherapy? Here are 20 potentially life-changing benefits you could obtain from psychotherapy. This list is by no means …

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My Most Popular Blog Posts

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Since I’ve been blogging for quite a while now, I thought it would be interesting to step back and see what some of my most popular posts have been. After a quick review of my stats, here are 10 of my my posts which have been consistently popular in terms of total page views. I’ll also have a comment about each post and a few overall lessons learned from this review. 1) “8 Reasons Why People Don’t Get Treatment for …

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Do’s and Don’ts for Media Reporting on Suicide

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Trigger Warning: This article discusses the public health issue of suicide and guidelines for responsible reporting of suicide in the media, but does not refer to specific methods of suicide or other details related to specific deaths by suicide. Even though I’m a mental health professional and issues surrounding suicide are an ever-present part of my work, I’m still astounded by how often the topic of suicide comes up in the media. It seems that hardly a week goes by …

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Learning to Enjoy the Present

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Theresa Larsen This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate and author Theresa Larsen about her son’s mental health challenges and their effect on the family. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about when you first started noticing concerns related to your son’s mental health. How did these issues continue to affect him and your family before he received treatment? TL: I first noticed something was …

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Overcoming the “8 Reasons Why People Don’t Get Treatment for Mental Illness”

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One of my consistently most popular posts is “8 Reasons Why People Don’t Get Treatment for Mental Illness.” In it, I described several common obstacles and barriers which often keep people from seeking or obtaining treatment for mental illness. This post clearly struck a chord with a lot of people, including those who have had negative experiences with treatment and family members trying to persuade their loved ones to seek help. You can read the original post here. I thought it …

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What Recovery Is (and What It Isn’t)

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After working for many years with people in all stages of recovery from mental illness and substance misuse, I’m no longer surprised to hear the frequent question, “Just what is recovery anyway?” While I have a pretty solid idea of how I view the concept of recovery, I’ve realized the term carries different meanings and assumptions for different people. So what is recovery? To answer that question, let’s not only look at what recovery is, but also what recovery isn’t. …

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