Gratitude, What is it Good For? Absolutely Everything!
Are you too busy that you forget to practice gratitude every day?
Do you feel that what you are grateful for is not worth expressing? If anything, what life — and science — has shown us is that everything you are grateful for is worth written and verbal acknowledgement or being expressed in any way you desire!
Are you too busy that you forget to practice gratitude every day?
Do you feel that what you are grateful for is not worth expressing? If anything, what life — and science — has shown us is that everything you are grateful for is worth written and verbal acknowledgement or being expressed in any way you desire! See the video below for a good example!
Feeling stuck on what to be grateful for? Here is one way to start. If you are reading this post, be grateful for your vision allowing you to see the screen in front of you, the faculty to read, and the ability to access technology and email.
It might sound minimal but what would your life look like without vision, comprehension, and technical resources? Think about it.
You’re stuck, right? We have so many reasons to be thankful, and its time to elevate our attitude of gratitude!
Need a few more reasons why gratitude is everything? Here’s one:
Gratitude Improves Your Mental Health
It is known that gratitude makes us happier by enhancing empathy, self-esteem and resilience, reducing symptoms of stress and depression, preventing burnout, increasing the frequency of positive emotions, and improving our mental strength and psychological health. How? By literally re-wiring our brains!
A 2009 National Institutes of Health (NIH) study shows that our hypothalamus is activated and healthier when we are grateful or kind. Gratitude also floods our brains with the “natural high” chemical dopamine. So, the more we’re grateful, the more we want to be grateful and the cycle of good feelings continues.
And that’s not all! Gratitude also improves our physical health and social life and also develops our personality. We’ll cover these in our upcoming posts!
In the meantime, I’m excited to remind you of our Professional Gratitude Campaign where we publicly thank ALL the women entrepreneurs who have helped us — or are helping us to live what we originally believed to be impossible dreams!
If you’re interested in nominating a businesswoman who has helped you LEVEL UP, here are the rules [DOWNLOAD and SHARE the RULE CARD and SEE the AWESOME PRIZES below!]:
And, YES, you AND your nominee both have a chance to win!
Also, STAY TUNED for our next posts on the other benefits of gratitude that are backed by science and other AWESOME UPDATES!
THANK YOU to all who have submitted nominations already! My heart is so full right now and it is my deepest honor to see and read all your stories of thankfulness and thriving!
Yours in Gratitude,
Leslie M. Garcia
Take 1 MINUTE to Nominate a Woman Leader … and WIN BIG!
I’m sure that you often hear the phrase, “Just be grateful”, and, perhaps, you take this saying lightly.
But the practice of gratitude, of being thankful for the major and minor things in our lives, has the power to manifest a life and living that is pleasing beyond measure!
I’m sure that you often hear the phrase, “Just be grateful”, and, perhaps, you take this saying lightly.
However, research shows that gratitude is more than an overused 9-letter word! Did you know that the word gratitude comes from the Latin word “gratus”, which means “thankful” or “pleasing”? And the practice of gratitude, of being thankful for the major and minor things in our lives, has the power to manifest a life and living that is pleasing beyond measure!
Next month, Counseling Space is ending the summer with a Professional Gratitude Campaign. See video for details.
I’m excited to introduce the Professional Gratitude Campaign where we publicly thank ALL the women entrepreneurs who have helped us — or are helping us to live what we originally believed to be impossible dreams!
Does anyone come to mind? Think about it and get back to us. We’re pretty sure you won’t be able to stop at JUST ONE nomination!
As Counseling Space is evolving each day to create a wellness hub for women entrepreneurs and professional leaders, we want to offer you and the women in your professional network a confidence booster as you ease out of summer and transition back to a FULL fall schedule.
If you’re interested in nominating a businesswoman who has helped you LEVEL UP, here are the rules [DOWNLOAD and SHARE the RULE CARD and SEE the AWESOME PRIZES below!]:
And, YES, you read that right! You AND your nominee both have a chance to win! And that is EXACTLY how gratitude works –– everyone is a winner!
Curious to learn more? STAY TUNED for our next posts on the benefits of gratitude that are backed by science!
Yours in Gratitude,
Leslie M. Garcia
Counseling Space is in the Chrysler! Let's Celebrate!
In September, Counseling Space will be opening a new wellness hub for women entrepreneurs and professional leaders in the Chrysler Building! Learn more about our new Manhattan-based office and services as well as our August Professional Gratitude Campaign in this post to WIN BIG!
In September, Counseling Space will be opening a new wellness hub for women entrepreneurs and professional leaders in the Chrysler Building! You may visit the new site at therapyforbusinessowners.com.
If you know others who would enjoy our grand opening celebration and could benefit from our customized services in the Manhattan area, please share the website, this post and post image via email or your social media profiles.
As you may have heard, Counseling Space is ending the summer with a Professional Gratitude Campaign. See video for details.
Through the Professional Gratitude Campaign , we publicly thank ALL the women entrepreneurs who have helped us — or are helping us to live what we originally believed to be impossible dreams!
Does anyone come to mind? Think about it and get back to us. We’re pretty sure you won’t be able to stop at JUST ONE nomination!
As a wellness hub for women entrepreneurs and professional leaders, we want to offer you and the women in your professional network a confidence booster as you ease out of summer and transition back to a FULL fall schedule.
If you’re interested in nominating a businesswoman who has helped you LEVEL UP, here are the rules [DOWNLOAD and SHARE the RULE CARD and SEE the AWESOME PRIZES below!]:
From Stress to Success: How Therapy Helped a NYC Subway Rider Reach Their Destination
Anxiety is real and can take over your life but we don’t have to let it!
In this post, learn more about how we can work together to cope and decrease your anxiety with proven and effective anxiety reducing coping skills that will get you on the way to your life’s grandest goals.
Written by Counseling Space Clinician, Evelyn Crespo, LCSW-R
Ever had the dreaded feeling of getting on the NYC subway?
You think, "It won’t be that bad this time, I’ll just get on the train and act like I'm okay. Like the overcrowdness doesn’t bother me, the threat of someone or me getting hurt doesn’t scare me, or that I won’t have a panic attack and lose my job because the train is late again. I’ll just pretend I don’t have those emotions or thoughts and get on the subway and hope for the best." But that’s not what happens - you get anxious, maybe you get off the train and decide to wait for the next one and end up leaving the station and going home, or you get into an argument with someone, or you witness something scary.
If you don’t have coping skills to manage these emotions they won’t get better, they may even get worse causing you to avoid the subway and take overpriced cabs or just miss living the life you want.
I was working with a client who would say the subway brought out the worst in him. He always felt people were looking at him and he would get all in his head, all the negative beliefs he had would take over and he would get restless, his heartbeat would rise, he would often get off the train at this point and never reach his destination. He lost many job opportunities because of it. One day when he was on the train and started to feel overwhelmed, anxious, and self-conscious he put on some calming music, drank some water, and used one of the crisis mode skills. Next session he happily reported making it to his destination on time and feeling empowered that the anxiety did not take control over him. He reported that this transformed his life. He felt he could take the train anywhere because he had this skill, this ability to tune out the negative voices in his head and focus on his goal. He was ecstatic and it was contagious; I was so happy for him.
The number of clients I’ve worked with that report that the mindfulness or other coping skills that I’ve taught them has helped reduce their stress is at least 80%. The research shows how daily mindfulness practice increases brain functioning and improvement. See this link for more: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-corner.
I have my own mindfulness practice and notice the difference when I’m on my game and reaching goals. As I stated earlier, this client’s life changed, which is why I do what I do — I want to help people feel better and reach their life goals. His life is more his own now than prior to having these skills.
In the almost 14 years I have been a practicing NY psychotherapist, I have seen how this changes people’s ability to ride the NYC subway and break down the barriers preventing them from reaching their goals. For as much as we dislike the NYC subway most of us find ourselves taking it wherever we are going and if we want to get to OUR destination we need all the skills we can learn.
Anxiety is real and can take over your life but we don’t have to let it!
Click here and learn more about how we can work together to decrease your anxiety and learn to cope with proven and effective anxiety reducing coping skills that will get you on the train to wherever you choose your destination to be.
Daddy Blues
Limited sleep. Hours of stress. Weeks of feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing. As a new father, people will tell you to expect these things.
Limited sleep. Hours of stress. Weeks of feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing. As a new father, people will tell you to expect these things. You will be told to keep a look out for postpartum depression in your partner, however, rarely do they tell you that you might have to look out for it yourself.
The wave of depression, low mood, social isolation and loss of interest in pleasurable activities can overcome you suddenly and without much notice. The reality is that postpartum depression, or “daddy blues”, is real and should be taken seriously. Some of the more common symptoms used for diagnosing the daddy blues is derived from Major Depression.
These can include:
Too much sleep
Weight loss or weight gain
Unexplained anger
Feelings of hopelessness
Fatigue
Inability to concentrate
Panic attacks
Partners
An aspect of postpartum depression in fathers is that the likelihood of experiencing depression like symptoms increases when your partner is suffering from postpartum depression as well. It is of much importance that you monitor for signs pertaining to postpartum depression in yourself if your partner is experiencing significant symptoms.
Depression and the Child
Postpartum depression in fathers can manifest in the parent/child relationship negatively. Often fathers will checkout from the family, become distant, irritable, and short tempered. Extreme cases may lead to chronic substance use or suicidal ideation. Extensive studies have shown that negative interactions with your child increase the likelihood of behavioral issues as the child ages.
What can you do?
The first step is to admit you’re suffering from postpartum depression. Fathers may have a natural reaction to close up and “tough-it out”, but this is counterproductive and often leads to bigger symptoms. Postpartum depression is not something you can work through with beer, sports or a gym session. To be an effective and good father, you have to own your stuff and take care of yourself. The most effective way to do this is to engage in talk therapy.
Many fathers have discovered the wonders of talk therapy. Having the opportunity to talk to someone in a safe space can give you the tools to counteract the depression and give you a new perspective. You can use this space to create goals, share successes or vent frustrations. Just like you go to the gym, the bar or the barbershop, talk therapy can be a highly effective self-care activity for new fathers. Having a child is a period of great excitement for many fathers. You typically start out by wanting to be the best dad and partner possible. Having the “daddy blues” does not make you a bad father. A father’s active role in their mental health before it becomes out of hand can make you an extraordinary father. You owe it to yourself to lay a solid foundation for the healthy and successful development of your relationship with your child and that child’s well-being.
If you are a father who is ready to take step and receive support for your mental health and be present in your journey of fatherhood, please click here for a free brief phone consultation.
Jesus A. Robles, LCSW
Mental Health Therapist