Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Mindfulness and Self- Soothing Strategies Sarah Caligiuri, LPC NCC.

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "Mindfulness and Self- Soothing Strategies Sarah Caligiuri, LPC NCC."— Presentation transcript:

1 Mindfulness and Self- Soothing Strategies Sarah Caligiuri, LPC NCC

2 Objectives  Describe the benefits of a living a mindful life for both themselves and their clients  Identify which techniques could be beneficial based on diagnoses  Have a repertoire and understanding of mindfulness exercises to use with a range of settings

3 Mindfulness Activity #1  Setting an intention for this session

4 Definition of Mindfulness  “awareness without judgment of what is, via direct and immediate experience”- Marsha M. Linehan, Ph.D., ABPP  “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” –John Kabat-Zinn

5 Mindfulness…  meditation has had a long history in eastern spiritual traditions  These traditions believe that regular practice decreases suffering and increases insight, awareness, wisdom, compassion, and composure  Mindfulness can be seen as the concepts of these eastern religions without the spiritual belief set.

6 Why Mindfulness?  Why choose mindfulness when we live in a society that values multi-tasking and being busy? ~multi-tasking does not lead to fully attentive work or the best work ~by not being in-tune fully we allow for us to avoid emotions and thoughts ~medical, emotional, and psychological improvements ~allows for making better “balanced” decisions

7 Why Mindfulness?  We all have to deal with pain at some point (and more likely multiple points) in life; life is not pain free ~avoiding pain may lead to more problems ~avoiding pain may lead to acting impulsively by engaging in unhealthy behaviors(i.e. substance use, binge eating, purging, SIB, reckless sex, binge watching Netflix, skipping out on responsibilities, and reckless driving)

8 Mindfulness  Mindfulness is turning TOWARD/TO HAVE rather than AWAY/AVOID from our experience ~clients often do things to avoid how they are feeling ~because we live in a busy society it is easy to not realize the emotions we are experiencing(or put a name to them), or thinking ~mindfulness allows us to live in the here and now

9 Self-Soothing  Something we often think about with babies…however it is a life long skill  The capacity to self-soothe can be defined as the ability to manage and/or regulate affect

10 Self Soothing  We develop a capacity to self-soothe by the internalization of early life comforting and soothing experiences  Horton defines the process of transitional relatedness “as the person’s unique experience of an object whether animate or inanimate, tangible or intangible in a reliable soothing manner based on the object’s association or symbolic connection” to a main/primary presence

11 Self-Soothing  For individuals who struggle with self- soothing they are particularly vulnerable when alone (or perceive they are alone) with intense emotion  Many different diagnoses share a common thread of individuals showing difficulty identifying, expressing verbally, and regulating emotions

12 Mindfulness and Self-Soothing  Mindfulness and self-soothing are two sides of the same coin  If we are mindful we are better able to recognize the emotion, label it, and better activate skills

13 Self-Soothing in DBT  In DBT self-soothing is part of Distress Tolerance Skills specifically under crisis survival skills  Mindfulness skills are the foundation to all skills and especially important to utilizing self-soothing  Self-soothing=self-care  Self-soothing uses 5 senses and movement (think of it as the kinesthetic sense)

14 Distress Tolerance – Self- Soothing  Vision  Hearing  Smell  Taste  Touch  Movement

15 Eliciting Self-soothing Ideas  Ask about what was comforting when they were younger  For music make sure it will help to change the mood  Have them think of ones for different settings (i.e. at school may not be able to have music available)  Make portable self-soothing kits  Teach them to use what is in the environment around them to soothe

16 Mindfulness Activity #2  Self-soothing…

17 Mindfulness for the Practitioner  Engaging in mindfulness as a practitioner has a number of benefits including… ~living what you teach/preach ~the same benefits we see in our clients ~being fully present in our sessions ~helps to make mindful decisions to present to clients and shows being more genuine

18 Mindfulness for the Practitioner  Learning the same techniques as the clients and applying them  We often as practitioner can then better regulate ourselves in sessions  Most mindfulness trainings involve the clinician doing the skills and practicing them as a way to learn to teach them  In DBT encouragement to be mindful in session and between sessions about the client and becomes reinforced when being part of DBT Consultation Team

19 Mindfulness Steps  Set the scene (especially when first explaining)…with 60,000 thoughts a day and the emotions they can produce, it can be easy to understand how our minds become unfocused and cluttered  Tie what the client is already connected to the practice (sell it!!!)  Relate it to how it can help their concerns/problems  Point out times or how the client is already being mindful

20 Mindfulness Steps  Formal vs. informal practice  Become aware of what is arising in us as it is happening  Encourage during practices to enter with a “beginner’s mind”

21 Mindfulness Steps  Normalize… ~the mind will wander…it’s okay! Each time you catch it you are being mindful again ~gently bring it back to what the practice is asking you to be aware of ~accept that there may be a reason your mind is wandering and wisely decide if your attention needs to be there for a moment

22 Mindfulness Steps  Try to avoid judgments (emotions are just that emotions…)  Things will come up as you practice…become comfortable with discomfort  This will feel like effort at first and each time will feel different...we cannot replicate the experience perfectly

23 Mindfulness Activity #3  Breathing exercise

24 How does this translate for teenagers  Buy-in is important…selling this is most important by using previous mentioned ways  Express can help in many areas…for high achievers or teens wanting to do better there are studies showing it helps with concentration, and meditating before tests has shown better scores  It is training for their brains…great videos out there to show how it helps (TED talk by Dan Siegel, Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain)

25 How does this translate to teenagers…  Encourage informal practice and typical settings and experiences  Make it fun…try activities!

26 Mindfulness Activity #4  Teen endorsed activities

27 Diagnostic differences for mindfulness  There has been extensive research done on the benefits for depression, anxiety disorders, ADHD, Borderline Personality Disorder, chronic pain disorders, binge easing disorder, bulimia, psoriasis, type 2 Diabetes, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep issues, smoking cessation, substance abuse, and chronic low back pain. It has been shown to help with anger and neural plasticity

28 Diagnostic Differences for Mindfulness  With all the benefits there are things to keep in mind for different diagnoses and individual differences  For clients with traumas, who have a fear of loss of control, and psychosis, closing there eyes maybe particularly uncomfortable and make them feel vulnerable to unwanted memories  For highly anxious clients it can be better to use more of a “grounding” techniques and less abstract

29 Mindfulness Activity #5

30 References Baer, Smith, & Allen, (2004). Assessment of Mindfulness by Self-Report: The Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills. Assessment, 11(3), 191-206. Burdick, D. (2013). Mindfulness Skills Workbook for Clinicians and Clients. Wisconsin: PESI Publishing and Media. Esplen, M.J. & Garfinkel, P.E. (1998). Guided Imagery Treatment to Promote Self- Soothing in Bulimia Nervosa: A Theoretical Rationale. The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 7(2), 102-118. Horton, PC. (1981). Solace: The Missing Dimension in Psychiatry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are. New York: Hyperion. Koerner, K, (2011). Doing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: A practical Guide. New York: Guilford Press Linehan, M.M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: Guilford Press. Rathus, J.H. & Miller, A. L. (2015). DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents. New York: Guilford Press.


Download ppt "Mindfulness and Self- Soothing Strategies Sarah Caligiuri, LPC NCC."

Similar presentations


Ads by Google