Communication and finding... peace, not Nemo.

I was watching Finding Nemo with two of my children on Sunday morning. We watched it with a different intent than we have in the past. You see, my youngest children are 9 and 11, so they are well beyond the years that would "oh" and "ah" over the movie. However, since it is a pretty good flick, we enjoyed watching it from the standpoint of, "Oh yea, remember this scene!" or, "I love this next scene!"

When Marlin started to tell his story of traversing the Big Blue in search of Nemo and the story was told over and over until it finally reached Nemo, recall two lobsters were telling it and the one said regarding the fish Marlin and Dory had to fight off when the mask fell deep into the trench:

"It was wicked dark down there..."

- it made something jingle in my head in relation to mental health.

Before you ask, yes, this is why I call this site My DBT Life, because I find these skills need to be embedded everywhere in your life in order for effective, mentally healthful living to be forth coming - even in a children's animated movies! :)

So, what was it about this scene?

Emotion Myths

This last Wednesday, in group, we discussed some emotion myths that tend to derail us. Just to name a few:

I should be able to control my emotions.
Negative feelings are bad and destructive.
Emotions can just happen for no reason.

SKILL: Letting go

The follow-up to our theme during groups, of Emotion Regulation, is the skill of letting go. What is involved in this skill? How can it be useful and does letting go mean you are throwing in the proverbial towel?

The Sound of Progress

Recently MyDBTlife had our first ever video chat peer support meeting! In this case our smaller turnout worked to our advantage with the general consensus being that it is beneficial to hear and/or see other peers who struggle with the same shared challenges: to hear the sincerity in their voice; to know that their truth strikes a chord in your own heart in a way that text misses entirely; to see in another's eyes the joy of successes shared.

Progress

I just received a message from a My DBT Life member and this member has been hospitalized again. I just wanted to reach out and remind everyone who is fighting through, progress takes time and that is OK. Some things take longer than others. There is no set time-table on recovery. Hang-in there, take a deep breath and enjoy the journey! 

Weekly Groups March 11th and 14th, 2015

We will continue to develop the subject of Emotion Regulation. Gaining more depth of understanding of the use of Wise Mind and Opposite Action skill-set.

Benefits of Regulating Emotions

I know, I know, what does that silly dress have to do with Emotions? That is a great question! Well, simply put, the point that came out about "The Dress that Broke the Internet" all boiled down to perception, did it not? While one person saw the picture as White and Gold others saw it as Blue and Black. This was because of the way our brains have been trained to interpret the colors, in this case in an over-exposed picture. 

Well, emotions are that way too. Our experiences in life have trained our brains to interpret these emotions a certain way. They mean a certain thing. It has been perfectly caused. 

Are you curious about Emotion Regulation?

Group Topic for Week of March 4th & 7th:

What are some of the components of Emotion Regulation?

What are the benefits of regulating your emotions?

How can you effectively regulate your emotions, even if the distressing event hasn't changed?