Happiness is not an all or nothing experience. It takes practice to be able to focus on the positive and not the negative parts of your day. If you find that you often compare yourself to others, or have a tendency to dwell on the past and are unable to enjoy the present moment, seeing a psychologist can help. Through a variety of approaches such as CBT, ACT, and Mindfulness, you could be assisted to be able to promote your own happiness.
Self-esteem
Low self-esteem can have a significant impact on our lives: from how we interact with other people, how we engage in our work or study, to how we look after ourselves. Psychologist Tegan Gonszar has written a helpful article on the negative impact of low self-esteem and strategies to improve it.
Struggling with Body Image
Only 1 in 5 women in Australia are satisfied with their body weight. The constant exposure from social media and TV adverts showing bodies that are not realistic or representative of the general population can easily stir up feelings of anxiety and impact our sense of self.
Many women refuse to go to a gym, knowing that they just don’t fit the stereotypical image of the usual attendee. This is especially true for women with a disability, older women, women who feel unfit, or women who feel that they are overweight. Because they feel they are being judged, they avoid the exercise that could help them become stronger and healthier! If only there was a kind and compassionate personal trainer able to help with both their physical fitness AND their body image issues!
Want to know more about how to build a health body image?
Body image and self concept can have a huge impact on your mental health, and poor body image may also lead to the development of eating disorders.
If you are struggling with body image issues, and/or would like to gain more control over your eating and weight, call 3067 9129 to make an appointment with one of our experienced Psychologists.
Difficulties with Unhelpful Thoughts?
Our thoughts help shape our day-to-day experiences and also our understanding of who we are as individuals. But sometimes, we can get stuck in negative ways of viewing our world and ourselves. When feeling distressed, we may find ourselves:
- Viewing things on one extreme or the other,
- Believing that something is much worse than it actually is,
- Taking one negative event as being a recurrent pattern in our lives,
- Making assumptions about what others are thinking without evidence to support it,
- Assuming that our feelings are facts.
Our thinking may be characterised by these common “errors” in our reasoning that end up making us feel worse. If you would like to learn some strategies to reduce the impact of your thoughts, book an appointment by calling 3067 9129.
Relationship difficulties
We have three choices in how to deal with relationship problems and difficult situations.
1. Choose to accept the situation as it is and go on coping as before.
2. Change how you respond to the actions and issues that are the cause of distress and difficulties.
3. Leave the situation … the job, a business partnership, a relationship. Nothing is worth the destruction of one’s self-worth, mental health, safety and well-being.
Corey Human is a counsellor with many years of experience and is an advocate for relationship counselling and education. He has found that none of these may be ideal, but when individuals are helped to work through careful and realistic consideration of these options, it can help return a sense of control over their lives.
Perfect Your Perfectionism
Perfectionism is a tendency to strive unrealistically high standards. Perfectionistic people often based their self-worth on achieving these unrelenting standard, and continuing to pursue these goals regardless of the negative consequences and cost. Some typical behaviours of perfectionism may include excessive organising or list making, avoiding situation that may lead to failure, struggling to make decisions in appropriate period of time.
Even though striving for perfection is a very positive goal for people, if perfectionism starts to interrupt your ability to function at home, at school or at work, seeking some professional assistance is generally recommended. Ongoing intrusive perfectionism may lead to severe anxiety and depression in long term, as the ‘failures’ of not reaching unrealistic goals being to pile up.
Seeking assistance from a psychologist can be one of the best ways to help you (or someone you know) to reduce the impact perfectionism is having on their life. Psychologists may use techniques such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help you transform perfectionistic tendencies to work on your favour. Why not book in for a free Emotional Health Checkup online, or call 3067 9129 today.