Faculty Spotlight: Talking to Students
When you have a concern about a student, you may need to talk to the student one-on-one before you refer them for other services. Or, students may come to talk to you about difficulties and seek help. This could seem overwhelming, but we have some easy tips for the best way to talk and help ... [Read more...]
Acceptance
We’re halfway through the core processes of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)! We’ve talked about contacting the present moment and defusion, next up: acceptance. Acceptance is sometimes confused for tolerance. Acceptance is opening up and making room for painful feelings, sensations, urges, and emotions. While tolerance means enduring these things, acceptance means not struggling with ... [Read more...]
Defusion
Last week we identified that defusion is a key concept in contacting the present moment, another core process of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). But what is defusion? How can we simply let go of our thoughts? Defusion is the act of watching your thinking. It means learning to step back and separate or detach ... [Read more...]
Contacting the Present Moment
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a third wave cognitive behavioral therapy. ACT uses key concepts from more traditional therapy interventions but extends and adds an emphasis on holistic well-being, taking an all-around approach to improving how we think, feel, and act. The first core process of ACT starts with Contacting the Present Moment. This ... [Read more...]
How to Talk About Stress
We’ve mentioned social support is great for stress. In fact, we know that talking to someone (a friend, family member, loved one, or a mental health professional) can usually be really helpful in alleviating negative emotions. But how do you broach bringing up your stress? You might feel selfish, self-centered, or guilty – maybe you ... [Read more...]
Faculty Spotlight: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an action-oriented approach that emphasizes acceptance of oneself, the importance of living a value-based life, and psychological flexibility. ACT has been used for a variety of mental health concerns, such as stress, anxiety, depression, substance use, and chronic pain. Exploring ACT for college students as an effective intervention has ... [Read more...]
Managing Stress
We’ve learned about different types of stress. We know that stress can affect our mood, thoughts, body, and behavior. We also know that stress is just about everywhere and can even be a good thing. But how can we best manage stress? One of the more popular ways to manage and tackle stress is through ... [Read more...]
Signs of Stress
We experience a lot of stress! Whether it’s acute stress or chronic stress – you know exactly what someone is talking about when they say they’re stressed out. Stress affects your mood, body, thoughts, and even your behavior. Below are some signs of stress, but keep in mind that, like most mental health things, individual ... [Read more...]
Types of Stress
Stress is something everyone knows about and you probably have a lot of experience with it. But there are different types of stress – acute and chronic. Acute stress is usually short in duration and results from a specific event or situation. This is generally the more obvious stressful event – like giving a presentation, ... [Read more...]