The Power of Habit, by Charles Huhigg
A great resource for anyone wanting to change a habit. It is thorough and well researched.
The Feeling Good Handbook, by David D. Burns, M.D.
One of the best books for understanding how our thinking shapes our behavior.
How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, and Listen so Kids Will Talk, by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
A treasure.
Dale Kay Lillak, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
This article was first printed in the September-October 1997 issue of New Times Magazine, a Forum for Addiction Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Related Issues in San Jose.
Not long ago I spoke to a woman on the phone about the recent violence in her life. She and her husband had both been sober for a couple of years, and now he had begun to drink again.
Breathing, inhale-exhale. Breathing is natural and automatic. We have to breathe.
Belly breathing is a practice for creating balance and calm.
Initially, it is best to have on loose fitting clothing. This way, you can feel how your body breathes unencumbered.
Sitting in a comfortable position, place one hand on your chest, and the other on your stomach in the area just above the belly button.
Take a moment to relax,
Consider cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
Over 50% of adults now complain of difficulty sleeping, half of these chronically. We now know that sleeping pills are not the solution to insomnia, and that it is possible to successfully treat insomnia using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT has been endorsed by the National Institutes of Health as an effective and preferred method for treating insomnia.
Research on CBT shows the following:
CBT achieves these results because it is based on the idea that insomnia can only be treated effectively by addressing the underlying causes of insomnia—thoughts and behaviors—which are learned and can be unlearned.
Along with anxiety, depression is the most common behavioral health problem in the U.S. affecting nearly 10% of our population.
When we think of anxiety, the focus is the future; when we think of depression we are focused on the past. Depression is about loss.
Depression is a mood problem. When we are in a normal mood, we feel comfortable. We have motivation to face the day, we enjoy our leisure time, and our physical energy is usually up to the task at hand.
Anxiety is an apprehensive inner experience of intense feelings and thoughts.
There are times when a feeling of concern may arise. The concern is focused on the future. We call this worry. Worry is about a future outcome. Worry is anticipatory.
When we habitually keep our thoughts on a situation that has happened or could happen, and we feel apprehensive, concerned, or fearful about the situation, we are anxious.
Occasionally, anxiety becomes excessive even obsessive,
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY, WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
CBT is an extensively researched and well defined model of therapy. As a therapeutic model it is excellent. CBT is based on how our brain processes information.
As the name implies, what we think (cognition), shapes our behavior and may precipitate health or disorder. Mostly unawares, our brain is continuously thinking and processing information.
Many areas of the brain, in particular,
