What is a “Couple’s Intensive”?
One type of service I love to offer as a therapist is an ‘intensive’ for couples. This is similar to regular therapy, meaning we do similar skills and interventions, but it happens at a consolidated time, usually a 3-5 hour block, 2 or 3 days in a row.
What are the benefits?
Great results! Typically, couples who engage in an intensive, have faster growth and research shows that most couples tend to improve on their goals and see changes within this focused time. This is a great fit for a couple who might be in crisis, seeking fast results, or is simply eager to connect with this focused time for a ‘tune up’.
It can be equivalent to 4 months of traditional therapy. This means that you save months of your time and energy and get to experience healing and connection within your relationship faster!
It is helpful with scheduling. It might be easier for someone to block two half days or a full day off work rather than having one hour a week off for months in a row. The schedule also helps with less interruptions in the growth (sick days, conflicting appointments, vacations, etc).
It enhances focus! Usually, in a couple’s session, it can take about 10 minutes for a couple to settle in, disengage from life or work responsibilities, touch base on a previous conflict from the past week, or engage with their emotions or really get into their issues. Within an intensive, this ‘warm up’ time only happens once, maybe twice, saving most of the time to focus on the goals of the couple and the interventions of the therapist.
Does this sound like a good fit for you and your partner?
Maybe this is your time to reach out to a couple’s therapist and schedule your first intensive!
Are You Spiritual?
If you are, you may be tempted to think therapy and spirituality are at odds. After all, many of us have heard of therapy nightmares where the prescribed treatment is “have more faith.”
Yet, we simply cannot trace all mental health struggles back to incorrect belief, suggesting that therapy will help us “believe better” and therefore make us “feel better”.
Consider a traumatic event on the news this week and the PTSD/anxiety/depression the person is now feeling, perhaps it is seeing a family living in a war-torn country. Faith may play a role in their recovery, but a lack of faith is not the cause of their symptoms. The presence of faith does not negate the need for therapeutic techniques.
This does not mean we must remove our faith from therapy. Perhaps there is an incorrect belief about God or themselves, resulting from trauma that impacts your spiritual life. In this case, identifying and challenging these beliefs would certainly have an impact on your spiritual walk.
Life throws some things our way that will be greatly helped by your relationship with God and the care of your community, but some of these things also require the additional specialty of a trained therapist.
Please fight the urge to view your need for therapy as a weakness or as a detour in your spiritual walk. Rather, view it as yet another step towards health and maturity. View it as a tool in your arsenal as you fight for an even stronger love for God.
Are you spiritual? Perhaps therapy is a part of your spiritual journey.
Consider asking your therapist how you can incorporate your faith tradition into your sessions.
Dear Pastor
Dear Pastor,
The way you care for your sheep inspires me and encourages me to do the same for my clients. The way you weekly listen to, encourage, affirm, and at times, challenge… The way you are open and honest, seemingly always on the clock and allow your life and heart to be interwoven with those you lead and serve… from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I know you don’t know me, but I have a request: Will you trust me with your sheep? Will you allow me to add to, not take away, from the hours and hours you have spent investing in this person’s life? I will not plant new ideas in their minds, or make them question their faith. My goal is to help them strengthen their faith and to live out their values in life. I will not take them away from your care. In fact, I think the best place for them to remain is in relationship with you and I will encourage them to share aspects of our discussion with their community.
Of course, I cannot share any information with you without my client’s permission, including their names. Yet, what I can share is my own heart/thoughts/techniques so that you can rest easy, knowing that your loved ones are in good hands. My goal is that we would be partners in the same goal of helping see the people for whom we care deeply, thrive and grow.
I look forward to meeting you. If we ever get together, coffee on me!
Super Seven: Things That Make Everyone Feel Better
By Raeanne Johnson, CPNP-PC, PMHS
Hello friends! As a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Mental Health Specialist, and busy mama to three amazing kiddos, I’ve found seven lifestyle modifications that make a big impact on our mood and mental health. In our visits, I often refer to these as “seven things that make everyone feel better”, and the good news is they are all free and accessible.
1-Sleep
We know sleep is important, so we discuss a quality sleep routine, consistent bedtime, and strategies for prioritizing rest.
2-Screens
Screen time is a divisive topic, and there is no singular correct answer for how much is “too much”, but we will talk about patterns we see and the correlation between screen time and mood. Does social media scrolling increase your teens anxiety? Are most of the anger outbursts surrounding the removal of electronics or losing in gaming?
3-Sunshine
I own a shirt that reads “Less screen time, More green time” and summarizes my philosophy on the two. We know that morning sun can naturally increase our serotonin production and general sun exposure increases our vitamin D which aids in mood health.
4-Sweat
Find a type of movement that you love, and do it often to boost those endorphins!
5-Sugar
Sugar has been linked to anxiety and depression so we need to exercise discretion on setting limits and enjoying in moderation.
6-Scripture (or faith-grounding practice)
This is probably my favorite tool, because we can take our anxieties to the Prince of Peace-Jesus! (Isaiah 9:6) I love to read the Bible, but this tool can be applied to any faith or spirituality background. It’s helpful to have a mantra or verse to meditate on to help ground us when the cares of our hearts are many. Breathwork is also a beautiful free tool that can be utilized to help keep us calm and steady.
7-Stressors
This last one looks different for every family, but if we look through and see that the negative emotions that surround a certain activity outweigh the positives of enjoying it then we begin the discussion of how to eliminate or modify those activities.
As a bonus, I also love to recommend an eighth “S” for Supplements and I’ll be writing up a post with my favorites to share with you.
Thank you for reading! I hope you find this helpful and I look forward to serving you and your families as the newest member of the Psychiatric Medication Management team at Raleigh Psychology.
-Raeanne
Clouds in the Sky, You Know How I Feel
Our emotions can be likened to clouds passing over our heads in the sky. They come in different shapes, sizes, and shades, some staying for hours, others for days. Yet in their differences, none are inherently bad. They simply exist.
Clouds can remind us of something important - we are not fused to our emotions. We may enjoy the results of some clouds more than others, but the clouds needn’t stop us from pursuing our values and goals in life.
Perhaps we alter our schedule or prepare for coming or going clouds, but they do not define our lives or who we are.
Yes, it is wise to recognize clouds and adjust accordingly. With dark clouds pouring out rain, we pull out an umbrella or perhaps grab lunch (inside) with a friend. On a sunny day with big fluffy clouds, we enjoy the sun and allow the rays to warm our bodies and hearts.
Emotions, as with clouds, are not inherently bad. They simply exist. They come in all shapes, sizes, and shades, some staying for hours, others days, others months, but none of them define who we are. We prefer some more than others, and all impact our lives, but they are not to be feared. They are to be recognized and even embraced for how they point out (or sometimes shout out) what we truly value in life.
These emotions you are feeling, they may feel permanent, but just know, friend, they will not last forever. Just ask the clouds.