
There will be times in life when you don't feel motivated to do something. It might be because you are burnt out and over-extended or because you are depressed and feel a lack of drive and energy to push through and tackle certain tasks or responsibilities. Either way, showing yourself grace and compassion when you're running on empty and having a low moment is essential for your healing, and if you are trying to figure out how you can do that, here are six practical tools to try:
Honor the space that you are in.
Being human means that you will have hard days, and one of the best things you can do to heal is to honor the space you are in. Sometimes we face difficult things in life, and our mood matches that. It's unrealistic to expect ourselves to always be on or happy, or full of joy. Growth looks like allowing yourself to be human.
Co-regulate with an emotionally safe person.
Co-regulation is when we use someone else's nervous system to regulate ourselves when in hyper-arousal (anxious, panicked, debilitating fear) and hypo-arousal (depression, numbness, empty). When we co-regulate, the neurons in our brain mirror the other person as it becomes in tune, and this helps cultivate a sense of safety and connection, enhancing our mood. Make sure you are co-regulating with an emotionally safe person.
Engage in healthy escapism.
Sometimes, checking in and investigating every feeling can be challenging, and sometimes you need a healthy distraction. Having a Netflix account isn't that bad, after all. Healthy escapism is when we engage in healthy practices that distract us from difficult and painful thoughts. The key here is to ensure you are distracting yourself with something that is nourishing for your mind and body.
An example of unhealthy escapism is drinking alcohol to cope with stress. Alcohol is a mood enhancer and can sometimes worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression. Make sure you expose yourself to things that bring you closer to healing, not further away.
Journal your thoughts.
Sometimes we need to clear our minds and get our thoughts out on paper; this is where journaling can be handy. When we are depressed or have a low moment, our minds might be filled with intrusive thoughts that need to be challenged. Writing them out can help you see clearer and work as a brain dump to help increase your mood.
Engaging with nature's healing properties.
This is your reminder to open your blackout curtains every morning when you wake up. We live in an isolated world where it's easy to become a homebody due to remote work, which means the more we are at home, the less we interact with nature. Exposure to sunlight can increase your vitamin D levels, and going for walks can help release endorphins, which in turn helps to boost your mood and energy levels.
Remember gratitude.
Gratitude is a beautiful, energetic experience that allows us to be present with ourselves and focus on what we can control and what makes us feel good. Did you know that 80% of our daily thoughts are negative? This means we are wired to focus our gaze on what's going wrong as a natural inclination, and we have to force ourselves to shift our mindset and see that everything in life is not as bad as it seems. Gratitude requires intentionality. Take time to reflect on daily things you are grateful for to bring greater purpose into your life.
Healing requires patience with ourselves, especially when we are having a low moment. Practice these tools daily, and remember to be compassionate toward yourself as you navigate the season of life you are in.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Renata Angerami/Getty Images
On Being An Empath & Not Taking On Emotions That Aren't Yours To Carry
Being emotionally seen in a relationship is a love language. If you are in a friendship or a relationship with an empath, you can guarantee there will be space for your emotions to be present and understood.
What is an empath anyway? An empath is described as “someone who is highly attuned to the feelings and emotions of those around them.” No scientific evidence supports or proves that people can tap into another person’s emotions. Still, we can acknowledge that there are people who feel more deeply than others, which is why boundaries are essential for people who are empaths.
It’s a beautiful thing to understand what someone else is feeling deeply. It creates an emotionally safe space that permits people to express themselves freely and vulnerably, but when you’re an empath, it’s important to discern what is yours to carry, and what belongs to others, or else you will find yourself overwhelmed and drained by your relationships.
Sometimes when we hold other people’s emotions, we become weighed down by their problems and treat their issues as if they are our own, and if you don’t put a stop to this, you will find yourself experiencing issues like stress and burnout. Having boundaries is essential, so you know where to draw a line in the sand as you discern what belongs to you and what is for others.
Here are some boundaries that empaths need to maintain their peace and well-being.
Boundary Tips for Empaths:
1. Practice discernment:
It’s normal and healthy to want to support others, but you have to be wise and use wisdom to know what you can give and tolerate. If someone you know is going through a hard time, you have to be intentional about the type of support you can offer. Do you have the resources to help this person? Do you have the capacity to lend a listening ear? Will you suffer if you continue to expose yourself to other people’s problems?
Remember that we all have limits, and it’s okay if you need to adjust the ways you show up for people if showing up is going to result in you engaging in self-neglect.
2. Practice asking for help:
Because empaths feel so deeply, they are also caring and have a habit of wanting to help others but disengage when they are the ones who need help. Remember this–you also deserve the care and support you give others. In the same way that you care wholeheartedly about the people around you, know that these people desire to support you and want the best for you. Ask for help and allow others to show up for you.
3. Assess if you are helping or harming:
Since empaths are highly attuned to the emotions of others, they can be overly empathic to a point where it may be detrimental. Studies have shown that highly empathic people are more prone to experiencing manipulation in their relationships because they choose only to see the good in a person and ignore red flags. Their high levels of empathy and understanding override logic and rationality. Once this happens, empaths are doing more harm than good, and often that harm is self-harm. It is not wise to always lead with feelings. We need sound judgment and critical thinking in certain situations to get beneficial results.
Having boundaries is essential for thriving in life. When you are an empath and feel deeply, there is nothing wrong with caring for others and being in tune with their emotions, but you also have to make sure you are in tune with your own needs, and you are not neglecting yourself in the process of trying to care for someone else.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Tara Moore/Getty Images
Taking care of our mental health is a lifetime journey, and in order to care for our well-being, we must incorporate a holistic approach that considers our whole person, our needs, and our life stage. As we enter this new year, certain wellness trends are here to stay in 2023, so let’s dive into some major wellness tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your healing journey this year.
1. Mental Fitness
shurkin_son/Getty Images
You may be used to the term “physical fitness” but mental fitness has become a buzzword over the last few years. This is due to an important reason: Building resilience and developing mental strength is a critical part of your mental health journey. According to Well + Good's 2023 wellness trends data, “#mentalfitness on TikTok lands at an impressive 58.5 million views—increasing 575 percent from 2021 to 2022.” So what does mental fitness mean? It's all about developing strategies that support and strengthen your mind, body and spirit.
With mental fitness, you reframe your negative thoughts when they arise, practice gratitude, engage in holistic practices like breathwork and meditation, and practice self-attunement to know what your body needs to ensure you don’t succumb to your negative thoughts. Becoming mentally fit is important for your mental health because as we all know, adversity is something that we cannot escape and hard things happen in life whether we like it or not. However, we all have a choice regarding how we bounce back from hardship and engage in healing, and for some of us, it all can start with a shift in mindset.
2. Holistic Workouts
There once was a time when working out meant you needed a gym membership or a fitness trainer, and for some people, having those two things can be very beneficial. However, working out and moving your body is no longer reserved for having access to these two particular resources. Holistic workouts include activities like Pilates, yoga, swimming, daily walking, and more. Yelp data shows searches for stretching and stretching workouts are up 61%. With holistic workouts, people feel more inclined to work out from home or are able to fine-tune their schedule to include a 15-minute yoga stretch compared to a 45-minute gym session.
3. Exercise Recovery & Body Stimulation
Dimensions/Getty Images
Speaking of being mentally fit, your body remains to be an important vessel and a vehicle for healing. The same way we work to heal our emotional well-being, it's becoming increasingly important to heal our bodies after vigorous workouts or even from sitting at our kitchen tables all day as a result of working from home. There are many kinds of exercise recovery and body stimulation treatments that include full body massages, cryotherapy, cold tubs, saunas, and more. Remember this, trauma and stress get stored in the body. Muscle aches, a stiff neck, and a bad back can mean many things including that you need recovery in these areas through a mind-body treatment.
4. Gut Health
In 2023 we are paying attention to how mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and trauma show up in the body and even in our gut. Gut health will continue to play a critical role in mental health management and sustaining our well-being through food and nutrition. Your diet can help aid the release of certain brain chemicals like serotonin, and dopamine, which are hormones that increase our mood and energy levels. Remember, that food has the power to fuel your body!
5. Environmental Sustainability
Thomas Barwick/Getty Images
Our mental health is deeply impacted by the health of our environment. People are becoming more in tune with the needs of our environment, climate change, and committing to ethical and sustainable practices that nurture the health of our planet. Some ways people are practicing environmental sustainability are by reducing the use and purchases of plastic, upcycling, going paperless, growing their own food, and more. This can be a hefty change to incorporate into your lifestyle but the goal is to always start small and do what you can with what you have.
Caring for our mental health is a daily practice, and you don’t have to start doing everything on this list at once. You can start by trying one at a time for a month before committing to a new practice. The wellness trend that will never die out is the importance of being gentle with yourself and remembering that healing is not a race or a destination. It's a journey that evolves over a lifetime.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Rockaa/Getty Images
The holidays are widely known as a time for celebration. It is a time when many people gather together to engage in community, cultivate connection and experience the joy of togetherness. Hallmark movies play on most TV screens and the dinner table is spread to serve people in abundance. A season that is often widely known for joy, can simultaneously be a season of grief for many. There are folks who will go through this holiday season with someone they love missing from the dinner table. A stocking that would usually be found hanging over the fireplace will be out of sight. No one talks about the heaviness of death and loss during the holidays.
Losing a loved one is a deeply complex and difficult experience to navigate. We are all wired for connection, and when the thread called life that ties us together is severed, it brings forth a multitude of emotions, many of which are painful, and rightfully so. The first year after a death is often the most painful because it elicits the shocking reminder that the person you love is gone and all of the traditions you hold will look different compared to the past.
Grief is an emotional response to loss, and as we approach this holiday season many people find peace and healing in shifting their attention to gratitude as a way to manage the heaviness of their loss. Gratitude is a way to honor those who have passed and celebrate the life they lived as well as the memories that were shared.
Here are a few tips to help you make space for gratitude after losing a loved one this holiday season:
1.Manage anticipatory grief.
After losing a loved one, the thought of the holidays approaching can actually be more triggering than the holiday itself. The anxiety of it all may make people decide to cancel their holiday plans, not make any at all, or become filled with dread when it comes to planning. When we are grieving, it is normal to hope for things to be the same, but when a loved one passes away, things will be different and that’s okay too. Consider the things that are making you anxious as you begin planning and find ways to meet yourself where you are by focusing on how you would want to honor your loved one.
2.Honor the duality of your emotions.
As people, we often get stuck in black-and-white thinking which causes us to shrink the complexity of our humanness. It is important to remember that we are people who are capable of holding space for many feelings at once, which means as you make space for joy and gratitude, it is okay to honor and own that you are simultaneously feeling anger, sorrow, sadness, and more. We do not have to pick one over the other, we are allowed to let our feelings co-exist. Give yourself permission to feel all of your emotions, not just the good ones.
3.Stay connected to family and friends for support and comfort.
Grief can be so painful to manage it might cause us to withdraw or isolate ourselves from others, but that only worsens the pain. Making space for gratitude can look like being connected to those you love and having an understanding of the grief that you are going through. The loss of a loved one doesn’t just impact you alone, it impacts the family system and others who are connected to it. Use this time to gather together with others and share memories and stories that honor the dead but also creates an atmosphere of support and comfort.
4.Make space for gratitude by finding ways to honor your loved one.
A beautiful way to tap into gratitude this holiday season is by honoring the person who passed on and the impact they had on your life. Actionable ways to honor them can look like cooking their favorite dish, using one of their special recipes, sharing stories about them, or even reflecting on the impact they had on you. Some reflection questions to think of include:
- I am grateful to have known this person because…
- This person positively impacted my life by….
- I want to honor their legacy by…
5.Create new rituals/traditions to cope with the loss of your loved one.
When a loved one passes on, it can be painful trying to keep the same routine or tradition so starting a new one might be a way to express gratitude for what was, as you make space for something new. New traditions can look like assigning new roles to people who may be assisting with hosting, prepping dinner, etc. opting out of cooking all together and going out to a restaurant, or even trying new recipes to avoid being triggered by that dish your loved one always used to cook.
When dealing with grief, it is always important to remember this: You are allowed to grieve and express gratitude without feeling guilt. There is nothing wrong or bad about focusing on good things and positive memories. You get to decide what your heart can handle and remember that both grief and gratitude can co-exist.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
Relational building is a core part of caring for our mental health. We are wired for connection and community care is fundamental to managing our well-being. Living disconnected from others and having poor quality relationships severely impacts our wellness in debilitating ways, but signs that we are disconnected can be difficult to assess since our society tends to honor independence over interdependence and applauds people for their strength in getting things done alone rather than seeking and asking for help.
In my work as a former therapist, this culture of hyper-independence usually impacts a particular group, and that seems to be Black women. The “Strong Black Woman'' trope has plagued Black women for years. There was a time when this trope was seen as a badge of honor to highlight Black women’s emotional resilience in the face of adversity and conflict, but as mental health in the Black community rises, more Black women have come to realize that this badge of honor was actually a coping mechanism in response to having their emotional needs go unmet, whether it be at work, from their romantic partners, in their friendships or even on a societal level from having to deal with both interpersonal and structural racism.
In the clinical world, the “Strong Black Woman” trope is what we would call counter-dependence. In life, there are three main different types of dependency that some people experience, and only one that we should be striving for, here’s a breakdown:
1. Codependency:
Codependency is a term that is more mainstream and is often used to define people who have poor relational boundaries and become enmeshed in their relationships. There are some codependents who will place their autonomy in the hands of others and become attached to certain people to meet their needs for them because they have poor self-efficacy and autonomy. On the other end, there are codependents who may enable this attachment by abandoning their needs to meet the needs of someone else which results in chronic people-pleasing out of fear that they will be rejected, abandoned, or deemed useless in their relationships.
People with codependent traits struggle with their self-esteem and most importantly confidence, which is why they continuously seek validation from others because they struggle with validating themselves and feeling secure in who they are.
2. Counter-dependency:
People who are counter-dependent are often polar opposites of those with codependent traits. This form of dependence actually isn’t dependent at all, people who are counter-dependent fear closeness, connection, and vulnerability and because of that, they remain hyper-independent with an avoidance mindset. On the surface, they appear strong, self-sufficient, and are usually the person everyone relies on. They don’t tell people 'no,' they go above and beyond for others, but when it is time for those behaviors to be reciprocated, they may freeze, shut down and immediately withdraw and disconnect from their relationships due to their fear of intimacy, closeness and ultimately being seen.
At the root of this behavior, is a person who has been wounded by consistently being let down by others and not having their emotional needs met. Many adults with counter-dependent traits were often emotionally neglected in childhood from being parentified, which is when children are expected to take on adult-like tasks to make up for a missing caregiver, or, they are expected to tend to their parents' feelings due to the adults in their lives being emotionally immature. When you are raised in an environment where there is a lot of unpredictability, you may struggle with trusting people and knowing who you can depend on, so it creates a dynamic of keeping people at a distance to avoid being hurt.
3. Interdependence:
This is the form of dependency we all must strive for because it is the healthiest form of dependency and promotes our mental health. We cannot do life alone, hence why we all seek connections in some capacity whether it be through dating or building friendships. Since birth, we have been wired to depend on others to help us meet our needs, but as we grow older, we learn to build agency and autonomy so that we have a healthy dose of self-sufficiency with a healthy dose of reliance on others. All relationships require compromise, so as we build and lean on others, we are able to determine what is ours to carry, and what belongs to others, and we also learn to assess who in our lives has earned our respect and trust enough to help us carry those burdens when it becomes too heavy.
Being a “Strong Black Woman” is the quickest way to burn out, and it can be one of the reasons why you may feel exhausted if you struggle with counter-dependency.
Pay attention to these habits to assess if you are counter-dependent:
- You tend to struggle with forming romantic relationships because you often pull away when things get too serious or when it’s time to become vulnerable
- You have a lot of surface-level relationships and no one to talk to about personal matters that truly impact you
- You feel lonely often, despite having what you might call a circle of friends
- Asking for help and letting your guard down feels emotionally debilitating
- You struggle with being vulnerable and letting people know the real you
- You are everyone's place of refuge in times of need, but you don’t know where to go when you yourself are seeking refuge
- You struggle with letting go of control in your romantic relationships and it causes conflict
- You tend to do a lot of things alone and don’t invite people into your life
There is help for counter-dependence. We no longer need to tie Strong and Black Woman in a sentence anymore. Black women have permission to just be, to just exist, to take up space and be soft, delicate, and even fragile if that is where you are in life.
Getting help for counter-dependence is something that requires deep work, you won’t be able to breathwork yourself out of this habit. Since counter-dependence is rooted in avoidant attachment styles and poor emotional regulation, the guidance of a professional will always be your best method of care if you want things to change.
When seeking help from a therapist, consider searching through these popular therapy directories:
Consider these things when thinking of starting therapy to help you with making a decision as well as learning to be vulnerable:
- What do I need from a therapist in order to feel safe being vulnerable and disclosing my business to them?
- Am I ready and willing to commit to at least weekly or bi-weekly therapy services?
- Am I ready and willing to let my guard down and not appear strong to a stranger?
- What habits have I formed that I am realizing are hurting me? (Start there and express this to your therapist).
Remember this, you have permission to just be. You don’t have to be strong in order to be worthy, you are worthy as you are. Learn to be okay with existing as you are and allow people to care for you just as much as you invest in caring for others.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Getty Images
TW: This article may contain mentions of suicide and self-harm.
In early 2022, the world felt like it slowed down a bit as people digested the shocking news of beauty pageant queen Cheslie Kryst, who died by suicide. When you scroll through her Instagram, the photos she had posted only weeks before her death were images of her smiling, looking happy, and being carefree. You can see photos of her working, being in front of the camera, and doing what I imagine was her norm. These pictures and videos, however, began to spark a conversation among Black women who knew too well that feeling like you're carrying the world on your shoulders and forcing yourself to smile through it all to hide the pain.
For many of these Black women, like Cheslie, it’s hard to see the hurt because the smiles are so radiant. It’s hard to sense the pain when they’re so energetic and exuberant, and for many Black women who struggle with high-functioning depression and anxiety, it's hard to tell that this feeling and heaviness is actually the result of a deeper issue connected to their mental health, and it’s even harder for people on the outside to see what’s going on with them within.
The concept of "high-functioning anxiety and depression" is not commonly known because it is not a classified diagnosis in the DSM-5. However, it is a term that was developed to describe people who struggle with these mental health disorders but are able to function well in different aspects of their lives—creating an illusion that they are coping with their mental health—when, in reality, they are just managing as they go but deeply struggling day-to-day and remaining productive allows them to avoid their pain.
Getty Images
Research indicates that after the death of George Floyd, anxiety and depression among African Americans skyrocketed from 36 percent to 46 percent which equates to more than 1.4 million people who reported a debilitating difference in their mental health to the Census Bureau.
Black people have to carry the burden of racial stress, pandemic stress, and day-to-day stress, and often, must do so while trying to operate and function at their best ability in order to move through the world without falling apart. The issue is, that many Black people truly are falling apart, and in particular, Black women are "1.8 times more likely than Black men to report sadness most or all the time and are 2.4 times more likely than Black men to report feeling hopeless more or all the time.”
The feeling of sadness and hopelessness is a direct symptom of dealing with major depression and anxiety, and in our society, the world does not stop when there is racial injustice, white supremacist attacks, pandemics, and global trauma. Instead, we are required to keep going, and Black women are required to push through despite it all and show up in all aspects of their lives including as mothers, caretakers, and within leadership in the workplace, a space that can almost often be a breeding ground for microaggressions and subtle acts of racism that impact Black women daily.
To further understand the impact anxiety and depression have on Black women’s health, let’s unpack these two terms.
Getty Images
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a mental health disorder where a person experiences consistent worry, fear, and feelings of anxiousness in their everyday lives, and it is not tied to a particular reason. People who have high-functioning anxiety may experience this kind of anxiety, but what makes them different is that people with GAD experience symptoms that are debilitating to the point where it impacts their ability to function, meet tasks, and perform certain obligations.
High-functioning depression is clinically known as persistent depressive disorder. This is when someone experiences symptoms of depression such as feelings of sadness and hopelessness, changes in mood and appetite, low energy, sleep disturbances, and other issues in a less severe manner that still allows them to function and manage their obligations and responsibilities.
People with high-functioning anxiety and depression may use their feelings of worry, anxiousness, and sadness as a catalyst for productivity and managing success. Black women may carry this trait by being high achievers, operating in roles of leadership, are helpful, and often seen as the “strong friend,” they often appear happy and seem to have their life in order and are often looked up to and revered by others because of how great their lives seem to be unfolding.
Some may look at these characteristics and think this seems healthy and unproblematic, but the issue here is that this is what we see on the surface. On the inside, the Black women we know who are experiencing issues may also be silently dealing with:
- Low self-esteem and low self-worth, and channel this through overachieving
- People-pleasing and living in constant fear of rejection, driving people away, being unavailable to others, and not being seen as good enough
- Chronic feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a lack of relief from self-debilitating thoughts
- Poor boundaries and an inability to say no out of fear of other people’s reactions or the fear of missing out on something good
- Constant overthinking and self-sabotaging thoughts
- Poor relationships and no social life from an inability to create genuine connections that are not tied to achievements or what they can do for someone
- Imposter syndrome or constant comparing to others that causes them to suffer
- Problems with alcohol and drug abuse
- Thoughts of suicide ideation and/or self-harm
Getty Images
All the success, accolades, and achievements, can be distracting to those on the outside because many of us know that in order to obtain these things, hard work and dedication are requirements and we are used to the narrative around those who suffer from mental health issues looking a particular way. They appear sad, dejected, lonely, isolated, and unable to do basic things for their own personal and mental hygiene when in reality, that is not how everyone copes with their mental health.
Black women are aware that the world does not stop for their pain, so when we are wounded and need healing, we have taught ourselves that strength is to be found in propelling forward instead of seeking help, learning to rest, saying "no," and being at peace with our existence without tying it to the things we can achieve or how well we can perform in the midst of chaos.
Getting help can be scary when it’s not something you’ve ever done before, but wellness means learning to prioritize the things that enhance your well-being, increase your lifespan and benefit your mental health. Black women must be reminded that they do not have to earn their rest, nor do they have to wait until they're struggling before rewarding themselves with life pleasures and do what they need to care for themselves.
Take control of your mental health. Here are everyday tools that you can use to manage high-functioning depression and anxiety:
- Better boundaries with yourself: Take inventory of the things you say yes to and then get to the root of your, ‘why.’ Do you say 'yes' in order to please people? Is it because you think you’ll be missing out? Because you fear people’s reactions if you say 'no'? This is a sign that you have poor boundaries and this is actually exasperating your mental health issues rather than healing them. Make a list of five things you want to commit to doing for yourself daily, and define what boundaries you need to put in place to ensure you commit to doing what you need for yourself.
- Practice mindfulness/meditation: When people are severely anxious, they are trapped in a spiral of their thoughts and it can be hard to get out of their heads. Mindfulness is a form of meditation that teaches us to be present at the moment and to be grounded in reality, rather than in our heads tangled up in our thoughts that most of the time are not real and are things we made up in our minds as a form of catastrophic thinking that stems from anxiety. Practicing mindfulness can look like engaging in tasks and being in tune with your senses. Consider the work of cooking. During this task, you may focus on what you feel as you use your hands, what you smell as you use ingredients, and focus on what’s right in front of you. Think of a practice that makes you feel grounded and commit to practicing mindfulness daily.
- Journaling: Sometimes you will need to get out of your head. Studies have shown that journaling is a beneficial tool for managing mental health issues. During this practice, you can follow two themes. 1: Free-form journaling is when you write out your thoughts and express yourself through your writing. 2: Theme-based journaling is when you focus on a particular theme such as gratitude journaling, intention setting journaling, affirmation journaling, etc. Consider which options are most appropriate for you and commit to this practice a few times a week or daily.
There are going to be times when our mental health is suffering to the point where we need additional care and assistance outside of what we’ve cultivated in our self-care toolbox, and seeing a mental health professional may be the best option for your well-being.
Consider finding a therapist by visiting the following directories:
Getty Images
When finding a therapist, make a list of at least five questions that you want to ask during your consultation call to give you a better understanding of how therapy with this particular practitioner works. The top two questions I recommend that you include in that list are:
- Can you tell me about your treatment approach for people who struggle with depression or anxiety?
- Can you give me insight into your therapeutic process and what I should expect as we work together?
Remember that getting help is not a weakness, it is a sign of strength because a wise person understands that we all have limits and that we cannot do it all.
Community care means learning to be vulnerable and giving ourselves permission to lean on those who offered to be supportive structures for us to hold ourselves up on.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Getty Images