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Showing posts with the label resilience

How Watching a Childhood Movie Helped My Emotional Slump

 Hello and Welcome Back to The Therapist Diaries,  Last week I had one of those low days that seemed to arrive without warning. I woke up feeling heavy, flat, and quietly disappointed in myself. I felt behind in my progress. I felt defeated in my ongoing relationship with Type One Diabetes. I felt lonely while the people I love were busy with their own plans, and irrationally envious of people socializing, even though I didn’t actually want to see anyone. All I wanted to do was stay in bed and cry. And the fact that I wanted to do that made me feel even worse about myself.  How did I handle it? As a clinician, I’d love to tell you I immediately booked an extra therapy session, journaled for 45 minutes, did breathwork, and cognitively reframed my distortions. But this blog is all about being honest about our mental health with ourselves and others, so... the truth? I stayed in my pajamas and watched childhood comfort films back-to-back: Barbie as The Princess and the Paupe...

The Therapist’s Tale: Using Fairy Tales and Fables as Tools for Mindfulness and Mental Health

 Hello and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries,  I recently found myself rewatching one of my favorite childhood TV shows -  Once Upon a Time . For those unfamiliar, it’s a modern-day retelling of classic fairy tales, where Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and other beloved characters live double lives in a small town called Storybrooke, completely unaware of their magical origins. I've always loved the storytelling, the magic, and the drama, but watching it now, through the lens of a therapist and mindfulness practitioner, something deeper stood out. Fairy tales are more than whimsical stories for children; they are powerful mirrors of our inner self. At their core they are stories of transformation, much like the journey of healing. They’re filled with moments of struggle, uncertainty, and revelation, echoing the emotional landscape we navigate in therapy. And as surprising as it might sound, these age-old stories offer a powerful metaphor for mindfulness: the process of ...