Enhancing Emotional WellnessEffective Self Care for Substance Abuse

Professionals

Lisa Laughman (Davidson), LMSWLakeside Consulting, Inc.

About Emotional Wellness Emotional Wellness is what allows us to feel good emotionally and

spiritually and to utilize a positive feeling state to guide our day to day life.

Emotional Wellness includes the ability to navigate your moods effectively, respond to the events of life without reactivity and upset, and live with a sense of meaning and purpose as you direct your life in accordance with your core values.

When you are operating from a sense of emotional wellness you are in the present moment, reflective, solution oriented, and able to access the full range of your talents, skills, and abilities.

Typically a person’s stress level decreases as their level of emotional health increases.

About MeEducation:

Bachelor’s degree in social work – EMU 1988Master’s degree in social work – MSU 1991

Work Experience: Foster Care, Substance Abuse Counselor, Employee Assistance Counselor,

Emotional Wellness Consultant, Stress Reduction CoachInterest Areas:

Addiction/Recovery, Healthy Relationships, Grief and Loss, Trauma Informed Care, Stress Reduction, Emotional Health Promotion

DAY JOB: MSU Employee Assistance Program/MSU Health4U Program2nd JOB: Co-Owner of Lakeside Consulting, Inc. and facilitator of Wisdom Heart ClassesBEST JOB: single parent of three teenagers and “their” dog

About You• How many of you are social workers? Psychologists? Nurses? Physicians?• How many of you work in treatment/intervention?• How many of you work in prevention?• How many of you work in coordinating agencies?• How many of you are currently supervising staff?• How many of you are just here for the CEUs?• How many of you are familiar with Acceptance Commitment Theory?• How many of you are familiar with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction?• How many of you have heard of Health Realization of “the 3 Principles”?

About the Course

• Relaxed learning/receiving mode• Insight oriented vs. information based• You can’t teach what you don’t know yourself

Note:Power point slides/Roadmap for further learning will be

available electronically after the training

Goals for Session

• To share some concepts that might help you navigate your day to day living more effectively, with less effort, and more satisfaction

• To increase your awareness of the shifts in your own functioning level – so you are more likely to know when you are at your best and when you are in a low mood, caught up, and reactive

• To provide you with the operating instructions for optimal human psychological functioning

Goals for Session

• To explore the internal factors that impact a person’s experience in a given moment

• To help you become a witness to your thought world and become a better consumer of your own thinking

• To inspire you to be on a new learning path, and to provide resources to help you go deeper with the concepts we will be explorng today

WHAT CAUSES YOU STRESS?

traffic, technology, coworkers, bosses, illness, caregiving, kids, parents, spouse/partner, politics, bills, deadlines, expectations, change, weather, stupid people, lazy people, rude people, judgmental people, bad drivers, cell phones, waiting for trains, health diagnosis, airport security, discrimination, oppression, weddings, births, moving, $$$$, natural disasters, taxes, death….

E Stress

EE

E

E

Really Big Stress

Work issues

Work stress

Policy Chg.Clients

Org. upset

$$$

BURNOUT

Honoring Your Current Circumstances

Challenging Clients

Increased Workloads

Big T and Small t

Traumas

Forms of OpressionThe “isms”

Grief/LossGot Job

Security?

Budget Cuts

Economic Realities

Family of Origin

Concerns

HealthIssues

Relationship“Partnering”

Finances

Parenting/Caregiving

Traffic Jam

Cell Phone

Bill

Spilt Milk

Kid Late for

Curfew

Unexpected Expense

Flat Tire

E Physical State

State of Mind

Rule Book

Experience in the Moment

EInternal Experience

which impacts current thinking

Your Personal Experience in the

Moment

Internal Factorsimpact the creation of our personal reality in any given moment

Physical State Mood

State of Mind

Outside In View of Life

• We are at the mercy of our circumstances whatever they may be.

• The only way to feel better is to whip our circumstances into shape.

• We feel stuck in our feelings (SHAME) and it seems fair to blame, project, or go off on other people

• We get overwhelmed. We shut down.• We think there is an external cause for our

experience so it seems like we need an external cure powerlessness/addiction/numbing/struggling.

Inside-Out View of Life

• We understand that we are the moment to moment creator of our personal reality via our thoughts and how they are brought to life through our senses.

• We have more “moments of understanding” that at any given moment we are feeling our thinking.

• We are a witness to our internal experience, notice our thoughts, are more likely to notice when a conditioned thought (a thought habit) has activated.

• We are more able, more often to settle ourselves first, before turning our attention to the external circumstances .

• We have less need to control, fix, avoid – we feel less overwhelmed.

HOW WE CREATE OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

MOMENT TO MOMENT

(The Three Principles)

The 3 Principles1. Mind (we are all connected to Source Energy) 2. Consciousness (awareness/illumination)3. Thought (mental activity, the ability to think)

A.K.A.Psychology of Mind Health Realization

www.threeprinciplesmovies.com

ACT: Acceptance Commitment Therapy

information on this slide taken from www.thehappinesstrap.com

To accept what is out of your personal control, while committing to action that will improve your quality of life.

The aim of ACT is to help people create a rich full and meaningful life, while effectively handling the pain and stress that life inevitably brings.

A steadily growing body of scientific data confirms that cultivating acceptance, mindfulness, and openness to experience is highly effective for the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, chronic pain, PTSD, anorexia, and even schizophrenia. ACT is also a very effective model for life coaching and executive coaching.To download a simple, non-technical article which gives a basic overview of ACT, click here

ACT has 3 categories of mindfulness skills

Defusion:distancing from, and letting go of, unhelpful thoughts, beliefs and memories

Acceptance: making room for painful feelings, urges and sensations, and allowing them to come and go without a struggle

Contact with the present moment: engaging fully with your here-and-now experience, with an attitude of openness and curiosity

ACT – six core concepts• Connection – connecting fully with whatever is happening, right here, right now

• Defusion – Detaching from currently held thought

• Expansion – opening up and making room for all feelings and sensations

• Observing Self – the part of the mind that is able to be aware of whatever you are thinking or doing or feeling in the moment

• Values – what you want your life to be about (big picture)

• Committed Action – taking action guided by your values

Self Care Factor #1

• Self-centered vs. selfish• Ethical/moral obligation to be as centered as

possible• Noticing and tending to your physical state is

an essential daily practice (SOMA)• It is up to you to tend to the “body” part of

the mind-body connection• When feeling stress/trauma: brisk walk, deep

breathing, hydrate with water

Reflect on what this means to you

Self Care Factor #2

What we need to remember about moods?

• They impact the quality of our thinking• They impact our problem solving capabilities• They seem real. When in one mood we forget

the other moods exist• We get lost in them• They are temporary• We should not take low mood thoughts

seriously

It doesn’t matter how low you go…it is the bounce that counts.

Linda Pransky, LMSW3 Principle Facilitator

“There is no greater protective factor then realizing we are in a low mood and our thinking and perspective has been compromised.” Lisa Laughman (Davidson), LMSW * based on practice - based evidence

Self Care Factor #3

Are you centered and at your best right Now?or are you in MUD MIND?

• Do you even stop to think about this before you confront a person or address a problem at work or at home?

• How do YOU know if YOU are centered and at your best in a given moment?

• Who knows first? You? Other People?

Centered/Not Centered Exercise

• Do your own work• Share with a small group - have someone collect the

words• How any person might present when they are

reactive/off centered and how the might present when they are centered/at their best

The Optimal State of Mind

• Connected to the present moment• Awake/Resting in the not yet known• Understanding the inside out nature of life• Reflective, wondering, making space for the

not yet known• Easy, open state of listening (no agenda for

now)• Relaxed with “intent to serve”

Psychological flexibility the ability to be in the present moment, with awareness and openness,

and take action, guided by your values.

In other words, it’s the ability to be present, open up, and do what matters.

The greater your ability to do that, the greater your quality of life – the greater your sense of vitality, wellbeing and fulfillment.

Self Care Factor #4

I pledge allegiance to my rulebook and the conclusions upon which it was drafted. I will defend and protect my rulebook…until death do us part

What’s in your Rulebook?(and how did it get there)

Walking through The Belief Mart of life The learning portal – how stuff gets imprinted The role of “psychological attention” The reinforcement process – the filtering system Rules for keeping ourselves safe (our costumes)

How fooled are you by your own separate reality?How do your rules limit you?How do they serve you well?Are they lined up with your wisdom heart?

Editing the RulebookLearn more about the inside out nature of life

Notice your “personal reality” – remember how thought works.

When feeling “fused” remember that you are feeling what you are feeling because you are attached to the thought you are attached to. Different thought = different experience

Be willing to consider the possibility that there might be other thoughts/ possible realities

The Universal Source of ConflictSeparate Realities

• One person’s rule book conflicting with another person’s rule book

• When our behavior is based on our rule book and we are not open to others – we typically behave in ways that create separation between people/nations.

What are you supposed to do if you catch on fire?

StopDrop

(Reflect)Roll

Grace Under Pressure• Stop

Notice your “internally created experience”

• Drop Shift you awareness away from your current thought, connect with your innate wisdom, creativity, wellness, true self

• Reflectwhat is most meaningful and important, right now?

• Roll Forward with value guided action

“Come on, Let’s Roll!” Todd Beamer, Passenger on Flight 93, 9-11-2001

The Benefits of Mindfulnessfor therapists and coaches

• Facilitates empathy, compassion, and unconditional positive regard.

• Allows you to stay focused and present, even when your client isn’t

• Helps you stay grounded, centered, and composed even in the midst of client turmoil (or agency strife)

• Enables a healthy attitude towards therapeutic outcomes: neither complacent (hopeless) nor overly attached

• Helps you maintain direction and focus for treatment (provides framework for clinical work)

• Increases your skills at observing your clients’ responses

This slide adapted from www.thehappinesstrap.com

Roadmap to Future Learningcontinuing education opportunities

Michigan State University School of Social Work Continuing Education Classes

Health Centered Social Work (2 days) Understanding Shame and Building Shame Resilience (1 day) Effective Self Care in Social Work Practice (1 day)

https://socialwork.msu.edu/ceu/catalog.php

Roadmap to Future Learningwebsites of Interest

www.thehappinesstrap.comwww.threeprinciplesmovies.comhttp://www.threeprinciplesfoundation.org/http://necessarymischief.com/trance-of-scarcity/http://www.ordinarycourage.com/

Roadmap to Future Learningrecommended reading

3 Principleshttp://www.3phd.net/materials.html

Acceptance Commitment Theoryhttp://thehappinesstrap.com/bookshop.asp

Contact Information:

Lisa Laughman (Davidson), LMSWLakeside Consulting, Inc.517.749.4075

wisdomheartlife@yahoo.com

5 things I have learned since Graduate SchoolLisa Laughman (Davidson)

Lesson #1 – You have a thought world and you are living at the mercy of it. Unless you recognize the truth of this and begin to become a witness of your thought world – you will be trapped within your thought story and will keep repeating patterns that are self/other defeating. You are not your thought story you are the essence thinking up the story and perpetuating it by giving it your awareness and attention, believing it to be true

5 things I have learned since Graduate SchoolLisa Laughman (Davidson)

Lesson #2 – Your mood impacts the quality of your thinking in the moment and chronic low moods may seriously impact the story you weave about yourself overtime. Learning to recognize and separate from low mood thinking is critical to personal and professional success. Low moods are often created by thought. Even when they are biologically determined, low moods always lower the quality of your thinking – filter to the negative, problem focused, reactive, egoic, circular, utilize what you “already know”, less reflective thus reducing the chance of a new thought (insight) occurring. No matter the cause of the mood it is important to recognize the effect and not participate in low mood thinking/behavior.

5 things I have learned since Graduate SchoolLisa Laughman (Davidson)

Lesson #3 – You can not make yourself not have a thought or a feeling. Our efforts to stop thoughts/feelings actually create an internal struggle that increases the intensity of both the feeling and our upset about the feeling/not being able to “control” the feeling. Allow your self to feel any feeling, watch it as the witness, make space for it – without responding to it.

5 things I have learned since Graduate SchoolLisa Laughman (Davidson)

Lesson #4 – Any experience you are having, no matter how painful it might be in any given moment – is temporary by nature. Remembering that your experience is brought to you by your thinking and not the external circumstances – may help you relax and not take what you are experiencing, right now – so seriously. As you relax, your thinking will shift and when it does your experience of the circumstance will shift as well.

5 things I have learned since Graduate SchoolLisa Laughman (Davidson)

Lesson #5 – At any moment we can become aware that we are thinking and creating an experience. We can check in and notice how we are feeling and this feeling state can let us know that we are caught up in thought (fused) and once we notice this we can help ourselves separate from the thoughts we are thinking (de-fusion) by bringing our awareness to our connection with the present moment.