Atlanta CBT

Find out more at www.atlanta-cbt.com

Emotional exhaustion... what is it, how it shows up, and how to make it less intense and interfering... Think of the ER nurse who works on a COVID unit, 12-hour shifts, caring for children and an aging parent, and perhaps has added stressors related to health of friends or community political unrest," said Afton Kapuscinski, director of the Psychological Services Center at Syracuse University....

We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Julia Wamstad to the Atlanta CBT team! Dr. Wamstad is now taking referrals. Inquire here: https://www.atlanta-cbt.com/contact/ As a licensed clinical psychologist, I help my patients increase ‘psychological flexibility’ using an inclusive, culturally-relevant, and evidence-based approach to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT).... I help adults who are experiencing anxiety, worry, depression, general distress, and or grief associated with life challenges, including: adapting to the many changes and challenges brought on by Covid-19 parenting a child with a complex medical diagnosis or catastrophic injury adjusting to life after a complex medical diagnosis or catastrophic injury struggling with loss or grief challenges that stem from navigating various transitions and changes in life MORE: https://www.atlanta-cbt.com/dr-julia-buch-wamstad-psy-d-2/

A #list of #MLK #speeches and #sermons in which he speaks truth to power, shares about his philosophy of nonviolence and expounds on issues of injustice and wha...t our righteous, rigorous response should be. Relevant. Revelatory. Revolutionary. #MLKDay #BelovedCommunity It's more difficult today because we are struggling now for genuine equality. And it's much easier to integrate a lunch counter than it is to guarantee a livable income and a good solid job. From ‘The Other America.’ https://youtu.be/dOWDtDUKz-U This problem of spiritual and moral lag, which constitutes modern man's chief dilemma, expresses itself in three larger problems which grow out of man's ethical infantilism. From #MLK’s Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, ‘The Quest for Peace and Justice’ https://youtu.be/CzMFOljSYIk From ‘Paul’s Letter to American Christians’: Oh America, how often have you taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes. https://youtu.be/7p5iOhXumaQ Not a speech or a sermon, but an interview in which Dr. King shares powerfully and brilliantly. https://youtu.be/D7Y8Q9nSK5A I never intend to adjust myself to racial segregation and discrimination. I never intend to adjust myself to religious bigotry... Brief, but still #MLK. Are you maladjusted and proud? https://youtu.be/hhCtkfImxuE #MLK in 1967, sounding like he’s talking in 2021: And so the collision course is set. The people cry for freedom and the congress attempts to legislate repression. From ‘The Three Evils of Society.’ https://youtu.be/6sT9Hjh0cHM ‘Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.’ Please spend some time with it. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read: Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. https://youtu.be/AJhgXKGldUk And now, ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail.’ A masterpiece. You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Article/Letter_Birmingham.html

Feeling down or depressed? This is a helpful info graphic on deciding what level of care, from self or others, might be warranted depending on the severity of signs and symptoms. -from the National Institute of Mental Health

For OCD awareness week, OCD Georgia, Inc. is doing outreach a little differently this year since we can’t do in person meet ups. Here is a virtual opportunity to reflect on your own experience with OCD and share to educate and encourage others...

Love hip hop/care about mental health? We do too! Atlanta CBT is proud to support hip hop diva Shanti Das and Silence the Shame in a virtual 5k for Mental Health Awareness week. Join us in the Atlanta CBT team if you’d like! It’s virtual! Silence the Shame is a strong black woman led Atlanta-based not for profit focused on outreach and fundraising for mental health programming for the hip hop community at large. SilenceTheShame

And here it is! #BFRByourself! #Enjoy! Please like, comment and share! Help us #SmashStigma and spread #BFRBawareness far and wide! Happy #BFRBweek everyone!! ... #BFRByourself is a call for self compassion, to accept and love yourself as you are, with your BFRBs and beyond! During #BFRBweek we want to highlight the resilience and resourcefulness of people with BFRBs and how they manage life with BFRBs. From time-consuming activities that impact quality of life to nourishing routines like self-care, personal growth and commitment to self-compassion, we aim to reveal the whole picture of living with BFRBs. At least 1 in 20 people live with compulsive pulling, picking, and biting behaviors like hair pulling disorder (trichotillomania) and skin picking disorder (excoriation). Body-focused repetitive behaviors are a common mental health disorder that most people have never heard about. Extreme shame and embarrassment cause many affected individuals to keep their pulling, picking and biting compulsions a secret. We’d like to give a special shout-out of appreciation to the members of the Young Adult action Council and the volunteers who bravely shared your #BFRByourself videos. You are the trailblazers of compassion. Your courage gives us strength. Thank you all. If you see yourself in the video, please feel free to tag yourself and share away!

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In a normal situation, it may be fairly easy to escape boundary enforcement. However, two things I've found are that extremely difficult, are doing this postpar...tum as well as during a pandemic. When it comes to the safety of our family, we are put on the spot and it truly highlights how hard this can be for some of us. Here are some go-to statements: No No No (you get it) We're not having visitors right now. I appreciate you thinking of us, but we'll get a hold of you when we're open to having people over. I'm really looking forward to seeing you. Just a heads up, we're making everyone wash their hands and wear a mask while at our house. I know you want to hold the baby, but we're not comfortable with anyone holding her right now. We won't make it to _______. Enjoy yourselves. Thank you so much for making dinner. If you could send us a text when you get here, we can visit from the doorway. We're taking this time to bond as a family. We appreciate you thinking of us. We'll send you some pictures when we get settled. What would you add? I know there are so many ways you can address these situations, so feel free to share with me in the comments.

...Imagine you don't feel like going for a walk, but you go anyway, and your thoughts shift from "Ugh, I don't want to go" to "This isn't so bad" to "That actually felt good." Behavioral activation, a proven technique from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), increases your contact with positive, pleasurable, rewarding activities that are aligned with the life you want to lead. While you may not feel like doing these activities because you're already down, sad, or stressed, "faking it" (doing them anyway) can brighten your thoughts, lift your mood, and prevent you from slipping further into depression....

For white people interested in 1 on 1 anti-racism coaching and training... When I hired Heidi M Wood, LCSW, to work with me at Atlanta CBT, she explained her passion and plans to create a coaching/consulting business of her own focused on anti-racism coaching for white people and coaching white parents on how to raise race-conscious children. Heidi just launched her business Brave Little Steps and I’m pleased to support her wholeheartedly! Check this out and share widely!

July is #MinorityMentalHealthMonth Join the International OCD Foundation on Wednesdays at 7pm EST in July for speakers.

Are you the parent of a 4-12 year old who is showing signs and symptoms of anxiety? Heidi M. Wood, LCSW, of Atlanta CBT can help you, in the comfort and convenience of your own home via telehealth, with the SPACE program- Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. SPACE was developed at Yale University School of Medicine by Dr. Eli Lebowitz and colleagues. "With SPACE, the focus is on changing the way the parents themselves behave by aiming to help parents increas...e supportive responses to a child’s anxiety, while also reducing the accommodations they provide for that anxiety. The goal is for parents to show both an acceptance and validation of a child’s experience, while also exhibiting a confidence in the child’s ability to cope with and tolerate that feeling of anxiety. 'This is a really important message for children', Dr. Lebowitz explained. 'Many of the things we do in response to a child’s anxiety actually delivers the message that they can’t cope. And that’s not what we intend to tell them, but it’s often the message we send.'" NUMBER OF SESSIONS: The SPACE program is typically offered in a series of about 12 sessions. COST: The total cost for the entire program, if in 12 sessions, is $2175. Heidi is out of network with all health insurance companies so this is a self-pay service. Some people submit super receipts to their insurance companies to get reimbursed for a portion of costs. Also, some people pay with their health savings accounts. CONTACT ATLANTA CBT TODAY WITH QUESTIONS OR TO SCHEDULE YOUR FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH HEIDI... CALL 404-710-7706 OR EMAIL [email protected]

Atlanta CBT sits in the neighborhood of the wise and loving MLK, Jr. To honor his deep legacy of non-violent protest, in this neighborhood and beyond, Atlanta CBT has donated 1/2 of this week’s earnings to the NAACP to support critical efforts. Every stand matters.

A vital way to take action to challenge systematic racism in America is for parents and educators to talk to white kids about race. Heidi Wood, LCSW, a therapist and colleague at Atlanta CBT who is deeply passionate about and involved in anti-racism efforts, offers this resource as a good place to start.

There's nothing I hate more than those nights where I lie down in bed, exhausted from a long day, only to find my mind spinning. And spinning, and spinning, and... spinning. As part of our series on how to get better sleep with Dr. Leah Farrell Carnahan, we asked what she recommends when you just can't shut your brain off. These are her top tips, and they've really helped me in recent weeks! Create a to do list so you get the ideas OUT of your head and onto paper When possible, plan out SOLUTIONS to what's worrying you. Then you'll know you're controlling what you can. Pay attention to those spinning thoughts. Are there any major themes? What seems to be stressing you? Once you figure out what's stressing you, STOP DOING THOSE THINGS BEFORE BED! (Eh hem, news and work tend to be major contributors!) Create a wind down time before bed where you intentionally do something that does NOT stimulate you Practice deep breathing or meditation, which can help slow your heart and mind at all times of day Do you practice any of these sleep tips? I challenge you to make at least 1 change using these suggestions this week! See more

"Do I need a bedtime?" It's a "good sleep practice" we all think we should have, but when one of our community members recently expressed difficulty falling asl...eep at the same time as usual, we learned it isn’t that simple. Is the madness in the world affecting your sleep? Turns out, you're not alone! Tons of you reported sleep problems in a recent IG poll. Dr. Leah Farrell-Carnahan, psychologist and sleep expert from Atlanta CBT, says it's actually less important to have a bedtime and more important to have a WAKE UP TIME! Who knew? Apparently, a bedtime can make you go to bed when you aren't sleepy, which teaches your brain that the bed is not necessarily a place for rest. It's a vicious cycle. What should we do instead? Dr. Farrell-Carnahan says we should have a "wind down time" instead of a "bedtime" where we relax and "allow the conditions for sleepiness to come." It turns out the more important thing is to have a WAKE UP TIME! Wake up within about 5 minutes of the same time every day for your body to establish a good rhythm. If you do this, she says, "Your circadian rhythm (the invisible body clock that regulates your sleep and wake schedules/preferences, body temperature, appetite, etc.) will begin to regulate and you will notice that you will be more likely to get sleepy around the same time most nights. Do you have a wake-up time each day? This is admittedly a HUGE weakness of mine! See more