WOW. OKAY. It's been ten days since I've posted on my blog and that is no good. I went on vacation and then soon after my phone broke, and my will to carry on diminished and I just wanted to come home after each day and zone out to Fixer Upper, eat soba noodles and think about nothing. Mental illness in action. That said, please enjoy this very, very, very belated #TherapyThursday recap from last week...and STAY TUNED for this weeks #TT on my Instagram TONIGHT!
TOPIC: One way to mourn traumatic events, so you're not a teeming tear factory every second of every day.
WHEN TO USE: When you are experiencing something that requires a period of mourning/sadness/getting over (i.e., breakups, loss, death, etc.)
HOW TO USE: Let's say you just broke up with your significant other and you're a useless kabob. You're crying in Trader Joe's, in the tub, on the train, at work, over your quinoa, and through the woods. There comes the point where all of that becomes exhausting and you need to figure out a way to collect yourself, at the very least, in times where breaking down in sadness might interfere with your daily life. How do you do this? Set aside a block of time each day solely devoted to feeling all of your uncomfortable emotions. For example, starting tomorrow, you will block out one hour of your day to full-on feeling your emotions. Sob, yell, curse, listen to depressing music, punch pillows, read old texts, look at old pictures, do your Instagram stalking. Let it all out and then when the hour is up, put that shit on your emotional shelf of 'things I need to deal with but will come back to later.' Immediately switch over to an activity that triggers the opposite of the negative emotion(s) you just felt and capture your attention. You may choose to watch a cheesy movie, listen to a pop song, watch some stand-up, go dancing, bake a fucking strudel, whatevs. Just make sure it's a JOYUS ACTIVITY. As days and weeks and months go on, the idea is that this block of mourning time will lessen. Maybe next month you'll only need to cry for 15 minutes a day. Pretty soon, you won't need to do this exercise at all. HOO FUCKING RAY.
WHY IT'S LEGIT: This has helped me to keep it together (for the most part) so that I can go on with my daily life in the midst of healing from a traumatic event. Hopefully, it can do the same for you. Don't kick yourself if this doesn't help you. Sometimes it doesn't cut it, and you just need to be a blubbering blob for however long. That's okay too. Just don't be afraid to ask for help if you feel stuck in that space of sadness, however.
ABOUT THERAPY THURSDAY: Join me every Thursday on my Instagram story (@domjoellehaikel) as I share with you a new tip/trick I learned in therapy over the years. If you can't catch the stories in time, look out for recaps like these each week!