Welcome to the Resting Tree blog, where we delve into the intricacies of mental health, healing, and personal growth. As a private practice specializing in trauma-informed, compassion-focused, and humanistic approaches, we are dedicated to providing insightful and empowering content to support your journey towards holistic well-being.
Our blog is a safe space for exploring the complexities of the human experience, offering valuable resources, and fostering a sense of community. Join us as we navigate the path to healing and self-discovery, one blog post at a time.
How to Deal with Guilt When You Need to Slow Down
That familiar pang of guilt when we take a break or slow down is a significant life skill to manage. Today's society celebrates non-stop hustle, making people feel guilty about anything that doesn't boost productivity. This guilt becomes a heavy burden, pushing us harder while our bodies and minds scream for rest. Slowing down is not just acceptable, but vital. This blog will help you understand break-related guilt and the impact of constant motion. You'll find practical strategies to welcome rest without feeling guilty and build a healthier relationship with downtime.
What Is Toxic Positivity? The Dark Side of Positive Thinking
In this article, we'll explore toxic positivity, its impact on mental health, relationships, and communication, and how to cultivate a more balanced emotional approach. Understanding this phenomenon helps us embrace authentic support and emotional honesty for healthier connections with ourselves and others.
Overcoming Overstimulation: Strategies for Sensory Balance
Feeling overwhelmed? You're not alone. Our world today is full of constant noise and distractions. These never-ending inputs can wear us down, leading to stress and emotional struggles. It's important to recognize when it's all too much and take steps to find balance. Let's talk about overstimulation - from our always-on devices to how it affects our minds. We'll look at simple ways to cut down on distractions and make space for calm. By doing this, we can build a healthier connection with our surroundings and find more peace in our daily lives.
Summer Social Anxiety: Tips for a Relaxed Season
As summer unfolds, bringing longer days and more social gatherings, many of us face challenges amplified by the season's bright sunlight. Summer social anxiety magnifies self-consciousness, worry, and discomfort in social settings, exacerbating feelings of loneliness and FOMO (fear of missing out). Recognizing the impact of summer on our mental well-being is the first step toward navigating these months with grace. Hot weather can contribute to anxiety, so understanding why and how this happens is essential.
Living Your Own Pace: Overcoming the Pressure of Falling Behind in Life
In today's fast-paced world, many of us struggle with feelings of inadequacy as they compare themselves to others. This article underscores the importance of setting personal goals, dedicating effort to self-improvement, and resisting societal pressures related to success. By recognizing our emotions, engaging in mindfulness, cultivating gratitude, and skillfully navigating challenges, we can move towards our aspirations and savor life's experiences at a pace that aligns with our individual needs and values.
Coping with Loneliness During the Holiday Season: Finding Comfort and Connection
The holiday season is often portrayed as a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration. However, for many people, it can be a time of increased loneliness and isolation. It's important to remember that feeling lonely during the holidays is common and does not mean there is something wrong with you. In fact, it is an opportunity to practice self-care, seek connection, and find comfort in various ways.
Why is it Hard to Love Myself? The Impact of Trauma on Self-Love
The impact of trauma on self-love is complex and multifaceted. It alters our self-worth, self-esteem, and self-confidence, often leading to fear and shame. However, understanding this relationship between trauma and self-love is the first step towards healing and reclaiming our self-worth.
Navigating Trauma: Steps for Self-Care in the Face of Guilt
In this article, we delve into the challenges of navigating trauma and the additional burden of guilt. We understand that these weights can feel overwhelming, and we want to provide guidance on the importance of self-care as a lifeline for survival. While this article may not serve as definitive therapy, it serves as an initial step towards comprehending and restoring emotional balance, offering support and insights to help you navigate the path towards self-care and release feelings of guilt.
The Search for Self-Identity: Understanding Who You Are
Have you ever found yourself questioning who you truly are? Feeling uncertain about your identity is a common experience that many people go through at some point in their lives. It can be a confusing and unsettling journey, but understanding the factors that shape our sense of self and developing strategies to strengthen our identity can lead to a more fulfilling and authentic life.
Understanding Self-Compassion: What it is and What it is not
Many people struggle to understand the true meaning of self-compassion. Some individuals mistakenly believe that self-compassion involves shirking responsibility or being self-centered and indulgent. However, this is far from the truth. Explore the true definition of self-compassion and its significance in managing trauma and suffering caused by past experiences.
Let’s get this over with: Impatience and what it’s trying to teach us
Impatience is a complex emotion that can hold valuable lessons for us, if we’re willing to listen. While it can be frustrating and overwhelming, it can also be seen as a sign that something deeper is going on.
When Grief Becomes Complicated
The walk of grief is a well-known human experience. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, job, sense of identity or health, loss stirs up pain within that can leave us feeling hopeless and empty. When do we know when grief has become complicated or has extended past the initial deep pain from grieving? Complicated grief carries some of the same symptoms as ‘typical’ grief, making it raise the question as to when we know we have crossed the line from typical grieving to complicated grieving.
Is this too Good to be True? What to do when Fear steals your Joy
Joy can be a complex emotion. On the one hand, it can elicit great pleasure and make your heart swell with warmth. But for many people, joy can also bring up feelings of fear—fear that joy will be taken away. Are you afraid to feel joy because of how you’re doubtful and scared that it may be gone? Learn about what Foreboding Joy is and how you can let go of it.
Is it Guilt or Shame? How to tell the difference and work through it
Many of us tend to use the words “guilt” and “shame” interchangeably. Sometimes we might experience both feelings at the same time after we have felt as though we have done something wrong. However, they refer to different experiences because these feelings come from different understanding of ourselves and others. Understanding the differences between them can help us work through self judgments, self-criticism and low self-worth.
Understanding Anger and How to Deal with it
Whether we are dealing with our own anger or that of those around us it is a good idea to try and understand what anger is and where this specific anger is coming from. Within you can find a few helpful tips and strategies to express your anger in a healthy way so that you will reduce tension and can help build better relationships. Take a minute to step back and look from the outside.
What is High Functioning Depression and How Do We Cope with it?
When seen by your friends and family, you may seem perfectly fine and normal – and yet, within you may feel very unhappy with yourself for no foreseeable reason. You may also be doing what you’re supposed to do, but constantly feeling exhausted. Are you struggling with high-functioning depression? Learn more from this post on what it is and how to cope with it.
How to Cope with Grief during the Holidays
Despite the holidays being touted as “the most wonderful time of the year”, some would describe them as the most dreadful. Cancelling the season is not an option for most people, so how does one prepare for the holidays when they just aren’t feeling it? If the holidays are feeling dreadful or complicated due to grief, it may be a good time to increase coping skills and self-care.
How to Support a Grieving Friend
It is often hard to witness a loved one or friend going through intense emotional experiences like grief and loss. Let’s learn about some meaningful and practical ways we can show our care and support through this post.
What it’s Like to have High Functioning Anxiety and How to Deal with It
Do you relate to these experiences? High-functioning anxiety is a form of silent suffering that’s well-hidden from the world.