Counseling can be simple but simple may not be easy

Counseling can be quite simple although simple may not be easy.

There are 2 key parts.

1. Helping our patients to defuse/zoom out and be mindful of their thoughts, feelings, and narratives in order to get more perspectives and more clarity.

2. Helping our patients to “zoom in” to what really matters to them with workability in mind and what they are truly in control of. Take action.

It’s a dance between 1 and 2 with 1 often the rate limiting step.

I wonder if you can relate….

Helping our patients with psychological flexibility

I often see folks whose experiences of crises and traumas are of the “damaging ways” including PTSD.  Helping them to defuse and come to an awareness of post-traumatic stress growth can give them more hope and motivation to move forward with a life they want to create despite the challenges.

So how can we help…

We can focus on the 6 skills of psychological flexibility as defined by ACT.

1. Defusion from thoughts and feelings. 

2. Being more mindful and present. 

3. More acceptance rather than experiential avoidance. 

4. Self as context rather than a rigid sense of self. 

5. Knowing oneself and one’s values with more clarity to balance the outer world’s values. 

6. Take value based actions authentically and with workability in mind.

It’s not easy of course but psychological flexibility can be a useful framework from which to pivot in these case scenarios.

Self reflection versus self criticism

In counseling or mental health work, it’s important to help our patients differentiate self reflection from self criticism.

Self-criticism is often harsh and judgmental, focusing on flaws and mistakes without room for growth.

On the other hand, self-reflection is more objective, defused and constructive, allowing for learning and improvement by examining actions and outcomes with openness and curiosity.

So try to embrace self-reflection more for personal development, but be careful of too much self-criticism.

Are you a bit lost in choosing the right area of Medicine to pursue?

As Medicine is so diverse, are you stuck with choice paralysis?

Well start with this perhaps.

Make a list of all the things you love or hate in your working career, and ask the question “why” but try to answer that with only one word.  This will give you insight into what your values are and what will inspire you and make you happy.  

So why make a list of all the things we love and hate?  This is because values are usually “emotive”.

Some examples of values are family, fun, adventure, growth, harmony, equality, connection, stability, security, etc. 

Once you are clear on your values, explore what areas in Medicine that will resonate with those values/most of those values and try to make that workable.

So the framework to consider is, follow your values and make that workable in the real world.

I hope you can find your clarity soon in order to create a fulfilling career.