Category: Therapy Utah

Taking care of your mental health is just important as taking care of your physical health. Exercise and mental health can work together to enhance your quality of life and build up your mental stamina. 

Below we will discuss the benefits of physical exercise and how it can improve mental clarity, limit stress, and improve your self-confidence. There are many ways that exercise and mental health are connected, so working to improve both of these areas will make you an overall healthier person. Taking time to move your body when you are struggling can be hard, but the benefits are worth it. 

Mood-Boosting

Mental illness can affect your mood in severe ways, but participating in exercise can help elevate lower mood. While exercise will not cure your depression or bipolar, it can help release dopamine into the brain which will lift your mood and give your body more energy. Research has shown that exercise can improve your quality of life and limit symptoms of mental illness significantly. 

Exercise and mental health go hand in hand because exercise can help promote better sleep, and coping skills, and improve self-esteem. All of these factors can contribute to your mental stamina as well. Even though exercise may not cure your mental illness, it will help improve your daily cognitive function. 

Will Mindfulness Actually Provide Benefits?

Doing yoga, pilates, and stretching can help you meet your exercise goals as well as become more self-aware. Mindfulness exercises have been proven to help aid in clinical issues such as mental health and chronic pain. Meditation along with yoga or stretching can help you feel more relaxed and prevent injury to your muscles. Some research suggests that those with fibromyalgia, asthma, insomnia, anxiety, and high blood pressure have seen results from meditation.

Mindfulness exercises combined with centering your body can help improve sleep, increase muscle strength, and improve diabetes control. Even if you may not fully believe in the benefits of mindfulness, taking some time to reflect on your life is always beneficial. 

What Exercises Are Most Helpful?

Moving your body can help get more blood flow to your extremities and limit health issues later in life, but some physical exercises provide more health benefits than others. Depending on your physical activity level, some exercises may make you feel fatigued rather than rejuvenated. Choose exercises that push your limits, but not ones that feel impossible. 

Some of the most effective exercises include walking, running, aerobics, yoga, boxing, swimming, and resistance training. Exercise will help you build up muscle and flexibility that will make future cardio easier. Running, resistance, and walking help you clear your mind and boost your dopamine production. 

Managing Stress In A Healthy Way

Mental illness and just the daily wears of life can lead to high stress. Exercise can make stress easier to manage by providing clarity and boosting dopamine production. Having awareness about your stress and taking steps to control your mental health will help you avoid burnout. 

Stress is a common occurrence in life, so learning a healthy way to manage it will help you avoid increasing mental health symptoms. It is almost impossible to avoid stress, but managing it with diet, exercise, and therapy are good ways to live your life around stressful situations.

Psychological Benefits Of Team Sports

Working with others can be a skill that is useful in a variety of different settings. Starting kids young with physical exercise and sports will teach them people skills and keep them active. Team sports build resilience, teach life skills, encourage teamwork, and help them learn proper exercise routines. 

Exercise and mental health work well together when school or competitive team sports are involved. Getting physical exercise as well as something that they have to work for will give them better mental stamina. 

Other Mental Health Resources

As the stigma around mental health continues to dissipate, more mental health resources and ideas will come forward. Taking care of your mental health is much less taboo and is a lot easier to manage in our modern world. 

Diet, exercise, time off, hobbies, and human connection are all items that can boost your mental health. You can find more resources from Red Willow Counseling and Recovery for a variety of issues like addiction, forgiveness, stress, and anxiety. 
Red Willow also offers group therapy, couples therapy, and individual therapy to help people cope with life’s stressors. Therapy combined with other self-care items can be a great way to find what items you need to improve your mental state.

Those who have not struggled with alcohol addiction or suffered withdrawal symptoms may ask why is alcohol addictive. Many addictive substances affect people in similar ways, but addiction can occur for almost any substance or action. Suffering from addiction can be dark and cause you to lose people close to you. Recovery from addictive substances should not be done alone, especially with something as social and accepted as alcohol. This blog will discuss what alcohol does to the brain, how these effects make a person become addicted, and how people can overcome addiction.

The Addiction Cycle

The addiction cycle includes three stages:

• Binge/Intoxication
• Negative affect/Withdrawl
• Preoccupation/Anticipation

The brain starts to depend on the feeling and effects of alcohol to survive. It starts to affect the physical and psychological actions of the user which may help them in awkward or stressful situations. 

Alcohol Use Disorder has different stages including alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and alcoholism. Once the person loses the ability to control their usage or stop using alcohol because of health concerns, their AUD becomes more severe. The severity will also depend on how the alcohol is affecting the person’s brain and organs. 

Flooding Your System With Dopamine

During the reward stage or Binge/Intoxication stage, the body and brain feel some euphoria and reduction of anxiety. Alcohol affects the basal ganglia whose role in the brain is to form habits and routine behaviors. 

The chemical reaction in the brain from alcohol floods your nervous system with dopamine, and that flood of high levels and emotion can make your body crave that feeling when your body is at a more maintained level (during the work day, or at extremely low points like depressive episodes). When your body doesn’t have alcohol and starts to shut down or your thinking slows, this is called withdrawal. 

Psychological And Physical Factors That Contribute To Addiction

When it comes to the physical factors that make alcohol addictive, it is as simple as the changes it makes to your brain. This is why drinking at a young age is even more dangerous because the brain is not fully developed and will not know how to survive stress or problems without the assistance of alcohol. Over time the brain starts to prioritize alcohol consumption over or equal to normal rewards like sleep, sex, connection, or eating. 

Relying on alcohol for dopamine will affect your psychological factors like memory, mood, and motivation. Those who become addicted will be unable to do normal tasks without the “assistance” of alcohol. So why is alcohol addictive? Because it makes your body crave an unnatural equilibrium. 

Why Are Some People More Easily Addicted Than Others?

Many adults can drink socially and never become dependent on alcohol. There are environmental, social, and biological factors that can make alcohol addiction more of a risk for some individuals. 

For example, those who have been around alcoholism as a child or are pressured into drinking as a teenager, their risk for addiction is higher. Mental health disorders have a direct link to alcohol addiction, especially diagnoses of anxiety, PTSD, or bipolar. Alcohol is often used as a coping mechanism for many different stressors. 

Certain gene groups are at higher risk for alcohol addiction because of other relatives with alcohol addiction and susceptibility. Genetic predisposition does not automatically mean you will become addicted though. 

Alcohol Recovery With Red Willow Counseling And Recovery

Recovering from addiction can be a dark and lonely road. Red Willow wants to help improve your mental state while also helping you see that there are better-coping mechanisms than alcohol. We offer Substance Abuse Intensive Outpatient Programs, Addiction Intervention, and Drug and Alcohol Consultations to help you have well-rounded care. 

Our therapists and counselors have knowledge and experience working with different types of people who are experiencing mental health issues and AUD at the same time. We want to help you manage your symptoms and learn more coping skills that you can use after you leave our office. If our healing and non-judgmental therapy sounds like the right fit for you, book an appointment with us in Salt Lake or Park City.

For patients who are struggling with addiction or other mental issues, having accountability partners can help keep them motivated and on the right path. Working with a trusted partner can help those who are struggling to find support and have someone to help them set attainable goals. Accountability partners can help their partners find better purpose and resources they need to overcome their addiction. 

Benefits Of An Accountability Partners

When you choose the right accountability partner, you will be able to see multiple benefits. Choosing someone who can give you a little bit of tough love will set you up for success. 

One major benefit of working with an accountability partner is being able to better measure your progress. A partner can help you focus on the goal without having to keep track of milestones, meetings, and more. They can also report to your sponsor or other healthcare providers. 

Accountability partners need to show some tough love and hold you accountable. These partners react and correct your actions when you step off the path. Doing this requires some skill, so it is best to find an accountability partner that isn’t afraid to use strong reactions. 

Other benefits that you can get from a good accountability partner include:

• Gain honest feedback
• Keep your problems in perspective
• Learn from others’ mistakes and perspectives
• Improve your performance at work, relationships, and more
• Stay grounded 

How To Choose The Right Accountability Partner?

Now that you know the benefits of an accountability partner, how do you choose an effective one? The first step is to avoid choosing a family member. While it may be easy to choose a family member, they may not be able to call you out when you misstep or be unable to separate their feelings from your goals. 

While family members love you, an accountability partner should be able to keep an open mind and disregard other personal feelings. Finding someone from a support group or a co-worker can be another place to look. Your accountability partner should be able to adapt quickly and have different strengths than your own. 

If you have found someone who you think will be a good accountability partner, you should ask them some tough questions and be open about your current situation. They should have the skills and understanding to help you make a growth plan, develop smart goals, and stick to a timeline.

Set Calendar Milestones

A partner needs to be reliable, but they also need to be able to rely on you. You will need to set calendar milestones, show up to meetings, and keep them updated on your progress. Setting milestone dates will help keep you accountable and make your goals more within reach. Setting clear dates helps us to work harder and see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

How To Be A Good Accountability Partner For Others

Are you looking to be a partner for someone who is struggling or who is working toward a big goal? There are some skills and qualities you should work on developing before taking on the job. 

One of the major things that accountability partners do for their partners is to offer support in stressful situations. Stressful situations come when you are working to overcome a bad habit, take on a new project, or deal with a loss. Partners will need to be able to listen and offer clear advice. 

A good partner will help you remember important deadlines, reach milestones, call out negative behaviors, work with you to know what is important, and share progress with those that need it. They need to be organized and detail-oriented. 

Being a partner to someone in any situation will also need a variety of other skills. Some of these can include:

• Meet with you consistently 
• Increase your motivation and is self-motivated
• Provide new perspectives 
• Offer ideas for a project
• Have a positive attitude
• Good communication skills
• Honesty

Additional Help From Red Willow Counseling And Recovery

Losing control can be hard to come back from. There are a variety of situations that can make life difficult to deal with and lead us to turn to substances or bad habits to cope. Our therapists and counselors can help you recover and have a healthier life. 
We offer different kinds of therapy, IOP programs, and a page with online resources. Anything you may need can be found here at Red Willow Counseling and Recovery. We use skillful therapy, competence, compassion, and collaboration to help patients with different severity of problems. Let us help you improve your quality of life, contact us to schedule an appointment.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which provides an opportunity for people to reevaluate their mental health, learn more about mental disorders, and share helpful resources. There are many ways to participate in Mental Health Awareness Month but here are just a few to get started. 

What Is Mental Health Awareness Month?

Mental Health Awareness Month has been recognized since 1949 and is a way to show and offer support for those who struggle with mental health. Events, screenings, activities, social media posts, and fundraisers are all available from many sources during the month of May. 

Finding some ways to take extra care of your mental health is a great way to participate. Taking care of your mental state or taking some time off work are great options if you feel you don’t have a lot to give. Below are some fun and educational ideas. 

1- Send A Mindfulness Care Package

The act of being mindful has become much more visible in recent years. Meditation and mindfulness can be helpful for those who struggle with mental health but it can be difficult to know where to start. If you know someone who has been stressed or someone who has crossed your mind lately, send them a care package for Mental Health Awareness Month. 

Mindfulness care packages can include healthy snacks, calming scents, towels or blankets with comfortable textures, or house plants. All of these things can help limit decision fatigue and overstimulation, and help give someone something to look forward to. 

2- Share Reliable Resources About Mental Health

With more and more people on the internet, information can get shared instantly. Social media is filled with people sharing information, news, opinions, and more. During Mental Health Awareness Month it is important to share truthful and reliable resources. Sharing quotes or information that is offensive or untrue will do more harm than good. 

If you are going to share posts on social media, make sure you check the credentials of the account or include links to scientific articles. 

3- Find Yourself A Therapist

Taking charge of your mental health is important for overall wellness. A therapist is an important part of taking care of your mental health. Finding one that is right for you and specializes in your specific needs will help you gain better control of your life. 

Therapy will give you coping skills, provide support and a listening ear, help you face challenges, and more. Finding a therapist that fits your needs can be difficult, but take some action steps to find a good one during the month of May. 

4- Attend A Mental Health Event

Spreading awareness about mental health means attending events or fundraisers. It not only helps support a good cause but also helps show others that there are people who support them. Many organizations host walks, presentations, or a Q&A to help share mental health resources. 

Mental Health Action Day is celebrated on May 18th on a National scale. This national event gives businesses an opportunity to promote therapy and take charge of their mental health. If you can’t find an event that speaks to you, try hosting your own! 

5- Get Certified In Mental Health First Aid

Another way to take action is to prepare yourself with tools to help those with mental illness. Mental Health First Aid will help you learn to identify a mental health crisis and respond in the appropriate way. Both in-person and digital certifications are available from places like Born This Way Foundation and Jack.org. 

6- Share Your Story

If you struggle with mental illness a way to spread awareness is to share your story with others. Sharing vulnerable moments can be difficult, but posting a story or post on social media may help someone else feel less alone. 

Stigma and questions still surround mental health, so sharing your struggles can be a window to help others understand that it is nothing to be ashamed of. Spreading awareness is often more powerful when it comes from someone you love and trust. 

7- Use Your Time Off Or Mental Health Days

If your work offers mental health days, May is a good time to take them (or just one). If they don’t, Mental Health Awareness Month is a good time to advocate for your company to implement them. Taking some time off work to enjoy the weather, spend time with family, or just relax can be refreshing for your mental state. 

Mental Health Resources From Red Willow

Our therapists, addiction specialists, and social workers provide patients with the tools they need to handle stressful situations. Red Willow Counseling and Recovery offer individual, family, and couples therapy. We specialize in many different areas and want to help patients of all backgrounds. Contact us to schedule your first therapy appointment today.

There are many benefits to exercising our mental health. Some benefits include improving our memory, attention, brain speed, sharpening response times and attention, people skills, intelligence, and navigation. Just like our bodies need physical activity to perform at our best, our brains also need the brain activity to build brain power and be able to work it’s best. The more we work hard at something, the easier it becomes.

There are many things we can do to exercise our brain such as playing board games, reading book and meditation. Another great way to strengthen our mental health is by getting in touch with our senses. We can strengthen the brain by focusing on smell, touch, taste, seeing and hearing. One example is trying a new recipe or dining at a new restaurant.

What is something that interests you but have never explored? Perhaps you would like to explore art, or maybe you have always wanted to play an instrument. Pushing our limits can help us learn new skills, boost self-confidence, and improve concentration. Try something new and make mistakes!

Below is a delicious and easy spaghetti salad recipe to help get in touch with the 5 senses. ENJOY!

Easy Spaghetti Salad Recipe

Lack of access and coverage for healthcare needs is an issue most folks face in the U.S. every day, including trans and gender non-conforming individuals.

A transgender person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their biological sex assigned at birth.

According to federal and state laws in the United States, discrimination in health care and insurance coverage based on having a transgender identity is prohibited. In theory, this means that it would be illegal for a health insurance plan to deny coverage for medically necessary transition related care. The reality is that up to 46% of transgender individuals report having a health insurer deny them gender-affirming care.

While a law of protection exists, it was created within the Affordable Care Act, therefore only extending this protection to those utilizing programs or activities administered by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or any entity instituted under the ACA. States are permitted to make their own laws surrounding inclusion and exclusion where health insurance coverage is concerned, and while 20 states have adopted the protections afforded in the ACA, there are 30 states in the U.S. that allow health insurance plans to exclude gender affirming care.

Many myths about making transgender healthcare more accessible through insurance coverage exist. One of the most popular being that if health insurance companies adopted transgender inclusive policies then premiums and deductibles for all insured individuals would increase as a result. This has been proven false in multiple studies, including the very first government-sponsored economic impact assessment conducted in the state of California in 2012.

According to the American Medical Association transgender patients who receive gender-affirming care, including surgical care, feel more aligned in their bodies and this results in improved overall mental and physical health – lower rates of depression and anxiety, reduction in substance use rates, higher rates of adherence to HIV care and reduction in self-medication, and fewer risks of death by suicide.

Transgender people deserve equal access to life-saving, medically necessary care. To help in the fight for justice for transgender individuals in Utah, consider supporting local organizations like Genderbands, who use grant money and other funds to help transgender people in Utah pay for medically necessary transition related care.

Education is also a great first step, and you can find all your LGBTQIA2S+ literary needs at Under the Umbrella Bookstore in downtown Salt Lake City!

While the crispness of the air and the promise of winter evokes joy in many, others struggle with the transition to colder, darker days. As we settle into the recent turning back of our clocks, I find myself reminded of the time when I used to grieve the end of sunny seasons.

In the summer, I was always amazed by how the sun clung to the sky until late into the evening. I loved the feeling of warmth and the busy energy it brought. By contrast, I dreaded when the leaves started to change and felt a sense of sadness as everything slowly turned barren and dull. In those moments, it seemed the only thing winter was good for was waiting.

It took me awhile to realize that all things must ebb and flow. There are times for movement and times for rest and stillness. Having balance and accepting duality is what allows us to show up as the best, fullest versions of ourselves.

So, what can winter teach us about balance? It can remind us that it’s okay to not always be on the move. Disconnecting our worth from productivity can help us reestablish self-care routines and see ourselves in new ways. It also teaches us the value of stillness and reflection. Having time sheltered from the cold provides us the opportunity to reflect on where we are in life and gives us time to re-examine our hopes, dreams, and goals. Winter can also unite us around a collective sense of rest. Whether together or apart, the slowness brought by winter days allows us all to undergo our own journey of metamorphosis. Painstaking and sometimes uncomfortable, we eventually leave our cocoons with new growth like butterflies in the spring.

While I still love the sunny days, I have come to appreciate the wisdom of the colder seasons. And
although I eagerly await the warmth and the sight of blooming things, I try to remember that by
embracing this season of rest, I will be more ready to welcome it all again with open arms.
As you navigate this slower season, take some time to ask yourself what winter has to teach you.

• What do you need during this time of rest?
• What comforts you during the colder months?
• What would you like to shed this season?
• What aspects of yourself would you like to see grow in the new year?
• What seeds are you planting for the future?

Simple Acts of Kindness

How does it feel to be genuinely kind to someone? How does it feel when someone is genuinely kind towards you? Acts of kindness send the message that we are not alone in this world. Kindness makes a difference in this world, as its far-reaching effects are often imperceptible to those who experience it initially.

Kindness Keeps on Going

When we are kind, we inspire others to be kind. Like the effect on water as a pebble collides with its surface, the contagious nature of kindness can impact a community, a country, and with enough of us, the entire world. This is what happens when we lift others up by simple acts of kindness.

Being Kind is its Own Reward

Conscious acts of kindness have many benefits for our mental health and overall well-being. Being kind increases mood, happiness, and life satisfaction. An increase in self-esteem, empathy, and compassion are also benefits of expressing acts of kindness. These benefits can lead to a decrease in blood pressure and stress hormones.

Bystander Effect

It’s been shown that individuals witnessing an act of kindness produce an increase in oxytocin, also referred to as the ‘love hormone’ which works to lower blood pressure and improve overall heart health.

Together we can build each other up and make someone feel noticed with a simple act of kindness.

Try it and reflect on how you feel. Start a ripple effect today!

By Nick Galli, Counseling Intern

An Incredible Capacity to Learn

As human beings, we have an incredible capacity to learn.  As children, our brains are like a sponge for knowledge and skills.  But when is the last time you learned something new?  As adults, it’s all too easy to settle in to our daily routine and resist trying new things.  But by staying inside in our comfort zone, we deprive ourselves the chance to grow.  Even as adults, learning adds and reorganizes neural paths in our brain, a process known as neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity in Adulthood

Despite the benefits of learning, it can be challenging to find the time and desire to stretch ourselves.  As you contemplate the prospect of expanding yourself, I invite you to adopt what author George Leonard called a white belt mentality.

In the martial arts, the white belt symbolizes a birth or beginning of a person’s will to acquire skills, and it is worn by those who are just beginning their study.  In other words, the white belt wearers are constantly questioning, discovering, and improving. Over time her skills increase, they advance through various other colored belts until they become an “expert.”

Maintaining a “White Belt Mentality”

The potential downside of advancement is a loss in the very attitude that allowed them to get there (curiosity, humility).  What are you still curious about?  Maybe you have been wanting to learn chess, try a different language, or test a new recipe in the kitchen.  Whatever the activity, as a white belt you can enter it with anticipation and tolerance for mistakes.  You can know that mastery is thousands of hours down the road, but the journey is worth the wait.

So every day as you interact with your world, whether you’re bravely engaging in something different or sticking with what you know well, I invite you to put on your imaginary “white belt,” and be ready to learn something new, no matter how big or small.