Week of November 22nd

The holiday season is upon us.  This time of year can bring warmth, joy and happiness on the one hand, and stress, anxiety and disappointment on the other.  It is challenging when this time is described as the “most wonderful time of the year.”  That’s a whole lot of expectation for a short period of time!  During this holiday season, we are interested in inviting you to invest in coping ahead for reality.  When we get armed with understanding our difficulties, we are able to form a plan, organize, feel more prepared, and less startled.
 
This week, we would like to offer an opportunity for you to treat your DBT skills as a gift to yourself.  The process of gift giving to others is not so different from gifting ourselves with a personalized cope ahead plan.  When we give a gift to someone else, we start by brainstorming ideas based on our knowledge of the individual.  Similarly, in creating our very own cope ahead plan, we want to begin by naming potential triggers that prompt emotions and actions likely to interfere with using our skills.  Next up, we have to decide what skills we plan on implementing to reduce our emotional vulnerabilities and cope with the prompting situation.  When we give to others, we are mindful of their needs.  Parallel to this process, when thinking of ourselves, we want to stay mindful of the skills that are useful to reducing our suffering.
 
What mindfulness tools will help you stay present in the current moment?  What ways can you incorporate self soothing and distracting into your holiday time?  Can you commit to prioritizing your PLEASE skills?  Once you have identified the skills that are going to be essential for your cope ahead plan, we invite you to imagine yourself during the holiday season utilizing the skills in the given situation.  Picture yourself turning your mind away from old patterns of behavior and towards utilizing your identified cope ahead plan. Give yourself the gift of a skillful holiday season!