Mindfulness Psychotherapy
Mindfulness is life in the present tense.
Often our mental energy is focused on regrets or unfortunate experiences in the past or consumed with worries about the future. We drive down the 'what was' highway of the past or the 'what if' highway of the future. When we are not where we are, this is when our mental health will be compromised.
'You cannot stop the waves of life, but you can learn to surf.'
Jon Kabat - Zinn
Heartache, abuse, injury, stress, accidents, job loss, trauma, illness are a few of the challenging waves life presents. Often therapy is about helping people find ways to manage these waves and build new capacities to shift from survive to thrive.
A Bit About Mindfulness Psychotherapy
YOU ARE NOT YOUR BRAIN!
The brain is NOT the mind. The mind is focused attention: I eat and I know I am eating; I sit and I know I am sitting. However, the brain is unfocused attention: I drive home and have no awareness how I got there. The brain evolves in relation to its environment. Neglect, abuse, trauma, and addictions in the home environment or early life negatively impact the brain and our sense of self. However, feeling loved, valued, seen and heard effects the brain positively. Mindfulness psychotherapy seeks to help free people from the negative maps of past conditioning (the brain) and strengthen the present focus of the mind. Yes, to a significant extent, you can free your mind from the clutches of the brain.