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Self-care is absolutely necessary for your success and effectiveness in honoring your personal and professional commitments. Self-care can be many things, but it should always make you a healthier person. As a trusted and safe source of counseling in Colorado, we see quite a few people who fail to put effort into themselves and practice self-care because they’re putting all of their effort into something else. Simple self-care techniques because you have everything to gain: Learn how to say no. It is life-altering when you learn how to say no when you need to. This doesn’t mean you say no every time someone asks for a favor. It’s about setting boundaries. If saying no at times means saying yes to your health and well-being, then don’t be afraid to say no. Setting boundaries is about having the courage to love yourself, even when we risk disappointing other people. Remember, you can’t base your own worthiness on someone else’s approval. Give yourself permission to have fun. Take some time, even if it’s just 10 minutes, to laugh and have fun each day. What do you enjoy doing? What brings you pleasure? It doesn’t matter if you’re by yourself or with others. We even suggest switching up your fun activities so you always have something to look forward to. Eat the right things. Remember, when you eat well, you aren’t only nourishing your body, you’re also nourishing your mind. You’ll find the effort you put into eating healthier will become less of an effort when you begin to

You May Be Able To Help Your Anxiety With Neurofeedback Firstly, let us explain what neurofeedback is. Simply put, neurofeedback is training your brain through the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) technology and practice. Essentially, it is the guided control of your nervous system to train your brain based on how it’s currently functioning. Neurofeedback has been shown to support the treatment of damaged brain tissue from injuries such as concussions or car accidents, may stabilize emotions, increase attention, decrease migraines, and even boost your natural learning ability. Brain Training Is A Viable Option For Anxiety Management. Neurofeedback is one of the fastest and most efficient methods we can use to teach someone how to help themselves. Plus, it’s easy to learn! Learning this life skill could decrease your dependence on medication, and also improve your overall quality of life. When you teach someone how to calm themselves by teaching their brain to make healthier patterns on a more consistent basis, their anxiety responses are avoided because they have a calmer brain in control. Brain training for anxiety is a great way to give those who suffer from anxiety hope that they can take control of their lives. An Alternative To Medication? Generally, specific areas in your brain are causing you to feel anxious. When you’re able to target these areas with brain training, you learn how to control these problematic areas of your brain specifically. When you take anxiety medications, they can’t reach specific areas of the brain, but rather they affect the entire brain. This

Our Boulder Counseling Services Teach Relaxation Techniques Research shows us that there are several different relaxation techniques that can help us not only reduce stress but also several of the symptoms associated with mental health disorders. Our counseling services in Boulder have helped countless students who suffer from stress, as well as mental health disorders, and we can help you, too. Today, we’re going to take a look at some simple techniques you can practice when you’re experiencing stress during class, at work, while studying, or when trying to fall asleep. Relaxing Breathing Exercises Put one hand on your stomach right below your rib cage while inhaling slowly and deeply through your nose. Your chest should still move slightly, but your stomach should be rising slowly as you inhale and pushing your hand up. As you exhale your breath, try to image your entire body becoming limp and loose and just letting go. A good rule of thumb is to exhale twice as long as it takes you to inhale. Practicing this breathing exercise three times a day for two or three minutes can really help your stress levels. Progressive Muscle Relaxation This technique allows you to pay a mental visit to the muscles in your body. While inhaling and exhaling slowly, mentally scan your body from your head to toe. Stop at each area of your body and pay attention to the areas where tension exists. As you stop to acknowledge these areas, practice tensing and relaxing each muscle. This will help release all of

Counseling Services In Colorado Help College Students Balance Stress Excess stress alters your natural balance, draining your brain from the energy it needs to concentrate and take action. Stress can be triggered externally by situations like a breakup or poor grades, or internally by placing high expectations on yourself. Here at the Metis Center for Psychological Services, our counseling services help college students balance stress and mental health. How To Reduce & Manage Your Stress Time Management: A huge part in managing your stress as a college student is practicing good time management skills. You’ll want to learn how to manage your responsibilities both in school and out of school, accomplish goals, and still have time for rest, relaxation, and some fun. Avoid Procrastination: We know that it’s easy to put something off until the last minute, and some people even work well under pressure, but this can also create more physical and mental stress than staying on top of your responsibilities and assignments. Remember, procrastination can affect a lot of different parts of your daily life, such as your quality of sleep, your mood, and the quality of your work. Make Time For Exercise: Stress generates a lot of negative energy and exercise helps you burn off this energy. Limit Stimulants Like Caffeine: Caffeine and other stimulants can actually elevate the stress response in your body, making things worse rather than better. If you’re one of the many college students who have difficulty balancing stress and keeping it under control, please consider our counseling services

Our counseling office in Boulder, CO works with many college-aged patients. Depression among college students is a growing issue on university and college campuses across the United States. Growing pressures for good grades, worries about mounting debt, and anxiety about a weak job market can all pile on a student, causing them to feel overwhelmed and hopeless. This is also a common age for mental health problems to manifest; if the college student doesn’t have a good support network around them, the issues may go undiagnosed for a long time and lead to worsening symptoms. If you are in college and think you may be experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns, you aren’t alone. Anxiety is the number one concern of college students when it comes to mental health concerns; 46% of students who went to their university’s mental health center said they were concerned about anxiety. The American Psychological Association reports that in the 2012-2013 school year, almost half (48.7%) of students reported that they had been to counseling for mental health concerns. That number has been on a steady increase for the last several years and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Anxiety and depression can be debilitating mental health problems. If you have been struggling with these issues, help is available. You can speak to the counseling center at your school for a list of resources available to you or you can make an appointment with us. Call us at (720) 387-8458 or request an appointment online

Our testing assessment services can help you make better decisions for your future. If you’ve been struggling to find direction or make decisions about your future life goals, an assessment in our office may help. Many adults experience roadblocks when planning their future and may experience issues such as: Being unsure about which career path is right for them Feeling unmotivated or unsure about how to self-motivate Trouble making or sticking to life goals How to overcome personal struggles for future success Testing assessments can help. By taking learning, cognitive, and personality tests in our office, we can help you discover insights about yourself that can help you make better-informed choices about your future. We can help you discover learning disabilities that have been holding you back, develop strategies to help you overcome your weaknesses, and set goals for your personal life and career. Whether you are just starting out or need to make some major changes well into your adult years, these assessments can be an invaluable tool that help you get to know yourself better. If you are interested in our testing assessment services, you can reach out to Metis Center for Psychological Services today. Feel free to read more about our testing services as well as our counseling services on our website. Then give us a call at 720-387-8458 or use the contact form on our website to get in touch with us.

Panic attacks are disabling mental attacks that can inhibit our daily lives. Nearly 6 million of American adults are affected by panic attacks, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Women are more likely than men to suffer from panic attacks, with nearly half as many men suffering as women. However, scientists are not entirely positive about the causes. Some panic disorders are genetic, but with so many different channels of anxiety and fear found in the brain, it is nearly impossible to track every reason that a panic attack may occur. It is through continued research of fear and anxiety in the brain that scientists are able to move closer to treatment of a panic disorder. With that being said, there are a myriad of resources available to those that suffer from panic attacks, one of which is seeking therapy here in Boulder, CO. First, let’s start by addressing some common signs and symptoms of panic disorder: sudden feelings of fear and anxiety, an out of control feeling during the attack, worry about the next attack, avoidance or fear of locations from prior attacks. Moreover, the physical signs during a panic attack can include: racing/pounding heart, trouble breathing, sweating, dizziness/weakness, temperature swings, numbness in hands, or chest and/or stomach pain. If you’ve suffered from these symptoms or recognize the signs in your life, please call us at (720) 387-8458 or request an appointment online at Metis Center for Psychological Services.

‘Tis the season for academic cranking. Whether it’s finishing up group projects or studying for finals, it’s crunch time to get everything done before the Fall 2015 semester comes to a close. Education used to be valued as a luxury but now is seen as a stress. Take the time to think about everything a new college student encounters. Living away from home, accomplishing a high GPA so you can have the career of your dreams,  scoring passing grades on final exams, establishing and maintaining social relationships, and meeting the high costs of living throughout college by working on the side, just to name a few. Wouldn’t you be stressed if this was all dumped onto your plate at once? That’s the average list for freshman and sophomores; juniors and seniors add internships and job hunting to the plate. Students are held to higher and higher expectations each year and are rarely equipped with the tools to succeed psychologically. Metis Center strives to help you achieve through all stressors. With the holidays rapidly approaching, we recommend Coherence Therapy so that you can attain a peace of mind and enjoy your break, while still succeeding through your responsibilities. Coherence Therapy is not a method of counseling that is meant to diagnose conditions. Rather, it is a method that is known to be psychologically relieving. Our bodies tend to transform without our knowing; we’ve seen this to be true with coping methods. What used to work as a stress reliever may not work anymore. Coherence Therapy uses our

If you joined me at the COVA conference to discuss TI and its implications for survivors — I thank you! As we acknowledged, having this conversation is important, so I’m glad you were there. Please find the PowerPoint that was the handout at the conference attached here, and be in touch with any questions or concerns. I always love to hear from colleagues! Peritraumatic Tonic Immobility