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By Matt Argento, PhD Psychologist Candidate/Postdoctoral Fellow With NBC news recently reporting that more insurance companies and plans are coveringDoula care for people who are pregnant, I thought it might be helpful to review just what Doulasare, what they do, how they can help, and if it’s ok to ask for help (spoiler alert, it is). DONA is the world’s leading Doula certification organization; they define birth Doulasas trained professionals who “provide continuous support during labor and delivery, offeringcomfort measures, advocacy, and emotional support to birthing individuals and their partners.”Many Doulas also offer postpartum support such as offering initial tips for newborn care, feedingsupport, and other tips to help the entire family adjust to their new roles. What can that supportlook like? Doulas offer meetings prior to delivery to help everyone involved in the delivery feelas prepared as possible. They have most likely been through numerous births and will know allthe different steps, when they happen, and can help demystify the entire process. These meetingshowever are not a dry review of a childbirth checklist. Doulas are also trained at attending to theemotional needs of pregnant folks and new parents. They have local resources for additionalsupport, and they also help advocate for you. They attend the birth, knowing all of yourpreferences beforehand, and fight for you and your wants and needs so that you can focus onbringing your baby into the world. Now, this all sounds great, but does it actually help? Short answer, yes, very much so.One study found women who received Doula care had 52.9%

By Jaqueline Hambrick, PsyD Psychologist Candidate/Postdoctoral Fellow ASMR stands for the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and this responsehappens when someone enters a relaxed state. Usually, this looks like experiencing sensationsthat are often labeled as ‘tingles’ within the ASMR community. Someone may reportexperiencing tingling sensations that start from their head and make their way down their neckand spread throughout the rest of the body, followed by feeling more relaxed.So, what triggers these responses? Researchers have found that there are many types ofASMR triggers, some of which include hearing whispering, getting personal attention from theASMR artist (someone who administers ASMR), crisp sounds, slow movements, repetitive tasks(tapping), tactile stimulation (watching an ASMR artist play with someone’s hair or do theirmakeup), mouth or eating sounds, nature sounds (rain, wind, waves), soap cutting, foamsqueezing, and paint or putty mixing. Now that we know what it is and what it can look or sound like, who does ASMR workfor? Researchers are currently still exploring this, but some have found that personality type canimpact who is more receptive to experiencing ASMR responses. For example, one study foundthat those who scored higher on openness to experience on personality assessments were morelikely to experience the chills and tingles associated with ASMR. They also found that those whoare more sensitive to physical sensations reported experiencing the same responses. Additionally,there have been fMRI studies looking at brain scans of participants experiencing ASMR thatshowed increased activity within certain parts of the brain that were often associated with self-awareness, our reward center, emotional responses, and increased alpha wave activity,

By Jaqueline Hambrick, PsyD Psychologist Candidate/Postdoctoral Fellow According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness is one’s ability todirect awareness to what is happening inside their body. What thoughts, emotions, sensationswithin your body, and other things that you may notice in that present moment, without anyreactions or judgement of ourselves. Mindfulness is a widely used tool for reducingstress/anxiety, making it easier to stop ourselves from otherwise destructive or automaticbehaviors, and just being more present in the moment. Now that we’ve discussed what mindfulness is, it may also be helpful to discuss what it isnot. Engaging in mindfulness does not require a completely blank mind; in fact, it’s encouraged.The practice of mindfulness is to enhance our ability to acknowledge thoughts as they come up,and have the ability to let them go and focus on what is happening in the present moment.Mindfulness practice is also not a religious practice; although it’s part of some religiouspractices, it does not require any specific religious beliefs to practice. Next, mindfulness does notmean that we have to accept wrongdoings that are being done to us. When being told to ‘accept’things as they are during practice, it might be more helpful to think of it as accepting what is outof our control in that moment. Another common thought is that mindfulness is all meditation.While this is the most common form of mindfulness, it is not the only form. Lastly, a commonmisconception about mindfulness is that it is time-consuming. In reality, mindfulness can bewhat you make it! This can be as short as taking a

By Lara Cohen, PsyD Psychologist Candidate/Postdoctoral Fellow Finding time for therapy can feel like a catch-22: a decision between prioritizing your mental health and other obligations.  As a busy person, you may prefer to postpone treatment, but at what cost?   Whether you feel crushed by depression or overwhelmed by anxiety, mental health needs are health needs deserving time and care. Time may heal but therapy will likely give you faster and greater relief. At the Metis Center we offer a variety of personalized services – including therapy and assessment for all ages – to support you on your mental health journey. We respect the reality of a busy work-life schedule and, also, personalize services to fit your unique scheduling needs. At the start of treatment, your therapist will create a treatment timetable with you. Depending on your needs, we will arrange with your therapist to meet weekly or monthly. Alternatively, consider meeting weekly for a month. Arrange to meet with your therapist at the office location closest to you: in Broomfield, Lafayette, or Durango. Or, if travel time remains a concern, consider meeting by telehealth. Brief treatment episodes are highly effective in many cases. Symptom relief is likely for mild to moderate symptoms with the help of skill-building in therapy. If the symptoms are relatively new, there is an opportunity to preempt potentially worsening symptoms. For acute symptoms, short term treatment can help stabilize your mood.  A transparent conversation is vital for forming a realistic timetable and goals. Brief treatment episodes are not effective in

By Laura Agurkis, MS With everything going on in the world, our lives have been turned upside down, and we have all been asked to adjust to this “new normal.” It comes with immense feelings and emotions that most of us struggle to navigate, find meaning, and gain acceptance around. I, as a licensed clinician, have been working intensely around this dynamic with several of my patients. The one thing we all must remember is that we are not alone. Without question or exception, we have all been asked to make major changes in our day-to-day lives, such as scaling back our spending, working from home, changing our routine, monitoring and teaching our children, etc. All of these changes come with their own specific challenges and added stress that can make it difficult to cope. “Radical acceptance” is a particularly useful skill I teach frequently in my practice, because without acceptance, we often will find ourselves building resentment and having increased frustration around circumstances we cannot control. Radical Acceptance: What is it and why should we use it? Radical acceptance is a skill that is commonly taught when learning “distress tolerance.” At times in our lives we have all been asked to cope with distress (e.g., considerable anxiety, sorrow, pain, etc.), and during such times, it can be difficult to find relief. Furthermore, distress is often unpredictable, and impossible to avoid. This is why we must rely heavily on coping skills to battle feelings of distress. Radical acceptance, specifically, refers to “when you stop fighting reality,

By: Bonnie Brown, PsyD Mental health is a popular topic at the moment, thanks to stay-at-homeand safer-at-home orders. Plenty of people are having their firstencounters with intentional focus on their own mental health. Whiledepression and anxiety are primarily discussed, there are other mentalhealth issues that may be more common than people think. Bipolardisorder, once known as manic-depressive disorder, is a diagnosis thathas often been thought of as mysterious. If you’ve been diagnosedrecently, or are just generally curious, keep reading. You are not alonein either scenario. Okay so here’s the technical bit… Bipolar disorder is categorized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manualof Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM 5) as two types of diagnoses.Bipolar I Disorder requires the individual to have experienced a manicepisode. Symptoms of mania must include: elevated or irritable mood forat least one week, and increased energy or activity during this time.The increased energy or activity may include: inflated self-esteem,decreased need for sleep, more talkative than usual or pressure to keeptalking, racing thoughts or ideas, distractibility, increase ingoal-directed activity, and/or involvement in activities that have ahigh potential for painful consequences. A majority of those who haveexperienced a manic episode have also experienced major depressiveepisodes during their lives. A major depressive episode requires five or more of these symptoms thathave been present during a two-week period: depressed mood, decreasedinterest or pleasure in activities, weight fluctuations not attributableto dieting, sleep disturbances, physical agitation or slowing, fatigue,feelings of worthlessness, difficulties concentrating, and/or thoughtsof death or suicide. Bipolar II Disorder consists of experiencing both a hypomanic episodeand major depressive

By Courtney Glueck, PhD There is no question that the current pandemic has left us all experiencing challenging emotions – anxiety, fear, sadness, confusion, frustration, anger, etc. And as we continue to wade through this muddy water together the best way we know how, I continue to hear many of my patients repeatedly talking about feelings that can best be described as manifestations of grief. People are grieving the loss of loved ones, jobs and financial security, feelings of safety, comfort, and routine. Milestones are passing people by. Those who looked forward to their proms or graduations for months or years have watched the dates of these events come and go without a fraction of the pomp or circumstance these rites of passage warrant. What’s more, not only are we collectively mourning the loss of these things that are long-gone or have passed us by, but we are also dealing with “anticipatory grief,” or grief associated with feeling as though greater losses are yet to come. Without question, grief can be one of the most challenging human experiences to process and work through. And with so many of us experiencing such raw emotional manifestations of grief right now, it seems more important than ever that we all learn as much as possible about the grieving process and how we can (and will!) make it through. Two Common Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding Grief Perhaps the most commonly cited framework from which to view the grieving process is that which was originally presented by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the

In order to provide for the safety of all who visit our offices, we have taken a number of steps in our offices.