Too often, mental health professionals focus on treating illness rather than maintaining wellness. However, the skills we bring to the treatment of psychological disorders are the same skills that can aid people with enhancing wellness. More importantly, the focus on wellness can prevent the life disruption caused by illness and the need for further treatment. What does it mean to focus on wellness? Basically, it means life style enhancements that protects the individual's physical well-being and improves the ability to cope with stressors. Frequently, these are simple techniques that most people just don't take the time to include in their lives. How many times have you said or heard others say, "I don't have time to exercise" or "I don't have time to relax?" Thus, a very important contributor to wellness is attitude: a thought process that influences the way a person approaches dealing with life. READ MORE...

Wellness is not only a state of physical health, it is also a state of mind. The mind and body are completely integrated. The mind and body cannot be separated into "This is a physical illness" and "This is a mental illness," although we do just that in our classification schemes. Research has shown more and more that mental illness often has a physical component, and that many physical illnesses can be addressed, at least partially, through behavioral means.

Let's look at this through logical analysis. We use medications for many different kinds of problems: to relieve pain, to reduce depression and/or anxiety, to lower blood pressure, to reduce cholesterol, to fight infections, etc. Have you ever wondered why medications work? In the simplest terms possible, medications primarily work because they either mimic or stimulate natural processes. We are chemical beings. Everything that we do, that we think, is through chemical processes. Therefore, when we use medications, we are aiding a natural bodily process. READ MORE...

The hardest thing about dieting is the deprivation. It feels like we are being punished. No wonder so many people are unsuccessful with dieting if it has such a strong negative reaction. We aren't motivated by negativity except to move away from it. We are motivation to move towards things that feel good. Therefore, the secret to losing weight has to be in making it feel good. "How can I do that?" you ask because you associate the words "diet" and "bad."

I don't have any miracle or new strategies to weight loss. What I am presenting in this article are the old tried and true techniques that have been shown through behavioral research to be effective. However, the title is true. You can lose weight without deprivation if you change some basic ineffective thought processes and behaviors. READ MORE...

"I don't have any willpower."

"I'm weak."

"I'm lazy."

"I can't do it."

Not long ago I conducted a little experiment with my cardio-kickboxing class. After an intense class I told them to get the heaviest weights they could curl 8-10 times. I spent a minute telling them to focus on feeling tired, that they had just worked out hard and they couldn't do anymore. Then, they were to curl the weights to exhaustion where they just couldn't lift anymore. Once they finished, I spent another minute telling them to focus on having energy, feeling good, feeling refreshed, and knowing they could do more. Once again, they lifted the weights to exhaustion. The results were that out of nine people, only one did fewer lifts the second time! And typically, when someone lifts weights to exhaustion they should not be able to lift as much the second time when it is only a minute later. Although this was not a scientific experiment, it was a demonstration to my class to show how powerful our thinking can be. What this exercise showed was how positive thinking overcame the natural exhaustion of the body and created a self-fulfilling prophecy of lifting more weight because the participants believed that they could.

How does this demonstration apply to achieving a healthy weight. Take a moment and write down or reflect upon all the thoughts that come to mind when you think about dieting or losing weight. Now note how many of those thoughts are negative.  READ MORE...