Day 2027: PTSD

In November 2016, I wrote another Post Titled Similarly, Definitely.  Something else happened that month which continues to give People Translating Signs Desperately another kind of PTSD.

 

Do you have PTSD?  People Talking Stress Decidedly in my therapy groups have it.

 

Prioritizing Therapeutic Stress Diversions can Perhaps Take Stress Down.

An antidote for President Trump Stress Disorder might be meditating on “the opposite of Trump,” as a Person in Therapy Suggested Delicately, yesterday in group.

Here’s a Published, Thorough, Single, Delineated list of other antidotes:

https://annkoplow.com/2013/03/06/antidotes-for-unhelpful-thoughts/

Previously, Time Showcased Despotism:

I’m getting PTSD looking at the results on YouTube for “President Trump Stress Disorder,” so here’s one of my current Personal Therapeutic  Stress Dispellers:

Piano, Trumpets, and Singing De-stress.

Prioritizing Thanks Seems Deserved.

Day 2021: Weird behaviors explained

What weird behaviors would you like explained today, dear readers?

Weird behaviors in my blog include posting photos, unexplained.

Yesterday, Michael was trying to explain the weird behaviors of three hawks who were hanging around outside our home.

I can’t explain the weird behaviors of my new laptop, which automatically loads some photos from my iPhone but not others, like this one:

Shall we try to explain weird behaviors like throwing away things that say “Do Not Throw Away”?

Here are 10 Weird Cat Behaviors Explained:

My cat’s weird behavior of biting me in the morning remains unexplained.

More weird behaviors explained:

Do I need to explain my weird behaviors of thanking all — including YOU — at the end of my posts?

Day 2020: Vision

This is the second time in 2020 daily blogs that I’ve written a post titled “Vision.”

I didn’t envision titling my post “Vision” today; however, the number 2020 inspired me, since

“Normal” vision is 20/20. This means that the test subject sees the same line of letters at 20 feet that person with normal vision sees at 20 feet. 20/40 vision means that the test subject sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 40 feet.

I do not have 20/20 vision — another way that I’m not “normal.”   I do have the vision, apparently, to lead a group therapy professional organization.  I also have the vision to notice what’s around me, including …

 

 

I wish I had the vision to see a positive future for the world. No matter what my vision,  though, there’s still hope.

What’s your vision of hope?

Here’s what YouTube gives me when I ask for “Vision”.

I don’t have the vision to explain why “Blue (Da Be Dee)” started playing on YouTube after “Vision,” but here it is:

 

Do you have the vision to see that I’m blue this morning?

I’m glad I have good enough vision to read your comments on my posts.

I hope you have the vision to see how grateful I am for those who help me create all these posts and — of course! — for YOU.

 

 

Day 2019: Hey!

Hey!  Do you know the meaning of “hey”?

hey
hā
exclamation
used to attract attention, to express surprise, interest, or annoyance, or to elicit agreement.
“hey, what’s going on here?”
US
used as a friendly greeting.
“I just called to say hey”

Hey!  One syllable can express surprise, interest, annoyance, elicit agreement, or be a friendly greeting. Hey!  How can we know what people really mean when they say “Hey!”?

Hey!  Look at all the photos I took yesterday!

 

Hey!  Those are three people I love.   Hey!  Did you notice that my Primary Care Physician, Dr. Laura Snydman, was running late yesterday?  Hey!  What else did you notice?

Hey! I forgot to include the photo I took after yesterday’s Coping and Healing group, where we focused on feelings.

Hey!  I hope you know that all feelings are accepted here.

Hey!  Here’s “Hey Ya!” by Outkast:

 

Hey!  If you can’t see that VEVO video, maybe you can see this one:

Hey!  Here‘s another live performance of “Hey Ya!”

 

Hey!  I’m grateful to all who help me create these posts and — of course! — to YOU.

 

Day 1998: Good

It’s good that I noticed that my first two photos from yesterday have good in them.

Do you see the good there, my good people?  Do you see the good in other people? Do you see more good than bad?

I guess I see more good than bad:   I’ve written 41 posts here with the word “Good” in the title (starting with Day 3: The Fear of Feeling Too Good) and I’ve written 14 posts with the word “Bad” in the title (starting with Day 263: Bad Day/Good Day, which has good in it, too).

Do you see the good in the other photos here?

A good friend texted me that good drawing, above, with this good caption: “Got your back.”

Last night, at a good board meeting, I sang a small portion of this very good song from Into the Woods,  in memory of our very good friend, Michelle.

The good lyrics I sang were these:

Sometimes people leave you

Halfway through the wood.

Do not let it grieve you

No one leaves for good.

You are not alone.  No one is alone.

It’s always good to end with thanks.  Thanks to all who help me create all my good posts, including this one, and to you — of course! — for being good enough to be here, now.

 

Day 1997: Showing Up

Showing up today, I notice that I wrote another post titled “Showing  Up”  at the beginning of this year.

I also notice there are twice as many likes showing up for that post than for my posts that have been showing up here lately. Much to my surprise, self-doubt and judgment are not showing up about that.

Here’s why this topic is showing up again today:

Yesterday, in a therapy group, the people who showed up expressed appreciation and gratitude for others showing up.

Let’s see what other photos have been showing up on my iPhone.

Beautiful sunsets keep showing up near where I live.

Because I have to keep showing up at Physical Therapy on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 AM, I only have time to thank you for showing up, here and now.

Day 1906: We fear what we can’t control

I fear I can’t control the news, which included this headline this morning:

We Fear What We Can’t Control About Uber and Facebook

Do you agree that we fear what we can’t control about technology and other aspects of our lives?

If we fear what we can’t control, we must be afraid a lot of the time.

Yesterday, in a therapy group, people expressed fear, anxiety, and depression about things they could not control.  When people offered each other support, I temporarily took control and suggested that members write down and send messages to each other in the group.

Earlier in the day, I took  control of a staff meeting and sang a song about my therapy groups.

You can’t control how I share photos on this blog.

We can’t control that those are actual diagnosis codes doctors can use about their patients.  Do you fear being bitten by a cow, pecked by a chicken, etc.?

I can’t control what comments you leave but I have no fear about that.

Thanks to all who helped me control today’s blog post and — of course! — to YOU, no matter what you control or fear.

Day 1887: Chaos

About six months ago (but who’s counting?), I published a blog post with the same title as this one.   At the risk of somehow spreading the chaos in today’s news, I want to quote how chaos came up in my group therapy presentation yesterday. This happened in the question and answer period after I described how my open-access groups work in a primary care practice in a renowned teaching hospital in Boston.

Audience member: Ann, I am assuming you are comfortable with chaos. How do you deal with it in your groups, which people can attend as they choose?

Me: When you give people access to the behavioral health care they need, there is less chaos than you might expect.

I actually do not experience chaos in my therapy groups, but I do experience more of it, these days,  in the world outside my groups. As I said in my presentation yesterday, I believe people need the support of therapy groups even more in today’s chaotic world.

What do you see in the chaos of today’s pictures?

Even in all this chaos, I’ve got video. Somebody else on my discussion panel yesterday (Moving Forward: Opportunities for Group in the New Health Care Environment) showed a video like this:

I’ve also got video of some music to help deal with chaos:

I look forward to the chaos of your comments.

Chaotic thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 1886: just relax

Today I’m giving a presentation about my therapy groups at a national group therapy conference.  Even though I’m telling myself to “just relax,”  I’m having a lot of trouble sleeping because of rotator cuff pain and pre-presentation jitters.

This photo I took yesterday might help:

Also, I’ve decided to help my audience just relax today by starting out my presentation with the mindfulness exercise I always do when somebody is new to my groups.  I tell people to focus on their breath, breathing in something they think might be helpful (like gratitude) and breathing out something that is not serving them well (like anxiety or distraction). When I thought of starting my presentation that way, I just relaxed.

Do any of my other recent photos help you to just relax?

This YouTube video is titled “Just Relax.”

That didn’t help me just relax. How about you? How do you just relax?

I am going to just relax and express my gratitude to all who helped me create today’s blog post and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 1880: What makes this a safe place?

What makes this a safe place?  What makes any place safe?

I ask those questions because without a safe place, it’s difficult to be in the moment, trust, learn, and grow.

Yesterday, in a therapy group, the members discussed many issues, including safe places.

Then people expressed thoughts and feelings about personal safe places.

 

In the safe place of the group room, I asked myself those two questions  — What makes this a safe place?  How can I express that in 20 minutes? — because I’ll be presenting about my groups next week in the safe place of a group therapy conference in Houston.

I hope this is a safe place for you to describe what makes a place safe for you.

In the news, people are discussing whether guns make a place safe.

Parents and children are challenging politicians to make the United States a safer place.

Gratitude helps make this a safe place, so many thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.