In her article for politicsmeanspolitics.com, titled How To Stay Sane If Trump Is Driving You Insane: Advice From A Therapist, Robin Chancer writes thoughtfully on the anxiety many feel in today’s political climate. She offers both practical advice and stress release.
She writes about our culture (and delusion) of optimism and offers a step by step plan of coping:
STEP 1: RADICAL ACCEPTANCE AND DIALECTICAL THINKING
“Radical acceptance, as understood in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), distinguishes between pain and suffering. Pain cannot be avoided. Fighting against pain, however, is what drives the majority of our suffering. Painful reality can be fully (i.e. “radically”), non-judgmentally accepted. When something terrible happens, our natural reaction is to fight against it: “This should not have happened! I can’t believe it! I would do anything to go back in time.” Fighting our agony won’t change it, however. We are better served by accepting what happened, allowing it to change us, and working with what is left.
In response to our current nightmare, we can wish it were different and stay miserable, or we can accept our new world. To be clear, this does not mean condoning what happened. It simply means coming to terms with what is, and with what we cannot control.”
STEP 2: ATTENTION IS EVERYTHING
One word she uses in step two is “mindfulness.” She explains mindfulness as “the art of shifting attention” – a technique that “is revolutionizing mental health care.”
“Faced with a frequently depressing, maddening world, this can mean focusing intently on the inspiring work going on around us in a multitude of spheres. Each time you feel hopelessness creep in, focus your attention on the kindness, generosity, and good will around you.”
Read the complete article at https://politicsmeanspolitics.com/how-to-stay-sane-if-trump-is-driving-you-insane-advice-from-a-therapist-42e982195e22