Rockford Day 14 Treatment Summary

  8/8/2024


Day 14 summary at Rockford at the Orchards:

-Up early this a.m. All tasks completed on time, meds taken and easy, non-stressful ride to the facility.

- A.M check in process/goal review:
  1. Current state-Good
  2. Status of yesterday's goal. As I walk this evening challenge myself to stay in the logical mind and do not allow racing thoughts. Also, work on positive affirmations. Passed on the original goal but instead had a long, productive conversation with my best friend.
  3. What is your treatment goal for today? To help new participants overcome shyness so they can be engaged.

-Thought for the day: Suppressing the "white bears". Theory that says suppressing certain thoughts only make it more likely that you will think them.  It can be specific to mental health in that some people have difficulty relieving him or herself from intrusive thoughts. There are 5 strategies that could help eliminate or table the thoughts for another time.

  1. Pick on an absorbing factor and focus on that instead.  i.e. think of a red apple. 
  2. Try to postpone the thought.
  3. Cutback on multitasking.   i.e. limit the number of thoughts you are having at one time. 
  4. Exposure.  Think in controlled ways of the thing that you want to avoid.
  5. Meditation and mindfulness.  


-Lesson 1 focused on relationship mapping






-Lesson two focused on self-soothing also called calming your emotions.
  • There are 3 different factors that can make an activity more soothing.

    1. Familiarity: activities that are associated with pleasant memories from the past will be particularly helpful in soothing your feelings.  
    2. Multi-sensory: Our emotional brain responds best when activities are multi-sensory and involve sound, sight, taste, touch, and smell. 
    3. Repetitive motion: studies show that repetitive motion, such as chewing gum, knitting, or rocking in a chair, can produce serotonin in the brain. 

  •  

-Afternoon session I had a choice of guided mediation or creative expression.   I chose creative expression which consisted of playing a game of chess and checkers with a peer.  FYI I lost both games.   ðŸ˜€


Key takeaway today   Have patience, stop overthinking and keep watering your seeds.


Most impactful moment

After the young man next to me in class announced during the check in process that he is shy I invited him to sit at our table at lunch. He accepted the offer, and we later found out that the boy is a genius. Myself and the other two guys at the table made it a point to make him feel welcome. At the end of the day check in the young man announced that he was happy to have been able to overcome some of his shyness at lunch.


Goal for tonight
Stay in the moment.

Concerns:
None

Response
70 total hours of therapy and 18 doses of Abilify. I realize there will always be a long road to travel but I feel like I've broke through and am taking the right route.



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