Maria Gray, LMFT, NMP

In this interview with Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Kristen Neff talks about how to practice mindful self compassion. This simple practice offers lots of relief during these challenging times. https://peterattiamd.com/kristinneff/ #kristenneff #peterattia #selfcompassion

It’s Veteran’s Day

Using a password manager to keep my passwords organized is a big time saver! https://nyti.ms/2ZqCQJP

https://nyti.ms/2MpS8Yy It's so important to invite feedback from our clients!

https://nyti.ms/2Oe6pKh This is a brutally honest account of a woman's journey to recovery from alcoholism. Alcoholism is a killer disease, I have lost many friends and family members to it. # # #alcoholism #recovery # #drinking I encourage you to be honest with your friends and clients about their drinking, just reflect back what you are seeing and you will be planting seeds. Be direct but try and stay out of the results, that part is out of your hands.

https://nyti.ms/2S4zs16 This is a touching article about the importance of the relationship in psychotherapy.

I'm not anti-technology, I love technology and worked in tech for many years. I think it's important for us to understand the impact of our devices on our mental health. #putdownyourphone #internetaddiction #techaddiction https://nyti.ms/2VnQonx

https://mariagray.net//how-do-you-decompress-between-clien How do you unwind at work?

If you are interesting in learning more about my private practice course go to www.mariagray.net/prosperous-professional or send me an email using the button on my page.

https://mariagray.net/maria-gray-b/to-slide-or-not-to-slide Do you slide when you can't afford to?!

FOCUSING ON WHAT'S WILDLY IMPORTANT I’ve just read Cal Newport’s book entitled Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, where he explains how to avoid distraction and focus on your priorities. Although the book is written for people who have desk jobs, the concepts are applicable to our work as therapists. Newport describes the idea of attention residue which means that every time we shift our attention from one task to another there is a cost. I noti...ced this recently when I was trying unsuccessfully to solve a bookkeeping issue during my lunch break. When my client arrived and our session began, I noticed that my mind kept returning to the bookkeeping problem, and I had to actively shift my focus back to my client. The skills I’ve learned in my meditation practice helped me return to the present moment and focus on my client. Newport believes that To be successful with deep work you must rewire your brain to be comfortable resisting distracting stimuli. He recommends avoiding using the internet (especially social media) for entertainment. He suggests finding more intentional and less distracting ways to entertain yourself. He’s not anti-Internet, instead he suggests scheduling the time you want to spend using the Internet rather than randomly getting online. I started scheduling three 15-minute social media blocks on my calendar during the week. I certainly don’t want to be thinking about what I read on Facebook or my accounting problem when I’m beginning a session with a client. I’m not suggesting we avoid doing any of our clerical work between sessions; what I am suggesting is being selective about the type of tasks we work on. I’ve recently broken the habit of looking at Facebook during breaks by removing the app from my phone. I need my time between clients to be refreshing and when I look at Facebook, my brain becomes overstimulated, like I’ve eaten a bowl of sugary cereal. Instead of being online, I stretch my neck and shoulders or pick up one of my crystals and hold it while I take a few breaths. After a difficult session, I listen to Brainspotting bilateral music for a few minutes. I still enjoy using Facebook, but I only access it from my computer and at designated times during the week. The place where Newport’s suggestions have been most helpful is with my writing. Newport believes in Focusing on what’s wildly important. This means cutting out the busywork and scheduling time for the things you’d really like to accomplish. I schedule 3-4 hours of writing time (about an hour from Thursday through Sunday) every week and I don’t check email or work on busywork during that time; I treasure and protect that time. What’s wildly important to you? photo by paul-skorupskas-59950-unsplash-focus.jpg

"if you're to busy to meditate, you're too busy." https://nyti.ms/2E7hXYY #meditate #tm #mariamelzer

https://nyti.ms/2DYFnj2 This is a great article about women and perfectionism, something that has improved for me as I've gotten older! The author states- Overqualified and overprepared, too many women still hold back. Women feel confident only when they are perfect. #lisadamour #perfectgirls #overqualifedandoverprepared

https://nyti.ms/2HKWg4P How's your work/life balancs?

This is a true story about the author's emotional transformation after surviving a heart attack. He is a runner and meditator. #heartattack #TrymaineLee #meditation https://nyti.ms/2HnkiCx