I was recently asked to give a talk on self-care for The Women’s March on Colorado Summit in Denver, CO. Here is the text of my talk.
I’m here to talk with you about how you are feeling and coping with the stress of the times we are living in and hopefully give you a few strategies for managing things better.
Let me start by giving you an overview of what I have seen as a psychotherapist and life coach in private practice for the past 15 years. I would have to say that in the past year or so I have seen the highest levels of stress, confusion, and fear in my clients than I’ve ever seen before.
My clients are talking more about what is going on in our country and our world in their sessions than they used to. I see a sense of disbelief, outrage, despair and grief over what is happening to our country, increasing anxiety about what will happen next, and how this will all ultimately turn out.
I think we all feel fear and a deep concern around not knowing what to do to make things better. Needless to say, stress levels are at an all time high and we are all searching for ways to make sense of it, cope, and feel better.
It’s pretty clear that the way things are being dealt with by the powers that be is not working very well.There must be a better way to approach our situation and create the changes we want and so desperately need.
I often think of the quote by Albert Einstein in which he said, “ You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.” It is also sometimes translated as, “ You cannot solve problems with the same level of consciousness that created them.”
I think we can say that on a very basic level our problems are being perpetuated by unhealthy, toxic attitudes, behaviors and thinking. We see outright lying, manipulation, character assassination, blaming, name calling, threats, fear mongering, and illegal behaviors… The list goes on and on. I’m sure most of us would agree that if this level of consciousness or thinking continues we are in for a no-win situation at best, and possible annihilation at worst.
Who’s going to change this?
The good news and bad news is it is basically up to us to be the ones to change this. We are the ones we have been waiting for.