(This article IS safe for work.)
Features:
1. The BIG talk 2. Tools of the Trade: Winning at life with Bipolar 3. “Daily Practice” techniques from The Crappy Childhood Fairy
Did today’s subject line cross a line for you——or nearly?
We know rules, boundaries & routines make the world safe & comforting for our kiddos. They can definitely do the same for us grownups … until our structures become too rigid & we feel stuck inside the box. And that’s the kind of scenario that invites rebellion.
That’s where each of today’s tools comes in handy: From scripts that bend to flexible expectations with ourselves, these tools & resources have the consistency of adjustment in common.
Dr. Becky of Good Inside (the book & the Circle app community) is the *only* parenting expert whose book I have read & not emotionally spun out afterward, feeling like a failure. What’s her secret? She actually uses the same techniques she teaches parents to use on their children on the parents who are reading the book. 🤯
Thank you, Dr. Becky! It was for that reason I clicked & explored more, then gladly became a member of her parenting community. Coming Wednesday, Feb. 1, the community will host a Zoom workshop on the social-emotional approach to the old-fashioned birds-&-bees talk. (Is it now melons & eggplants??) With two start times, divided by kid age groups to keep things concisely appropriate, this call promises, “Frameworks, scripts, skills to manage your own (understandable!) discomfort... you'll get everything you need to crush these important conversations.”
BP Hope Magazine, an output from DBSA (the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance), has a great January-issue article on the expectations that can actually inhibit recovery——even when we’re doing our best to take care of our mental health. The top suggestion? “Don’t sell yourself short by equating success with zero symptoms. What matters is living your best life, even if that means rethinking your goals.”
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A simple, scripted method that grownups with CPTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, often incurred in childhood) can use to aid our own personal recovery comes from Anna Runkle, aka The Crappy Childhood Fairy, who shares her own story bravely along with the 12-Step-based techniques that continue to help her reframe with realistic expectations to manager her emotional reactions & responses. The introductory course is free——& is highly educational to trainers & teachers who are interested in learning, even without suffering from CPTSD themselves. (Watch her website video to learn some CPTSD basics.)
Psst! I got the opportunity recently to share one of my own scripts, the handy BMT Index™ tool & resulting Key Motto™, during an impromptu coaching session during my interview on The Diane McClay Show. You can watch it & follow along for yourself!