MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
Psychcentral.com is the oldest annotated directory of online psychology and mental health resources. This directory began in 1992 and was transferred to its current Web-based format in 1995. On the drop-down you will find comprehensive information on ALL mental health disorders, as well drugs and medications, psychotherapy, and podcasts. Links are included for abuse, addiction, mental health disorders, self-esteem, grief and loss, parenting, eating disorders, and multiple other topics.
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) offers a comprehensive listing of online resources for all mental health issues.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides a vast amount of information about mental illness, as well support information for local groups.
ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDICTION
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) provides basics on alcohol use, effects, and how to get help.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) provides a comprehensive, evidence-based site for information about drugs, including alcohol.
MINDFULNESS
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Center for Mindfulness at The University of Massachusett., has taught mindfulness since the 1970's. He currently teaches mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) around the world. This link takes you to multiple YouTube links of his teadchings. One provides a "brief definition" of mindfulness. Other longer videos teach you how to begin or improve your practice of mindfulness and how to apply mindfulness to specific situations. You will also be able to participate in meditations and body scans on some of these.
Jon Kabat-Zinn's Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness are presented by Dr. Kabat-Zinn on this YouTube. He first wrote about the attitudes of mindfulness in his book, Full Catastrophe Living, in 1979. He talks about using these attitudes in mindfulness practice in daily life. These attitudes also allow us to evaluate whether we are being mindful in a particular moment. They include acceptance, letting go, gratitude, patience, trust, generosity, non-judging, non-striving, and beginner's mind.
The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger, by Dr. Shauna Shapiro, will help you understand mindfulness practice better. You will recognize that you will never be "perfect" at this practice, but that your brain is changing. She will provide education, information, brain science that will convince you that this practice will alter your life and your perceptions. Research has proven for several decades that mindfulness is effective in reducing symptoms of most disease processes, is effective in management of pain, and will reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. This is a powerful video!
Dan Harris, ABC News anchor, author of 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress... and creator of the comprehensive 10% Happier app (available on iPhone, Android, and others) talks about meditation and mindfulness on this YouTube. Meditation: How to Actually Start and Stick With It (Meditation). This is excellent information for either beginning or practicing meditators - and people that want to be awake to their own lives, not asleep. While at this YouTube, you will see dozens of other YouTubes about mindfulness and meditation.
Dr. Rick Hanson, neuropsychologist, is author of Hardwired for Happiness: New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence. In this TED Talk, Dr. Hanson shares techniques, very simple steps, that we can take to increase happiness while rewiring our brains.
The UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center offers many resources for learning and practicing mindfulness and mindful meditation. This site includes Getting Started videos, Guided Meditations, Weekly Podcasts, and Health and Wellness Meditations. Under Resources, you will also see that there is a free App for your phone.
The Mindfulness Summit has gathered over 40 of the world's leading experts on meditation and mindfulness for a series of online interviews, practice sessions, and presentations. Many are available free on this site, as well as other mindfulness resources.
DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy)
PyschCentral provides a basic overview of DBT for clients that are interested in learning DBT skills, providing information about the four modules: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills.
The DBT Self-Help website is a site for written by people who have gone through DBT. Extensive resources for available on this site, including information, videos, handouts, skills-training, and articles.
BETRAYAL TRAUMA
What is a betrayal trauma? is a page containing definitions and terminology used in discussing the traumatic effects of betrayal.
Dr. Jennifer Freyd, who formulated the language of betrayal trauma theory, betrayal trauma, and betrayal blindness has many resources on her University of Oregon Dynamics Lab website. These include general information, definitions, and articles.
Living With Betrayal offers an explanation of the emotional, psychological effects of betrayal trauma.
ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Study and Child Trauma Effects
Dr. Vincent Felitti, researcher in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study talks about the life-long medical effects of childhood trauma.
Information about the ACE study on the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website provides comprehensive information about the first ACE study at Kaiser Permanente, as well as follow-up studies, resources, and articles.
Nadine Burke-Harris, MD, child pediatrician and specialist in child trauma, explains how repeated stress of abuse, neglect, and negative environmental factors (e.g., observing domestic violence; parents with substance abuse and mental health problems) has real, tangible effects on brain development of the child. This enfolds across a lifetime, to the point that those who have experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for developing heart disease and cancer. She presents an impassioned plea for medical providers, particularly pediatricians, to be aware of,, prevent, and treat childhood trauma.
Dr. Gabor Mate details the evidence regarding links between childhood trauma and adult addiction, mental health, and health consequences, stating that prior research is so overwhelming that we don't need more research. Instead, we need to change our way of thinking about trauma, its effects, and how medical and other professionals address this epidemic.
The SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) provides summaries of data, much relevant information about the effects of adverse childhood experiences, and many resources.
IFS (Internal Family Systems)
The evolution of IFS and description of the therapy model and effectiveness is described on the IFS website. The page provides information about the Self, the self-led person, qualities of the self, and parts of us, such as Managers, Firefighters, and Exiles. IFS is an evidence-based trauma therapy that is non-invasive and effective.
Finding Your Parts is a nine-minute YouTube animated video that tells what IFS is and describes the components of the model. This is a wonderful introduction to the IFS model.
Psychology Today provides a brief overview of IFS on its website.
FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT
Health, Yoga, Weight Loss. Disabled Air Force paratrooper was told he could never walk again and to accept where he was at. He gave up hope. Then, when websurfing, he found article about Diamond Dallas Page doing Yoga. He then purchased yoga videos. Belief and work ethic! This video shows the profound transformation of this man. It is a powerful and encouraging video! He says, don't believe other people who say you can't, you can. Ask yourself, what can I do?? Believe it, and do it. Watch Arthur's Transformation.
Health, Running, Age. Ida Keeling, age 102, is a marathon runner. She started running at age 67 and says, "While I was running, I was feeling my strength and felt like I was coming up out of a hole, and I just kept on running." In 2016, she was the first woman to run the 100 meters at age 100. She is a "running tour de force." She says that "My secret is in my head. Get up and get around. Get up and do something." Running is her "secret to living long."
Disability. In 1982, Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs. Today his life and what he has accomplished has inspired millions. He says, "I have the choice to be angry at God for what I don't have or be grateful for what I do have. For every disability that you have, you are blessed with more than enough abilities to overcome your challenges." Oprah Winfrey interviewed Nick in 2013, and over 100 million people had viewed his videos online at that time. He was bullied and tormented at school, but he kept trying. At one time, he wanted to commit suicide, but he kept trying. He didn't give up, and his life and full and rich. He is married and has two children, and his life is an inspiration to all of us!
